The company started life as a spin-out from Imperial College London’s Centre for Process Systems Engineering and has become a supporter of IChemE’s whynotchemeng programme, which aims to promote chemical engineering careers to school students aged 14-18.
Through a partnership with the Access Project and King Solomon Academy London, 18 employees at PSE’s London headquarters are tutoring GCSE and A-level students in STEM subjects. This has helped students discover career opportunities in engineering and supported their preparations for further education, such as university applications and interviews, as well as familiarised them with a business environment.
PSE also hosts up to 15 interns from European and Korean universities each year, typically on six-month work placements. The placement provides students with an industrially-relevant Master's project involving a complex process modelling application.
The award also recognises the PSE Academic Teaching Highway (PATH) scheme, which provides undergraduate chemical engineering degree programmes with specially-tailored teaching modules on process modelling. PSE’s gPROMS advanced process modelling software is used in over 200 universities for teaching and research.
IChemE’s immediate past president Jonathan Seville presented PSE’s Gold Corporate Partner certificate to managing director Costas Pantelides at PSE’s London office on 12 July.
Seville said: “PSE is a real success story. Starting life as an Imperial College spin-out, it is now the world’s leading provider of advanced process modelling technology with over 150 employees around the world. The company’s success is a great example of the strong industrial impact of academic research in UK chemical engineering departments.
“The company takes its responsibility towards the profession very seriously, encouraging its own employees in their advancement and promoting the subject to future engineers from school age right through to graduation and beyond.
“I’m delighted to present them with IChemE’s Gold Corporate Partner Award. It’s clear that everyone at PSE has a passion to encourage and inspire future generations and to advance the profession for the benefit of society.”
Pantelides said: “Because our focus as a company is on next-generation technology and workflows for the chemical process industries, it has always been important for us to help develop the next generation of engineers who will be able to take full advantage of these innovative approaches. We are delighted to have our efforts over the years recognised with the award of Gold Corporate Partner status.”
Following the upgrade to Gold, PSE is now looking to collaborate with other IChemE Corporate Partner companies on secondment agreements that will give their young chemical engineers first-hand experience of the application of advanced process modelling within industry.
Other IChemE Corporate Partners include: AstraZeneca, Bechtel and Syngenta.
