The Engineering Council would like to congratulate the registrants who were among those recognised in the recently announced Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) 2023 Medals.

Dame Judith Hackitt DBE CEng FCGI FIChemE FREng, Chair of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, was awarded the Hanson Medal for her article: ‘Ethics Series: Did you sleep well?’ in The Chemical Engineer magazine. This drew on personal experience to reflect on the choice between making an expedient decision that people want to hear, versus making a decision that allows you to know you have done the right thing in situations where the safety of people and the environment are at stake. The article referenced the joint ‘Statement of Ethical Principles’ published by the Engineering Council and the Royal Academy of Engineering; Dame Judith was involved in the early development of this Statement.

Professor Philip Martin CEng CPhys CChem FInstP FIChemE FRSC, Head of Department and Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Manchester, was part of the team awarded the Hutchison Medal for their paper on a two-step multivariate statistical learning approach (published in Digital Chemical Engineering, Volume 1, December 2021, 100003). The team used machine learning algorithms to design software (soft sensors) that could predict the end viscosity of a batch of an industrial personal care product.

Peter Marsh BSc CEng MIChemE, who has over 39 years of experience in the oil refining and engineering contracting businesses, was awarded the Lees Medal for the preparation of the Lessons Learned Database. This is a valuable resource, which allows an engineer to gain an appreciation of a range of major incidents and makes historical knowledge readily available, addressing the growing need for the transfer of process safety information on to the next generation.

Dr Massimiliano Materazzi CEng MIChemE, a Principal Research Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering who has been leading research in Bioenergy and Biofuels at UCL since 2015, was awarded the Warner Medal for his contribution in the sustainability field. He has a significant number of publications as well as lecturing commitments, and his efforts on outreach and mentoring were widely appreciated.

The IChemE Medals are awarded to recognise exceptional contribution to chemical engineering across industry and academia. The Hanson medal is awarded to the author or authors of the best article to appear in The Chemical Engineer magazine each year. The Hutchison Medal recognises practical and wide-ranging, philosophical or thought provoking published papers. The Lees Medal is awarded to the author, or authors, of the best article on the topic of safety and loss prevention in an IChemE publication.

Alexandra Meldrum, IChemE Vice President Learned Society and Chair of the Medals and Prizes Committee, said:

“The IChemE medals and prizes provide recognition of outstanding contribution. Congratulations to all the winners, who have helped to advance our profession around the world – as volunteers, researchers, sustainability innovators, digital enthusiasts and process safety advocates. Our winners are role models who will inspire future chemical, biochemical and process engineers. I commend them all.”

You can view the full list of winners on the IChemE website.

For press enquiries:
Kate Webster, Engineering Council – kwebster@eng.org.uk, 020 3206 0567

The Engineering Council holds the national Register of Engineering Technicians (EngTech), Incorporated Engineers (IEng), Chartered Engineers (CEng) and Information and Communication Technology Technicians (ICTTech). It also sets and maintains the internationally recognised standards of competence and ethics that govern the award and retention of these titles. By this means it is able to ensure that employers, government and wider society, both at home and overseas, can have confidence in the skills and commitment of registrants. For more information visit: www.engc.org.uk