Long-term solutions and strategic thinking promoted at Shell’s NXplorers Pro event at IChemE HQ

SHELL hosted its two-day NXplorers Pro programme for chemical engineering students at IChemE’s headquarters in Rugby, UK this week, delivering workshops and team challenges designed to build systems-thinking skills and long-term strategic awareness.

The programme, now in its eighth year, aims to equip early-career engineers with the tools and mindset most valued by industry. “Our goal is really to empower people to think more strategically,” said Tariq Hussain, lead instructor for NXplorers Pro. He encouraged students to have confidence in their abilities, telling them: “The moment you started your degree course you became an engineer.”

The first day began with a talk in which Hussain emphasised the importance of identifying the “right problem” before jumping to solutions. Students then moved on to problem-solving exercises, including a team activity in which groups had to lower a pole to the ground by resting it on their fingertips – demonstrating how “complexity” and “connectivity” increase as more people and variables are added, mirroring real-world engineering systems. 

On day two, teams applied systems thinking to practical, socially relevant challenges. Workshop topics included reducing clinical waste in the NHS, minimising energy input in wastewater treatment, cutting household energy costs and strengthening job security for graduate process engineers.

Speaking to TCE midway through the event, Hussain reiterated the need for engineers to think beyond short-term fixes. He said: “It is pretty well established that to solve some of the most complex challenges that society faces you have to have long-term sustainability and long-term growth…short-termism never works.”

He added that young chemical engineers would be central to addressing global challenges such as climate change and global hunger, and that the pace of change now is “quicker than it has been for a while”. He said: “There are lots of new things that we haven’t fully understood yet that they’re exposed to, like AI, and they’re the generation that have to navigate that and help the world become a better place. And I think chemical engineers are central to that. If you think about the [UN’s] Sustainable Development Goals, chemical engineers touch every one of those and this generation feels motivated towards doing more than others.”

Student voice

David Nsongo, a second-year chemical engineering student at Canterbury Christchurch University, told TCE he attended NXplorers to “look at how we can do problem-solving for other people” and to better understand the broader social impact of engineering decisions. He said his goal is to help “move to a more electric future and a more sustainable future”.

Jewel Wangari Musai, a third-year student at Teesside University, hopes to work in the pharmaceutical sector. She said the activities had taught her more about “innovation, teamwork and having an open mind” as well as the importance of “thinking about the future”.

For Kypros Iakovou, a PhD student at Newcastle University, the workshops offered new perspectives directly relevant to his academic and applied work. He runs StuBrew, a student-led microbrewery at Newcastle, and said the systems-thinking tools learned through NXplorers would support both his PhD work and his brewing projects.

About NXplorers

Shell’s global NXplorers programme has now reached more than 400,000 young people worldwide, including over 124,000 participants in 2023 alone. The programme has also expanded to support a wider range of learners, with tailored versions for children aged 10–13 (NXplorers Junior), teenagers aged 14–18 (NXplorers Senior), and for undergraduates and working professionals through NXplorers Pro.

For more information about NXplorers, log on to https://nxplorers.com/