David Bogle wins prestigious EFCE Jacques Villermaux Medal

DAVID BOGLE, IChemE’s past president, has been awarded the Jacques Villermaux Medal in recognition of his outstanding achievements as scientific vice-president of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) from 2018 to 2021, and his commitment to chemical engineering education and training. 

The medal, which is awarded by the EFCE, also recognises his development and publication of a report on The European Chemical Engineering Skills Pipeline. 

The skills pipeline project sought to understand the health of chemical engineering education across Europe by analysing the number of students and teaching staff in chemical engineering across a broad range of European countries.  

The data showed trends and the large variation between European countries in the number of students, student/staff ratio, the number of graduates per 100,000 population, and the number of graduates relative to the local chemical industry workforce, as well as data on the average age of staff that highlighted a lack of investment in new academic staff in some countries. Bogle also wrote an article for The Chemical Engineer discussing his findings. 

The award also acknowledges Bogle’s research in the fields of process systems engineering and systems biology, and his services to the related EFCE working party on computer-aided process engineering (CAPE) and the new section on chemical engineering as applied to medicine. In addition, he developed new methodologies in the design of very large complex systems, developing controllable systems, in finding globally optimal solutions, and in identifying and exploring model sensitivities. 

Along with being a member of the Board of SusChem, the European Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, Bogle holds a string of positions including pro-vice-provost of the doctoral school at UCL, deputy director of the Centre for Process Systems Engineering, and chair of the League of European Research Universities Doctoral Studies Policy Group. 

Bogle said: “It is a huge honour to be awarded this medal. I met professor Villermaux briefly a couple of times. He made a big impression!” 

The Jacques Villermaux Medal is presented every four years to recognise "scientific achievements within the context of the Federation's science policy, working parties, conference programme or other related activities." 

The medal will be presented on 18 September 2023 during the opening of the 14th European Congress of Chemical Engineering which will be held in Berlin, Germany.