Behind the Job: James Millard

James Millard is a principal bioresources process engineer at AtkinsRéalis

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My role within AtkinsRéalis is to provide technical and strategic advice on advanced thermal conversion technologies such as gasification, pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction. These help clients transform wastes and biosolids into valuable resources while navigating an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.

My top perk at work is…

Knowing that the projects I’m involved in will make a genuine difference. Emerging contaminants such as PFAS (“forever chemicals”) and microplastics are becoming an increasing challenge worldwide, and it’s rewarding to support the development of strategies and solutions that can help address them while creating value from waste.

How did you get into chemical engineering?

I’ve always enjoyed problem-solving and was fascinated by how large industrial processes transform raw materials into useful products. Chemical engineering seemed to combine everything I enjoyed about chemistry, maths and engineering, and eventually led me into the waste-to-resource and thermal conversion sector.

What’s been your biggest career achievement to date?

Achieving chartered chemical engineer status is my proudest professional achievement to date. While the application process was challenging, it gave me the opportunity to reflect on the projects, challenges and experiences that have shaped my career, appreciate how far I had developed as an engineer, and recognise the support of colleagues and mentors along the way. It was an important milestone, but also a reminder that there is always more to learn and new challenges to tackle.

What has been your biggest career challenge to date?

The biggest challenge of my career was during the commissioning of an oxy-steam gasification plant. There were countless hurdles along the way, and it often felt like the plant was fighting back at every opportunity. However, through teamwork, perseverance and a fair share of late nights onsite, we eventually achieved stable syngas production. The experience taught me invaluable lessons about problem-solving and resilience. It’s an experience I’ll always remember and one that shaped me significantly as an engineer.

If you could give away one of your responsibilities to an unsuspecting colleague, what would it be?

Spreadsheet organisation. What starts as a straightforward heat and mass balance can quickly evolve into dozens of tabs, iterative calculations and side analyses. It all makes sense at the time, but revisiting it six months later can be an adventure.

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?

I’d like to see greater support for the commercialisation of emerging technologies. We are good at developing innovative solutions, but many promising technologies struggle to progress beyond pilot-scale. More investment, awareness and confidence in these technologies would help accelerate the transition towards a more circular and sustainable future. If I wasn’t a chemical engineer, I’d probably be… A musician. I am in a touring band called Twin Skeletons in my spare time.

What advice would you give to a young chemical engineer starting out?

Be curious and take every opportunity that comes your way, especially those that get you onto a live plant. The combination of technical knowledge and real-world experience is what turns a graduate engineer into a well-rounded chemical engineer.

Do your friends understand what chemical engineering is?

Not really! Most people think chemical engineering involves mixing chemicals in a laboratory. After years of hearing about Aspen simulations, heat and mass balances, gasification and pyrolysis, they’ve at least learnt to stop asking me whether I’m a chemist.

Any myths about the sector you’d like to dispel? That engineering is all spreadsheets and sitting behind a desk. My career has taken me to places I never imagined I’d visit, including a road trip across Canada to visit pyrolysis facilities. Some of my best memories have come from time spent in the control room working alongside operations teams. No two projects are ever quite the same