Making change happen

Building awareness of the role chemical engineers play in technological advances and the energy transition is a core goal for new IChemE president Ollie Folayan, as he explained in Birmingham. Aniqah Majid reports

On a hot day at the ThinkTank Birmingham Science Museum, IChemE president Ollie Folayan brought IChemE members and chartered members together for Making Change Happen, a workshop event focused on how the profession could better be represented three significant global conversations: clean energy, AI and decarbonisation.

“Decarbonisation, AI, materials manufacturing and biointegration – chemical engineers are absolutely essential to these changes,” said Folayan. “Our greatest collective responsibility is to teach the public why we are important.”

Over the hump

Notable among the break-out group discussions was one on chemical engineers leading the low-carbon transition. While engineers are necessary to carry out the practical and technical aspects of the transition, from making oil and gas more efficient to developing hydrogen technology, there was broad agreement that the profession needed to take more responsibility in communicating its activity to the public.

“The public care about energy bills, and we know the transition will get easier once we are over the initial price hump,” said one member. “But it’s about getting over that hump.”

Energy from renewable technologies, including solar and offshore wind, has been historically expensive because of the relative newness of the technology. 

“Chemical engineers should be leading on the transition”

However, the last decade has seen these technologies mature, becoming more affordable for energy consumers and taking a majority in energy share in the UK.

Opening up the “complex conversations” of the transition to the public has proven beneficial in building awareness of the profession.

Macsene Isles-Ahite, chair of the IChemE Milton Keynes member group, and councillor for Milton Keynes City Council, said: “For some of our site events, we have started making them open for the public to attend, allowing them to see technical presentations. It has really helped.”

Along with more public engagement, members also spoke of engineers needing to become more ambitious in being part of the legislative and political conversations around the transitioning industries they belong to.

Harry Brook, senior process engineer for Sellafield’s legacy ponds programme, said: “IChemE should have more influence on engineering standards. We made a great step with the updated code of conduct and ethics last year. But codes and ethics don’t enforce themselves. I think IChemE can help with setting this up.”

Kulvinder McDonald, a nuclear safety expert with more than three decades of experience, added: “We as chemical engineers should be the ones leading on the transition as we have more skills and expertise in these areas than most.”

McDonald said chemical engineers and IChemE should note the example of other engineering institutions vying for attention and recognition from the government and the securing of grants.

“Our ambitions need to be bigger,” she said. “There has been a lot of discussion on connecting graduates with opportunities and having more common member experiences in the institution, regardless of where people are in the world.”

Next steps

Summing up, Folayan said the event had provided insight into the challenges facing the profession, and that his focus from hereon would be on “the three C’s”: clarity, continuity and connectivity.

IChemE is planning for more Make Change Happen events in-person through member group and special interest group events as well as online through IChemE Connect.