IChemE Fellow awarded Australia Day honours

ICHEME Fellow Geoffrey Stevens, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Melbourne, has been awarded Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day 2020 Honours list.

The honours are awarded each year on Australia Day, 26 January, and recognise Australian citizens for outstanding service. Stevens was recognised for his distinguished service to education, to chemical engineering and environmental remediation, and as a mentor.

He is the Laureate Professor of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Melbourne. He leads an internationally-recognised separations group that has a primary focus on hydrometallurgy, but also includes food processing, pharmaceutical processing, and wastewater processing. He has held various positions at the university since 2000, including Head of Department in Chemical Engineering and Pro Vice Chancellor.

Stevens is a Project Leader for CO2CRC, an Australian CCS research organisation, and was Secretary General of the International Solvent Extraction Committee from 1996–2016. He also volunteered for ten years on the editorial board of IChemE’s journal Chemical Engineering Research and Design, representing the topic area of separation processes.

He was awarded the Patricia Grimshaw Award for Mentor Excellence in 2014, as well as the Carl Hanson Medal for a distinguished lifetime achievement in solvent extraction. He was also named in a list of the 100 Most Influential Engineers for three consecutive years by Engineers Australia.

Stevens said: “I am very pleased and humbled by the honour. Although it is an individual award, it has been a collective effort by many wonderful people I have worked with over the years – not just at the university, but colleagues in other areas and around the world. I would like to thank them and my wife and family for the ongoing support. I see chemical engineering as an enabling discipline and the key to many of today’s challenges. Inspiring young minds in the discipline will help us develop a more sustainable society.”

Peter Ashman, Chair, Board of IChemE in Australia, said: “Congratulations to Professor Geoffrey Stevens for this fantastic achievement, which he thoroughly deserves. He is well-respected in his field and is an inspiration to generations of chemical engineering students. I’m delighted that he has been formally recognised by the government for his contribution to education and for advancing chemical engineering.”