Addressing the Grand Challenges

Claudia Flavell-While looks at learned society priorities

ICHEME’S mission, as set out in Strategy 2024, is to be a vibrant learned society that addresses the global grand  challenges. IChemE’s principal technical committee, the Learned Society Committee (LSC), has been tasked with engaging IChemE’s members around delivering this.

LSC has prioritised focussing its initial work on responsible production, major hazard identification and management, and  digitalisation. Below are the initial interpretations of these priorities.

Responsible production: This term encompasses chemical engineering’s role in combating climate change and delivering sustainability alongside broader welfare gains such as access to basic services, green and decent jobs, and a better quality of life for all. It means contributing to:

• reducing the carbon footprint of energy generation and commodity extraction and processing through to final product in line sufficiently to limit the global temperature rise to well below 2^oC;
• using resources sustainably through closed-loop processes and use of alternative feedstocks to safeguard key resources as well as conserve and, wherever possible, restore habitat areas; and
• ensuring our industries offer meaningful employment opportunities and use technologies suited to the situation and location, globally. 

The LSC is looking at practical options to improve the use of footprinting tools across the broad range of process industries.

Major hazard identification and management: Major accidents are happening regularly in the process industries and more generally, often with similar root causes. To address this, IChemE wants to lead the development of a holistic, multi-disciplinary systems approach to major hazard management that embraces asset life cycles and builds on existing ‘process safety’ methodologies. This strand is led by Jim Carrick, who leads the LSC on safety and risk.

Digitalisation: Digitalisation will have a transformative effect across all aspects of the discipline, from manufacturing to research, and this needs to be reflected in teaching and training. IChemE will support the ethical use of digital technology to improve research and the supply chain in the process industries. Alexandra Meldrum, the LSC subject area lead on education, innovation and research, is leading the digitalisation work.

All subject area leads are now contacting IChemE’s special interest groups and other learned society bodies for input into what progress IChemE could make by 2024 against these three priority topics, and how the SIGs can contribute to achieving this vision. If you are reading this and would like to contribute, please join a special interest group (it’s free and you can join as many as relate to your expertise and interests) or contact lsc@icheme.org