Pathways to Success? Assessing NESO Plans for Clean Power 2030
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) released its report last week on achieving clean power...
Features
Five minutes with… Health Researcher Hannah Leese
Adam Duckett speaks to the Nicklin Medal winner about needles and nominations, and discovers th...
Plastics: Biodegradable, Bio-based, or Compostable?
Conventional plastics are widely recognised as harmful to the environment, but are the alternativ...
Microbes, Microwaves, and Mixes: Eco-friendly Plastics Solutions
Amanda Jasi speaks to innovators striving to improve plastics sustainability and reduce their env...
Making Innovation Pay in a Sustainable Way
CPI is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Graeme Cruickshank looks at how the technology innovatio...
IChemE Matters: 'The Profession's View of the Profession'
Alexandra Meldrum introduces IChemE’s member-consulted report, “Engineering a Sustainable World –...
Snapshot: Eco-Friendly Fashion
US biotechnology company MycoWorks makes fashion eco-friendly with its patented Fine Mycelium tec...
Bringing Biomass to the Masses
A flagbearer for biotech companies looking to replace petroleum-based chemicals with plant-based ...
Internet of Things: A New Era for Biomanufacturing?
Duygu Dikicioglu and Lidia Borgosz explore the opportunities and challenges that will determine...
Palm Oil in Numbers
Palm oil's impact and benefits in numbers
Sharing the Secrets of Greener Palm Oil
Adam Duckett interviews researchers working to optimise the palm oil sector
Soil Survivor: Using Nanotech for Regenerative Agriculture
Amanda Jasi speaks to researchers using nanotechnology to help preserve, replenish and analyse soil
Making Wind Power More Sustainable
Designed to withstand decades of strong winds and harsh weather conditions, wind turbine blades a...
Fuelling the World with Biomass
Our reliance on gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel shows little sign of declining despite the push to...
Waste Away
Adam Duckett on our plastic plight and the efforts of engineers
Plastic Feedstocks: From Plants and Emissions
Kerry Hebden speaks to researchers exploring novel routes to greener plastics
The Role of Biofuels in Energy Transitions
Tod McGreevy and Ramin Lakani discuss the shifting dynamics of oil, gas and biofuels used for tr...
Brewing Up a Storm: The Origins of Biotechnology Part 2
In this two-part contribution to his series about chemical engineering history, Martin Pitt focus...
Brewing Up a Storm: The Origins of Biotechnology Part 1
In this contribution to his series about chemical engineering history, Martin Pitt turns his focu...
Our Research Focus: Spinning out, going green
Jason Hallett on why forming spin-out companies became routine, and how he hopes to help others c...
Biobatteries: Harnessing the Power of Nature
Kerry Hebden speaks to researchers who are developing novel batteries for military and environmen...
Flow Batteries: Chemicals Operations that Promise Grid-Scale Storage
Adam Duckett speaks to flow battery innovators about the history of the technology and what’s to ...
Visions of Biopharma
David Gemmell looks at possible biopharmaceutical facilities of the future
Viral Safety Challenges in Bioprocessing
David Gemmell explains how the industry keeps viruses and bacteria at bay in manufacturing
The Future of Biopharma
David Gemmell discusses the evolution of continuous and intensified bioprocessing
Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing: An Evolving Industry
David Gemmell discusses how chemical engineers play their part in modern-day biopharma
Dreaming Big and Changing the World Through Chemical Engineering
Amanda Jasi speaks to pioneering chemical engineer Robert Langer about his successes and offers a...
A Cleaner, Greener Future: ‘We are Key, and we are Responsible’
Amanda Jasi speaks to Nobel Prize winner Frances Arnold about how chemical engineering can help h...
Bioplastics Promise
Nyssa Nair, Steven Pratt, Paul Lant and Bronwyn Laycock explain the use of bacteria to produce bi...
An Introduction to the Biopharmaceutical Industry
David Gemmell looks at key unit operations, and why chemical engineers are heavily involved in th...
Precision Fermentation: A green route for protein production
Jeremy Chignell speaks to Amanda Jasi about the promise of alternative proteins
Cow-Free: A possible future for dairy
Arie Abo speaks to Amanda Jasi about using microorganisms as ‘cell factories’
The Sustainability Hub: Why? What? Who? & How?
Trish Melton looks at IChemE’s new Sustainability Hub for members
Nitrate: An Emerging Solution
Jonathan Wright and colleagues explain how their IChemE Award-winning ion exchange and encapsul...
Making Medicines: Safely
Naomi Atkinson talks about her role in ensuring safe and compliant manufacture of therapeutics an...
Lab-to-Table: Why Chemical Engineers are Key to a Meat-Free Future
Marianne Ellis talks about her work on tissue engineering to find ways to improve societal health...
A Booster for the Covid Vaccine Rollout
Ranna Eardley-Patel discusses her career path through consumer goods, nanotechnology, biopharmace...
The Chemical Industry’s Balancing Act
Lars Krause and Michael Carus discuss crediting the value of bio- and CO2-based and recycled mate...
From Wastewater to Resource
Khor Bee Chin discusses plans to reclaim precious resources from the wastewater that goes down th...
Transforming Supply Chains
Industry will be forced to adapt, says Paul Hodges
Taking Aim
Malcolm Wilkinson and members of IChemE’s Sustainability Special Interest Group discuss the futur...
Making Every Molecule Matter: The Technology Journey
Nick Flinn describes the technologies that may play a crucial role as the energy transition develops
Describe, Diagnose, Predict and Prescribe – make it Data not Drugs!
Researchers and industry have developed a guide to data analytics for pharmaceutical manufacturing
Oils & Fats: Essential Engineering
Qua Kiat Seng charts the evolution of vegetable oil production
Vaccine Development: Mind the Gap
Timothy Clayton reviews the myriad of considerations faced by IChemE volunteers seeking to suppor...
Palm Oil: Better with Enzymes
How enzyme technology could make the industry greener and more efficient
Using wood waste to produce biochemicals: green chemistry for a green future
Amanda Doyle speaks to Florence Gschwend, CEO and Co-founder of Lixea, about the company's new pr...
Learned Society Update
Claudia Flavell-While updates on the progress of IChemE’s learned society activities
Transforming Innovation for Startups
JMP discusses how Design of Experiments (DOE) can help startups bring new and better products to ...
Novel Meat for a New Age
Protein sources are gaining increasing attention due to concerns about the sustainability of tr...
Curbing Carbon Emissions with Green Methanol
Carbon Recycling International (CRI) has pioneered a process to transform CO2 emissions into meth...
Policy Perspective: Sustainable Transitions
Elena Demou explains how IChemE is supporting members to influence policy
Policy Perspective
Samson Yosef explains how IChemE is supporting members to influence policy
Waste to jet fuels project set for take off
Velocys is a company that has developed technology to convert feedstocks such as household waste ...
Answering the Call of Nature
Dyllon Randall explains how bio-bricks can be grown from human urine
IChemE Launches BioFutures Report
Daniel Firth reports on the findings and recommendations of the BioFutures programme
From Slime to Sublime
The potential of algae to recover valuable resources from waste could transform the traditional w...
Honey, I Shrunk the Antimicrobial Resistance
An engineer’s role in rejuvenating a naturally-inspired antimicrobial
Bioprocessing insights on getting the most from your data
Ahead of our coming webinar on 9 October, the presenters from JMP and GSK discuss using data to i...
Nereda: Redefining Effluent Treatment
There is a new player in the wastewater process sector, re-writing the rules of the game
Under One Roof
The University of Cambridge’s new chemical engineering and biotechnology building is open for b...
How to Build a Retina
Chemical synthesis of a retina, and how it can ‘see’ the world around it
Hands On
Adam Duckett reports from the launch of the University of Sheffield’s new continuous powder proce...
Spiralling into Affordable Healthcare
New reactor promises continuous processing of biotherapeutics
Jay Bailey – Blazing a Trail for Biology
Jay Bailey helped to bring chemical engineering to cell level. Claudia Flavell-While investigates
Biorefining and Integrated Bioresource Engineering
FBP journal – a new avenue for the research
Buses Full of Beans
The route from coffee waste to biofuel: Dickon Posnett, Argent Energy Director of Corporate Affai...
A Beacon for Biotech
Neil Clark ventures inside University of Nottingham’s new green chemicals hub
Into the Future
Water and wastewater processes: the last (and next) 30 years
Analytic Excellence: An Example from Synthetic Biology
Ahead of our coming webinar on developing a culture of analytic excellence, Adam Duckett catches ...
Technology Sharing
Why we must harness the power of horizontal innovation in the formulation sector
Usher in a New Age
Adam Duckett on ushering in a new era
News
Imperial College secures £3m grant to advance engineering biology innovation
ENGINEERING biology startups in the UK will have the opportunity to accelerate their commercial g...
BioNTech to acquire Chinese oncology startup for almost US$1bn
RESEARCHERS from SINTEF have developed a “simpler” low-cost carbon capture and storage (CCS) syst...
Biotech secures £9m to expand collagen-based biomaterial for the fashion industry
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE spinout PACT has secured £9m (US$12m) to scale the production of its “ver...
A shot of whisky and some chemical feedstocks please
WHISKY waste could provide high-value feedstocks such as lactic acid for the pharmaceuticals and ...
Bezos funds US$30m sustainable protein lab as Imperial engineers seek to revolutionise food production
A US$30m centre for sustainable protein has been launched at Imperial College London as engineers...
AstraZeneca to buy next-gen cancer therapy company for US$2.4bn
ASTRAZENECA is set to acquire Canadian cancer therapy firm Fusion Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth...
Scottish biotech firms to benefit from £847,000 investment
BIO-BASED manufacturing companies in Scotland are set to reap the benefits of an £847,000 (US$1.1...
Covestro turns to nature to divert aniline production away from fossil feedstocks
A PROCESS that uses genetically modified microorganisms to make a chemical used in insulating foa...
Isuru Udugama, 1990-2023
Obituary of Isuru Udugama, a senior lecturer at The University of Auckland and prolific academic ...
UK’s Aston University receives £10m to establish holistic membrane research centre
ASTON UNIVERSITY, UK will use £10m (US$12.8m) awarded by funder Research England to establish the...
50 technologies that could change the world
BIOLOGICALLY-INSPIRED AI, data stored in DNA, and power beamed from space are among 50 emerging t...
BP wins approval to convert Kwinana into a biorefinery
BP has been granted approval to produce biofuels as its former Kwinana refining site in Australia.
UK government lays out national vision for engineering biology industry
THE UK government has said it will invest £2bn (US$2.5bn) over the next ten years in engineering ...
Amgen buys Horizon Therapeutics for US$27.8bn
US BIOTECH company Amgen has completed its US$27.8bn acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics after a ...
Biotech pioneer appointed chair of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult
STEVE BAGSHAW has been appointed chair of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult. Bagshaw, a...
Pennsylvania researchers win Nobel Prize in Medicine for mRNA work critical to Covid-19 vaccine development
NEARLY three years after the rollout of mRNA vaccines across the world, research pioneers Katalin...
UK to host largest chemical engineering gathering in more than 20 years as IChemE wins bid for two major conferences
ICHEME has successfully bid to bring the 2027 European Congresses of Chemical Engineering (ECCE) ...
Prince William unveils third class of Earthshot Prize finalists leading the way in climate change solutions
A GREENER and more easily recycled lithium-ion battery, a microbial fuel cell for cleaning water ...
Aquaporin partners with PUB to install its biomimetic membranes in NEWater facilities
WATER technology company Aquaporin has announced it is working with Singapore's National Water Ag...
Scottish researchers explore novel PET recycling approach to produce pharmaceuticals
IN WHAT they believe to be a world first, Scottish researchers are exploring whether it is feasib...
A new gallery celebrating engineers opens at the Science Museum
AN exhibition called Engineers opened today at the Science Museum in London dedicated to world-ch...
Alvin Nienow, 1937-2022
ALVIN NIENOW, a pioneer of biochemical engineering, has died aged 85.
Merck to acquire Prometheus Biosciences for US$10.8bn
MULTINATIONAL pharmaceutical company Merck will buy Prometheus Biosciences for about US$10.8bn, a...
A century of chemical engineering at UCL
ICHEME president David Bogle has given a speech to UCL students in which he traced the history of...
Solvay will use rice husks for greener tyre chemicals
SOLVAY said it will open a new unit at a chemicals plant in Italy that will halve the carbon foot...
IBioIC increases funding for biotechnology innovation
THE Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) has launched a new call for funded feasib...
Carbon-neutral Steelanol plant to start production within weeks
ARCELORMITTAL, BHP, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering (MHIENG) have signed a funding ag...
UoQ’s A$13m research centre wants to lead the way on greener plastics
THE University of Queensland, in Australia is leading a new training centre that aims to become a...
Back in style: using enzymes to recycle PET from big brand clothing
FRENCH biotech firm Carbios has signed an agreement with On, Patagonia, Puma, and Salomon, to spe...
Ingenza awarded funding to develop carbon capture technology
BIOTECHNOLOGY company Ingenza is partnering with Johnson Matthey to produce formic acid from capt...
Moderna to open mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in UK
The UK government has signed a deal with biotech company Moderna to build a state-of-the-art mRNA...
GSK to buy biopharmaceutical company Affinivax
GLAXOSMITHKLINE (GSK) has announced it will buy biopharmaceutical company Affinivax, in a deal wo...
BioNTech and Matinas collaborate on mRNA vaccines
BIONTECH has signed a collaboration agreement with Matinas BioPharma to advance formulations for ...
Veolia to produce biomethanol using pulp mill feedstock
VEOLIA has announced plans for a biorefinery in Finland that will produce biomethanol using feeds...
UK’s state-backed vaccine manufacturing centre sold
THE UK’s emergency vaccine manufacturing innovation centre (VMIC) has been sold to US manufacture...
Now or never: emissions need to peak by 2025 says IPCC
IN its latest report, the IPCC has warned that emissions must peak by 2025 and halve by 2030 if t...
UK urged to accelerate CCS plans; and concerns raised about burning biomass
A CARBON capture trade association and a cross-party committee of MPs have called on the UK Gover...
Chevron to acquire Renewable Energy Group
CHEVRON is buying biorefinery owner Renewable Energy Group (REG) in a US$3.15bn deal.
IPCC calls for stronger adaptation to worsening climate hazards
THE IPCC has said that human-caused climate change is already resulting in detrimental effects on...
BioNTech develops modular mRNA manufacturing facilities for Africa
BIONTECH has announced that it is introducing modular and scalable mRNA manufacturing facilities ...
Project for biomanufacturing with carbon capture gets £1.3m in funding
A PROJECT that aims to be the UK’s first-of-a-kind zero carbon loss biomanufacturing system has b...
New funding to aid bioeconomy
THE Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) has launched a new fund to aid biotech co...
‘Biotech pioneer’ Elizabeth Holmes found guilty of fraud
ELIZABETH HOLMES, a former chemical engineering student who garnered praise as a Silicon Valley b...
Rapid test identifies Covid-19 antibodies
A RAPID test has been developed which can detect Covid-19 antibodies within ten minutes and doesn...
Sustainable method for recovering neodymium from electronic waste
A NEW method has been developed to remove neodymium from electronic waste using cellulose, which ...
Poll: Engineers warn sale of UK vaccine centre risks health security and industry innovation
ENGINEERS have hit out at the UK Government’s reported plans to sell off the country’s emergency ...
Sugar beet could kickstart Scottish bioeconomy
GROWING sugar beet in Scotland and processing it at a new biorefinery could help the country beco...
Students awarded first US$5m from Elon Musk’s carbon removal prize
23 student-led teams have won the first US$5m portion of the US$100m carbon removal prize launche...
Research could see fish waste used for nylon production
SCOTTISH researchers are exploring a new bio-based process for more environmentally-friendly and ...
Biotech demonstrator will produce acetone from captured industrial emissions
NORWAY is set to host a demonstration plant that will use biotechnology to convert 10,000 t/y of ...
Chemical engineers join Biden advisory panel
TWO chemical engineers – Frances Arnold and Paula Hammond – will advise US President Joe Biden as...
Clean Cells to build new production facility
BIOPHARMACEUTICAL company Clean Cells has invested €13m (US$15.3m) in a new production facility i...
Shell to build biofuel facility in the Netherlands
SHELL plans to build an 820,000 t/y biofuels facility in the Netherlands, which it claims will be...
UK funds projects to boost production of biomass
THE UK Government has awarded £4m (US$5.5m) across 24 projects to increase biomass production tha...
Engineered yeast strain could revive interest in non-food bio-feedstocks
CHEMICAL engineers at MIT have genetically engineered yeast that are tolerant to toxic biorefinin...
Nouryon expands Kromasil facility
NOURYON is investing in its Kromasil manufacturing facility in Bohus, Sweden, to help meet increa...
Siemens and BioNTech commit to accelerate Covid-19 vaccine scale-out, starting in Singapore
SIEMENS and BioNTech say they will build a Covid-19 vaccine facility in Singapore, as part of eff...
WHO announces first Covid vaccine technology transfer hub
The World Health Organization (WHO) and its COVAX partners are working with a South African conso...
Waste-to-methanol facility to be constructed at Port of Amsterdam
GIDARA Energy has announced that it will construct an advanced biofuels facility in Amsterdam tha...
Using a sponge made of pollen to soak up oil from contaminated water
A POLLEN-BASED sponge has been developed as a more environmentally friendly way of soaking up oil...
Biorefining company gets funding boost for scaleup
LIXEA has received a grant of €2m (US$2.4m) from the European Innovation Council Fund to support ...
Increasing yield for portable vaccine production method
RESEARCHERS at Northwestern University, US have discovered a way to improve their new protein-bas...
Solvay switches soda ash plant from coal to biomass
SOLVAY says its soda ash plant in Rheinberg, Germany will become the first in the world to use 10...
BioNTech announces new facility in Singapore
BIONTECH has announced that it will build an mRNA manufacturing facility in Singapore as well as ...
Lonza and Moderna enter agreement to increase vaccine production
LONZA has entered a new agreement with Moderna to double production for Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccin...
Turning food waste into aviation fuel
A BIOREFINING process that converts wet waste – including food waste and wastewater sludge – into...
Pilot plant will convert soybean waste into bioplastic
A FINNISH consortium is building a pilot plant to convert waste from soybean processing into comp...
Eni starts production at new biorefinery
ENI’s new biomass treatment unit (BTU) has begun production at its site in Gela, Italy.
Obituary Giovanni (Jan) Guidoboni CEng FIChemE, 1940–2021
Obituary of Jan Guidoboni, a long-time Fellow of IChemE, winner of the Donald Medal 1996 for “out...
Novartis joins effort to produce CureVac vaccine for Covid-19
NOVARTIS has signed an agreement to manufacture CureVac’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate at its site ...
UK to introduce petrol with 10% bioethanol
E10 fuel – petrol blended with 10% bioethanol – is set to be introduced in the UK in September.
Velocys signs agreement for commercial-scale biomass-to-jet fuel in Japan
VELOCYS has signed a collaboration agreement with Toyo Engineering to produce renewable fuels in ...
BioNTech secures deals for lipids needed in vaccine
BIONTECH has partnered with Merck and Evonik to expand lipid production for its Covid-19 vaccine.
AstraZeneca plans to expand European vaccine manufacturing
ASTRAZENECA has signed a deal with IDT Biologika to explore options to accelerate manufacturing o...
New bacterium can improve wastewater treatment
A NEWLY-discovered bacterium strain could be used to remove nitrogen and phosphorous from sewage ...
What is causing AstraZeneca’s vaccine production woes?
WITH Covid-19 vaccine manufacture making headlines for all the wrong reasons, I spoke with expert...
Valneva starts manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine
VALNEVA has announced that it has started manufacturing its Covid-19 vaccine as clinical trials a...
CureVac joins forces with Bayer to speed up supply of Covid-19 vaccine
CUREVAC has agreed to work with Bayer to accelerate the development and supply of its Covid-19 va...
Veolia opens new wood waste processing facility
VEOLIA has announced that it has expanded its wood recycling and processing capacity by 50,000 t/...
Bagshaw awarded CBE in New Year Honours
STEVE Bagshaw, a Fellow of IChemE, has been awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours List for his se...
UK releases plan on net zero transition
THE UK Government has released its long-awaited Energy White Paper on how the country’s energy sy...
Evonik and Siemens test plant to produce chemicals from carbon dioxide
EVONIK and Siemens have commissioned a pilot plant that uses microorganisms to convert water and ...
Scientists demonstrate powdered vaccine can break the cold chain
SCIENTISTS have taken a step forward in breaking the so-called vaccine “cold chain” by creating a...
Partners join forces to supply turnkey biotech plants
SIEMENS has formed a partnership with process plant designer Exyte to quickly deliver turnkey bio...
Covid-19 vaccine could be ready by year end, says AZ CEO
ASTRAZENECA says it could begin production of a vaccine for Covid-19 by the end of the year after...
Synthetic biology touted for specialty chemicals production
SYNTHETIC biology will develop over the next decade from creating niche, environmentally friendly...
IChemE publishes biosector career profiles
ICHEME has launched a collection of chemical engineering career profiles to inspire the next gene...
UK launches vaccine taskforce to co-ordinate scaleup
THE UK Government has today announced the formation of a new taskforce that will help prepare the...
UK water industry sets 2030 net zero target
WATER UK has announced that it will develop plans to achieve net zero emissions across the water ...
IChemE offers support to UK Government in response to coronavirus crisis
THE INSTITUTION of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) has written to the UK Government to offer support ...
Replacing petroleum with wood in chemicals production
AN interdisciplinary team of researchers has calculated how wood could replace petroleum in the c...
Coronavirus: the push to produce a vaccine
WITH more than 75,000 cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection having killed more than 2,0...
CPI and Oxford partner to scale up biocatalysis technology
TECHNOLOGY innovation centre CPI and the University of Oxford, UK have partnered to scale up tech...
Turning banana waste into food packaging
RESEARCHERS at the University of New South Wales, Australia, have developed a process to turn ban...
CPI partners with ImmunoBiology to produce pneumococcal vaccines that don’t require cold chain
CPI is partnering with ImmunoBiology (ImmBio) to develop a vaccine that protects against illnesse...
DuPont buys out UCD spinout OxyMem
DUPONT has bought out OxyMem, a wastewater technology company that was spun out of University Col...
Four new biofuel plants receive funding in UK
THE UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) has announced funding for four new biofuel plants.
Drax announces ambition to be world’s first carbon negative company by 2030
DRAX power station in North Yorkshire, UK, plans to become carbon negative by 2030 through its us...
Communication troubles are holding back UK biotech
ENGINEERING biology must learn to communicate better if the breakout discipline is to achieve its...
Drax raises biomass sustainability standards
DRAX has strengthened its biomass sustainability policy and appointed an Independent Advisory Boa...
Using CO2 and “green” energy to produce specialty chemicals
EVONIK and Siemens have launched the second phase of their joint research project Rheticus, in wh...
Future of clean energy discussed at London workshop
THE Fuel and Energy Research Forum held its Workshop on Combustion-related Research and the Inaug...
Novel process for damage-free algae biomass harvesting
RESEARCHERS at the University of Tsukuba, Japan have developed a novel, damage-free process for r...
Neste expands Singapore biofuels refinery
NESTE is investing US$1.4bn in an expansion to its Singapore renewable fuels refinery.
BP and Bunge form joint venture to produce biofuels
BP and agricultural trader Bunge have announced a joint venture to produce biofuels and bioenergy...
New process improves efficiency of isobutanol production
RESEARCHERS have developed a new process for producing the biofuel isobutanol more economically.
WHP wins contract for new UK vaccine centre
ENGINEERING contractor WHP has won a contract to help design the UK’s Vaccines Manufacturing Inno...
Cattle feed and dye membranes win MIT water prize
ENTREPRENEURS who are developing process technologies to remove dyes from industrial wastewater a...
BP joins effort to make paraxylene from biological sources
BP has formed a partnership with Virent and Johnson Matthey to commercialise a process that produ...
Fujifilm and unis join forces on bioprocessing innovation
FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, a contract developer and manufacturer, has partnered with the ...
£20m boost for UK steel and biotech
BIOMANUFACTURING and the steel sector have each been awarded £10m in funding to help commercialis...
IChemE releases report on the role of chemical engineering in the biosector
ICHEME’s BioFutures Steering Group has released a report with recommendations on how the Institut...
Alvin Nienow wins Peter Dunnill Award
ICHEME Fellow Alvin Nienow has received the Peter Dunnill Award in recognition of his outstanding...
GSK and Pfizer merge consumer healthcare businesses
GSK and Pfizer are merging their consumer healthcare businesses in a move that will create a mark...
Scepticism over the UK bioeconomy strategy
INDUSTRY has expressed mixed reactions towards the recently-released UK Bioeconomy Strategy. The ...
Westminster Abbey hosts engineering celebration
ENGINEERING was the focus of celebration today at a first-of-a-kind national service held at Lond...
Demonstration plant for ground-breaking chemicals technology
PHOTANOL, a platform renewable chemicals company, is building a demonstration plant for what it c...
UK set to see surge in biomethane plants
THE UK is set to see a 50% rise in biomethane plants operating by 2020, with as much as £400m (US...
Caltech chemical engineer Frances Arnold wins Nobel Prize
CHEMICAL engineer Frances Arnold has been awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her pione...
Liquid membrane blocks small particles and lets big ones through
A SELF-HEALING liquid membrane has been developed that acts as a reverse filter by blocking small...
UK’s largest bioethanol facility set to close
VIVERGO FUELS has said it is looking to close the UK’s largest bioethanol plant by the end of Sep...
Lab-on-a-chip moves droplets via sound waves
A LAB-ON-A-CHIP that can allow droplets to ‘surf’ across oil using acoustic waves has been develo...
AkzoNobel signs deal with Renmatix to develop bio-based paint additives
AKZONOBEL and Renmatix, a specialist in plant-based technology, have formed a partnership to make...
Metal-polymer hybrid used to create flexible electronics
A HYBRID conductive material has been developed for flexible electronic circuits by combining ela...
Nanoparticles for non-invasive scar detection
NANOPARTICLES which emit fluorescent signals in the presence of scar cells could be used for non-...
New 3D printer creates complex biological tissues
A 3D printer has been developed that uses a microfluidics chip to combine multiple cell-laden hyd...
3D-printing human corneas
HUMAN corneas have been 3D-bioprinted using a specially designed bio-ink containing corneal cells.
IChemE member honoured by World Economic Forum
IChemE member Rona Chandrawati has been named in the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Young Scientists...
Takeda and Shire agree £46bn takeover
TAKEDA PHARMACEUTICAL has agreed to buy Shire for £46bn (US$62bn) as it seeks to create a global ...
BASF agrees to buy Bayer’s vegetable seeds business for €1.7bn
BAYER has agreed to sell its entire vegetable seeds business to BASF for €1.7bn (US$2bn), as it s...
Engineered enzyme digests plastic
AN EXPERIMENT to study a plastic-eating bacterium accidentally created a mutant enzyme that degra...
Light-controlled yeast produces biofuel
MODIFIED yeast that use light as a switch to change metabolic pathways have been used to produce ...
Takeda mulls bid for Shire
JAPAN’S Takeda Pharmaceutical has revealed it is considering a bid for Ireland’s Shire as it seek...
Distinguished chemical engineers join QE Prize panel
TWO chemical engineers - Jinghai Li and Raghunath Anant Mashelkar – have joined the judging panel...
Keeping proteins active outside of the cell
A METHOD has been developed for keeping proteins functional in non-native environments, which cou...
Hybrid cells bridge the gap between biological and artificial cells
LIVING and non-living components have been combined using microfluidics to create a hybrid cell c...
BASF in exclusive talks to buy Bayer’s vegetable seeds business
BAYER is in talks to sell its entire vegetable seeds business to BASF as it seeks to address anti...
Exxon’s algae biofuel venture enters new phase, targeting 10,000 bbl/d
EXXONMOBIL and biotech pioneer Synthetic Genomics are starting field trails for their joint algae...
3D printing of living cells using in-air microfluidics
A TECHNIQUE has been developed that allows two fluids to be combined mid-air by using two jets of...
Genomatica and Aquafil join forces to make bio-based nylon
GENOMATICA is working with nylon-maker Aquafil to produce one of its key feedstocks – caprolactam...
Evonik and Siemens announce two-year plan to create 'technical photosynthesis'
EVONIK and Siemens are working together on a process to produce specialty chemicals from carbon d...
Cheap paper sensor detects water impurities
A MULTIDISCIPINARY research team from the University of Bath, UK, has developed a cheap, sustaina...
MIT turns living plants into desk lamps
CHEMICAL ENGINEERS at MIT have engineered a living plant to emit green light, with the eventual h...
Celtic Renewables to build whisky biofuels plant
INNOVATIVE UK biofuel company Celtic Renewables is to build its first commercial demonstration pl...
Fraunhofer creates spherical probes for bioreactor optimisation
RESEARCHERS at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nanosystems (ENAS) have developed mo...
UK’s largest bioethanol facility shuts down in face of political instability
THE UK’s largest bioethanol producer has halted production at its plant in East Yorkshire, blamin...
Preparing for a turf war
THE US military plans to go green – as it announces plans to fund the development of “spy plants”...
One-step metabolic engineering
A NEW model in the production of biofuels and chemicals by metabolic engineering could be enabled...
Government outlines plan to make UK world’s most innovative nation
THE UK government has published its long-awaited Industrial Strategy as it seeks to boost industr...
A microbial ‘tape recorder’
BACTERIAL cells that work as a “tape recorder”, by recording environmental interactions and time-...
Bioengineering opportunities and risks
MAJOR issues that could face industry, society and the environment as a result of the growing bio...
New continuous cell therapy bioprocess
A COATING that allows the first ever continuous production of cells could remove a significant bo...
Detecting water leaks with ‘smart paper’
A SMART paper laced with conductive nanomaterials could be used to easily locate water leaks in a...
Living solar panel printed on paper
BIO-SOLAR panels have been printed to resemble wallpaper, and could lead to new types of electric...
Bioinspired polymers self-assemble like proteins
RESEARCHERS in the US have worked out how to make polymer chains self-assemble into a desired str...
An olive branch for a circular economy
RESEARCHERS have piloted a process to turn a waste stream from olive oil manufacture into biofuel...
Malaysia’s Sabah to set up first oleochemical plant
THE Malaysian state of Sabah is to set up its first oleochemical plant, which will process indust...
A fashionable process
A PILOT facility in Finland has successfully trialled an environmentally-friendly process to recy...
Surf and turf: replacing plastic laminates
A COMPOSTABLE biomaterial made of derivatives from lobster shells and wood could sustainably repl...
IChemE member wins Malaysian award
A PRESTIGIOUS award that honours outstanding young Malaysians has been won by IChemE Member Denny...
Biodiesel: The tip of the fatberg
A GIANT “fatberg” made of congealed insoluble matter will be converted into 10,000 L of biodiesel...
Caterpillars might not break down plastic after all
RESEARCHERS in Germany say that research earlier this year showing that waxworms can chemically b...
Shott: UK chemical industry should focus on strengths
FORMER IChemE president Ian Shott says that the huge UK chemical industry must focus on its stren...
Singapore pharma innovation programme launched
A MEMORANDUM of understanding between three industry giants and Singapore’s public sector was sig...
Cyborg bacteria make chemicals from sunlight
“CYBORG” bacteria covered in tiny solar panels have been demonstrated to produce acetic acid from...
Making magic
BIOSYNTHESIS of psilocybin, the psychoactive drug found in so-called “magic mushrooms”, has been ...
Medical adhesive inspired by slugs
AN ADHESIVE inspired by a species of slug has been described by researchers, who say it adheres f...
Wessex Water and Bath trial algae treatment
WESSEX WATER and the University of Bath, UK, are trialling the use of algae farms to reduce the n...
Wood digestion without enzymes
SUCCESSFULLY understanding the unique, non-enzymatic digestion of wood by a fungus has been descr...
Protein made using CO2 and electricity
RESEARCHERS in Finland have successfully produced a batch of single-cell protein using electricit...
Very strong plant-inspired graphene aerogel
A NEW form of graphene aerogel, inspired by the structure of a plant stem, is exceptionally stron...
Cutting biofuel production time
A BIOMASS pre-treatment technique could make biofuels cheaper, safer and up to 172% faster to pro...
RAEng report calls for waste-based biofuels
BIOFUELS should be made from waste and byproducts, not food crops, if their carbon emissions redu...
Spinning webs sustainably
HYDROGEL fibres similar to spider silk have been spun at room temperature, and researchers say it...
Roadtrip fuelled on whisky waste
PROCESS developers are celebrating a roadtrip fuelled by whisky waste.
Shell partners SBI for drop-in biofuels
SBI BIOENERGY has granted exclusive development and licensing rights for its drop-in biofuels tec...
Notts Uni to reprogramme chemicals production
GREEN chemicals are a focus of a new £200m (US$253m) investment announced by the UK’s University ...
Exxon and partner double algae oil output
EXXONMOBIL and biotech pioneer Synthetic Genomics have announced a breakthrough in biofuels resea...
