IChemE Matters – February 2026

Finding our collective voice

Raffaella Ocone, IChemE president

The end of the year naturally invites reflection on what has passed, just as the beginning of a new year encourages fresh resolutions. For me, the end of 2025 marked the halfway point of my presidency, making reflection both timely and inevitable. As I look back on my work, I see the coming months not as a change in direction but as a continuation and consolidation of the work already underway.

As I committed to in my presidential address, I have used my tenure as an opportunity to engage with as many members as possible, not only in the UK but across the world. Although I have been a member myself for three decades, sitting on the other side of the table offers a very different perspective. It has revealed nuances of our discipline that I had not fully appreciated.

One observation has become particularly clear: we still, to some extent, operate in silos. Member groups do not interact with one another as fully as they could; academics and industrialists do not engage with each other as closely as they should. We must make sure that these disconnects do not weaken our collective voice at precisely the moment when chemical engineering needs to be clearly understood and visible beyond our community. Breaking down these silos is therefore not an end in itself, but a necessary condition for greater external impact.

This is why my resolution for the coming months is to create more opportunities for exchange and interaction – within chemical engineering and between our discipline and the wider world. A more connected and outward-facing profession is better positioned to demonstrate its value to politicians, policymakers, industry leaders and society at large.

The launch of the UK government’s Industrial Strategy at the very beginning of my presidency has given this objective a clear focus. A significant part of my work has been dedicated to making the case to politicians and policymakers that the strategy cannot be successfully implemented without chemical engineers. That effort is ongoing. Chemical engineers make fundamental contributions across all the strategy’s priority sectors. Over the past six months, we have advocated strongly for this message. The next phase is about consolidation – bringing together the breadth of expertise within our membership and aligning it with external partners to deliver tangible impact. By strengthening connections across our community and working closely with organisations such as the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI), Chemical Industries Association (CIA) and Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), we can ensure that chemistry and chemical engineering sit firmly at the heart of the Industrial Strategy’s implementation.

If you would like to discuss any of the points raised or have ideas you would like to share, you can contact me at president@icheme.org

 

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A year to remember

Duncan Lugton, head of policy and impact

As I am moving on to a new opportunity next month, I wanted to use my last Policy Corner to reflect on my two-and-a-half years at IChemE. While I am not a chemical engineer myself, working here has left me with a deep connection to the profession and the amazing work it does. Before this job I didn’t know much about the different engineering disciplines, and I certainly didn’t have an opinion about which one is the most exciting or important. Well, I do now.

The best example I can give of how much I’ve come to care about chemical engineering is that I now speak passionately about it at parties. I tell people about how chemical engineers are extremely unusual – they are a profession with the power to genuinely make the world a more hopeful place.

Climate change and sustainability are usually high on the media and political agenda but the news on these topics tends to be pretty depressing and it can sometimes feel like there’s nothing that can be done to make a difference. But while all this is going on, chemical engineers aren’t paralysed by despair, rather they are quietly getting on with saving the planet. Bit by bit, innovation by innovation, chemical engineers are working to make our situation that bit less perilous. Any route to a more hopeful future goes through chemical engineers – whether that’s the deployment of carbon capture technology, rolling out green energy or developing more sustainable processes. And this is more important now than ever.

I mentioned that engineers are often “quietly getting on with saving the planet”. I hope that in my time at IChemE, I’ve helped chemical engineers be a bit less quiet – raising our profile, engaging decision-makers and ensuring our voice is heard. It has been a real privilege to champion the perspective of the profession and I could not be more excited to see this continued under Mitchell Clark, who will be taking on the policy brief after me. Mitchell has a background in chemistry and in the civil service in New Zealand, so he’s a fantastic person to build on what we’ve started over the last couple of years. I wish him every success and I cannot wait to see where he takes the policy work next.

I’d like to close by saying a huge thank you to everyone who I’ve worked with while I’ve been in this role, both IChemE staff and our brilliant members. I’ve been blown away by how generous our members have been with their time and their insight, and it has been a genuine pleasure to collaborate with you all. I’ll be watching the next steps of this journey with great interest.

Thank you!

 

For more on our work: www.icheme.org/policy

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IChemE opens entries for 2026 YEAIS

ICHEME has opened entries for the 2026 Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability (YEAIS), inviting members aged 18–30 to showcase projects addressing real-world challenges in chemical, biochemical and process engineering.

The awards recognise innovative thinking and practical solutions across a wide range of sectors, including energy, manufacturing, healthcare and the circular economy. Open to students and early-career professionals, YEAIS aims to highlight emerging talent and encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing among the next generation of engineers.

Previous participants say the awards offer valuable exposure and perspective beyond academic or early professional settings. Shuya Hou, from the University of Surrey and winner of the Process Safety category, said: “Participating in YEAIS was one of the most inspiring experiences of my academic journey. It broadened my view of engineering’s role in addressing global challenges and connected me with brilliant, like-minded peers.”

Finalist Gayatri Sundar Rajan said the competition helped her refine how she communicated her work to a broader audience: “It was a wonderful opportunity to share my research with the larger chemical engineering community, gain feedback on industrial scaleup and get a sense of what framing resonates with a wider audience.”

Entrants are asked to submit a poster demonstrating technical innovation and its potential sustainability impact. Submissions will be accepted across 11 priority areas, including digitalisation and artificial intelligence, energy and climate action, engineering biology, process safety, waste valorisation and water and sanitation. The first 50 entrants will be offered optional feedback from YEAIS judges to help strengthen their poster submissions. IChemE said the support is intended as a learning opportunity and will not influence judging outcomes.

IChemE said the awards play an important role in supporting early-career engineers and strengthening the profession’s talent pipeline at a time when sustainability and innovation are central to addressing global challenges.

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More information on the awards and how to enter is available at bit.ly/icheme-yeais-2026