Adapting to Change
Parika Ale explains why she believes that – in some ways at least – the global pandemic has been ...
Features
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...
An Introduction to the Biopharmaceutical Industry
David Gemmell looks at key unit operations, and why chemical engineers are heavily involved in th...
Continuing in a Crisis
Robert Walker explains the lessons he learned in successfully enabling critical gas supplies to c...
Thailand: Covid-19 and the Vaccine
How the Covid-19 vaccine development is progressing in Thailand
LOPA Versus Covid
Ali Mokhber, Christopher Ross, and Pablo Garcia-Trinanes describe how layers of protection analys...
A Standard Response
Members have grounds for optimism, says IChemE CEO Jon Prichard
Search Light
Adam Duckett on searching for the positive news
The Pharmaceutical Industry: Engineering Frustrations
Hedley Rees and Keith Plumb discuss how current methods of drug development are impeding engineer...
Feedback Loops
Adam Duckett on the changes being forced upon us by Covid-19.
Digital Therapeutics
How far has the technology come, asks Parminder Bansal
Quickly, More Vaccines
Chris Lucas speaks to Adam Duckett about accelerating the UK’s emergency vaccine production capab...
Vaccine Development: Mind the Gap
Timothy Clayton reviews the myriad of considerations faced by IChemE volunteers seeking to suppor...
HAZOP in a World of Covid
Conor Crowley looks at how his team has adapted to conduct good HAZOPs amidst pandemic and lockdown
Six Keys to Recovery for the Chemicals Industry
Six digital technologies that can be implemented now to achieve greater visibility and insights f...
Chemical Engineering Education in the Age of Disruption
Esther Ventura-Medina wonders what will the future look like after Covid-19?
How Chemicals Companies Can Drive Operational Resilience with the Digital Twin
Paige Marie Morse explains how companies have been using digital technologies to adapt to the cor...
PPE Challenge Accepted
Zeb Ahmed and Nick Geary talk to Adam Duckett about the projects they are facilitating to help fi...
Helping Hands in the Health Crisis
Amanda Jasi speaks to companies that have begun producing hand sanitiser, to help prevent the spr...
The diagnostics challenge
Testing provides the essential information needed for key decisions such as when to relax lockdow...
A Project to Develop and Protect
Matthew Duchars and John Challenger describe the plans to design and build a facility that the UK...
Managing vaccine manufacture scaleup
Withthe UK Government having announced the formation of a new taskforce that will help prepare th...
Chemical Plants: Surviving the Coronavirus Storm
Joan Cordiner looks at how operations have adapted to the pandemic
Continue your CPD virtually with IChemE
IChemE has accelerated plans to offer many of its most popular training courses virtually in resp...
Teaming up for Vaccines
CPI discusses the importance of bringing an engineering mindset to collaborate with biologists on...
Overcoming oxygen supply issues
Patients made severely ill may have difficulty breathing and require treatment with machines such...
A Balancing Act: Covid-19 and the Climate
Amanda Doyle looks at how the crisis of coronavirus is impacting the pressing need to go green
Seeking a silver lining
Adam Duckett on engineering coming to the fore
Learned society responds to Covid-19
It is a key part of our professional engineering responsibility that we use our skills and expert...
Reader feedback
We asked our reader feedback panel to tell us how they have been impacted by the coronavirus pand...
Providing Help, Staying Safe
Stephen Richardson on IChemE and the effect of the coronavirus
News
IChemE Matters – March 2025
Mark Apsey and Duncan Lugton talk policy and we catch up with Dylan Sherman to ask about his expe...
Moderna secures partial victory in Covid vaccine dispute with Pfizer and BioNTech
MODERNA has won part of its UK patent case against Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech over th...
Moderna wins Covid vaccine patent case in ongoing Pfizer, BioNTech battle
MODERNA has won the latest round of its long-running legal battle with Pfizer and its German part...
Oxford’s rapid Covid test wins top prize at IChemE Awards
THE University of Oxford has been given IChemE’s outstanding achievement in chemical and process ...
UK’s state-backed vaccine manufacturing centre sold
THE UK’s emergency vaccine manufacturing innovation centre (VMIC) has been sold to US manufacture...
Croda to expand UK lipids output for vaccine production
CRODA has been awarded £15.9m (US$20.8m) by the UK Government to increase the output of its plant...
BioNTech develops modular mRNA manufacturing facilities for Africa
BIONTECH has announced that it is introducing modular and scalable mRNA manufacturing facilities ...
Rapid test identifies Covid-19 antibodies
A RAPID test has been developed which can detect Covid-19 antibodies within ten minutes and doesn...
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 ...
Talks under way for Covid-19 vaccine supply in Africa
JOHNSON & Johnson and multinational specialty pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare have reache...
Valneva collaborates for Covid-19 vaccine production
VALNEVA and biotech company IDT Biologika are collaborating to produce Valneva’s inactivated Covi...
Clean Cells to build new production facility
BIOPHARMACEUTICAL company Clean Cells has invested €13m (US$15.3m) in a new production facility i...
MoU for Canadian mRNA vaccine facility
MODERNA has announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Canadian Government to build a...
Sanofi to buy Translate Bio to advance mRNA therapeutics
SANOFI will acquire its partner Translate Bio in a US$3.2bn deal to further develop mRNA vaccines...
Chemical engineers collaborate for ‘cookie-cutter’ oxygen units
THREE chemical engineers at different universities around the world are collaborating to develop ...
Partnership to produce Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in South Africa
PFIZER and BioNTech have signed a letter of intent with South African biopharmaceutical company B...
Engineers’ report says proper building ventilation crucial to control Covid
THE Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), along with partners including IChemE, have released a r...
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...
Pilot project develops process to recycle single-use face masks
A COLLABORATION between research and industry is developing a closed loop process where single-us...
WHO announces first Covid vaccine technology transfer hub
The World Health Organization (WHO) and its COVAX partners are working with a South African conso...
Student team’s potato mask wins inaugural John Davidson competition
A TEAM of school students who developed a biodegradable face mask made from potato starch have wo...
Innova to manufacture rapid Covid-19 tests in UK
INNOVA Medical Group has announced plans to manufacture its rapid Covid-19 tests in the UK throug...
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...
Sanofi to support 200m Covid vaccines
SUPPORTING global supply demand, Sanofi will help Moderna manufacture up to 200m doses of the bio...
Sanofi invests in new vaccine production facility in Singapore
SANOFI is investing €400m (US$479m) over five years to build a new vaccine production facility in...
Santos greenlights Australia’s largest oil and gas investment in close to a decade
SANTOS has sanctioned a US$3.6bn investment in the Barossa gas project off Australia’s Northern T...
Agreement to support Covid-19 vaccine manufacture
BIOPHARMACEUTICAL company Takeda and IDT Biologika have announced an agreement to use IDT capacit...
BioNTech expects 2.5bn Covid-19 vaccines in 2021
BioNTech expects to expand manufacturing capacity for the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine to up to 2.5bn ...
GSK supports UK vaccine manufacture
GSK, Novavax, and the UK Government Vaccines Taskforce have reached an agreement in principle for...
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 ...
Johnson & Johnson to collaborate with Merck to increase vaccine production
MERCK will produce Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines in a collaboration that the Biden administ...
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...
Closure of Altona refinery fuels concerns about Australian manufacturing
EXXONMOBIL is closing its Altona refinery in Victoria, Australia. The decision comes hot on the h...
Survey finds UK engineering companies lack skills to meet net zero target
A SURVEY by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has found that 93% of engineering...
CureVac expands vaccine manufacturing with Bayer and GSK
CUREVAC, which is developing an mRNA vaccine for Covid-19, will boost its manufacturing capacity ...
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...
Volunteers publish guide to help public understand fill and finish and drug product release
Members of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering UK Affiliate (ISPE UK) and IC...
UK Government aims to increase production of rapid Covid-19 tests
THE UK Government has commissioned PA Consulting to develop plans to scale up manufacturing of la...
BioNTech increases Covid-19 vaccine production target to 2bn for 2021
BIONTECH has said that it aims to produce 2bn doses of its vaccine this year through increased ma...
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...
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...
Stories to read while we are away
WITH the editorial team having shut down their laptops until 4 January, we wanted to close with a...
AstraZeneca buys Alexion for US$39bn
ASTRAZENECA has agreed to buy US biotech firm Alexion for US$39bn in a move that will expand its ...
Attention turns to vaccine production following successful trials
FOLLOWING three highly-encouraging Covid-19 vaccine trials, the light at the end of the tunnel su...
Project to convert medical waste into hydrogen fuel gets funding from Welsh Government
A PROCESS being developed by researchers in the UK and India to convert medical waste – such as P...
UK to invest £12bn for a ‘green industrial revolution’
UK PRIME Minister Boris Johnson has announced £12bn (US$15.87bn) in funding for a ten-point plan ...
IChemE welcomes vaccine announcement but calls for engineering focus
ICHEME’s Covid-19 Response Team has welcomed the early results on the Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-1...
ExxonMobil announces 1,900 US job cuts
EXXONMOBIL has announced that it will cut 1,900 US jobs as part of ongoing global efforts to achi...
BES appointed to fit out UK’s VMIC
SERVICES company BES has been appointed to fit out the UK’s new Vaccine Manufacturing Innovation ...
Experts warn global Covid vaccine could take until late 2023
DESPITE global efforts to develop and deploy a successful Covid-19 vaccine to end the current pan...
US$130m facility to expand Asia Pacific sterile filling capacity
SCIENCE company Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced plans to expand sterile filling capacity f...
Solvay launches products to help prevent Covid spread
SOLVAY has recently launched two new products that could help prevent the spread of coronavirus –...
Engineers tell government how PPE could be reused in the UK
SERIOUS consideration should be given to decontaminating and reusing PPE to alleviate shortages a...
Shell to cut up to 9,000 jobs
SHELL will cut 7,000 – 9,000 jobs as the company is reorganised to transition to a lower-carbon b...
Cefic calls for Covid-19 recovery plans to drive chemicals sustainability
EUROPE’S chemicals industry trade body, Cefic, has called for the EU to use its rescue funding to...
ExxonMobil launches voluntary redundancy programme
EARLIER this month, ExxonMobil announced that it had launched a voluntary redundancy programme fo...
Transition to low-carbon world needs to be faster, says DNV GL report
ENERGY-RELATED CO2 emissions have peaked due to the pandemic, but the world is still on track to ...
Partnership creates alcohol-free sanitisers
A PARTNERSHIP between researchers at Aston University, UK, and EcoMotive has developed alcohol-fr...
UK bolsters Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity
THE UK Government has increased the nation’s Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity. It has agre...
Ineos launches new healthcare business
INEOS has launched Ineos Hygienics as part of its pandemic response to produce hand gel and sanit...
UK Government invests £100m to accelerate Covid-19 vaccine manufacture
THE UK Government has announced a £100m (US$127.7m) investment to fund a state-of-the-art facilit...
UK announces £350m funding boost for green recovery
THE UK Government has announced £350m (US$445m) in funding for a green recovery from the Covid-19...
Covid-19 antibody test gives results in 20 minutes
A BLOOD test has been developed by researchers in Australia which can detect Covid-19 antibodies ...
Researcher develops coating to inactivate Covid-19 virus
A PROFESSOR at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), US has develo...
Researchers awarded funding to develop reusable facemasks to help meet PPE shortfall
RESEARCHERS at the University of Cincinnati (UC), US, have been awarded about US$200,000 in fundi...
IChemE identifies vaccine production capabilities
ICHEME has compiled a list of manufacturing sites in the UK and Ireland that have the potential c...
BASF lends supercomputer to fight against Covid-19
BASF has been using its supercomputer to help identify molecules that might help in the fight aga...
UK Government announces 'major' support for UK research sector
The UK’s Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has announced two major supp...
Partners join forces to supply turnkey biotech plants
SIEMENS has formed a partnership with process plant designer Exyte to quickly deliver turnkey bio...
Study predicts substantial job losses in oil and gas following price collapse
A STUDY examining prospects for activity in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) has projected a sharp...
IChemE can help to increase availability of Covid-19 treatment drugs
THE IChemE Covid-19 Response Team is supporting efforts to increase the availability of drugs tha...
RAEng reviews engineering controls to fight Covid-19
THE UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) has published a rapid review of engineering control...
BP cuts 10,000 jobs
BP has announced that it will cut 10,000 jobs by the end of the year due to the economic impact o...
AstraZeneca to begin manufacturing coronavirus vaccine candidate immediately
ASTRAZENECA is beginning to manufacture a coronavirus vaccine candidate, following a commitment f...
Time running out to nominate exceptional engineers for Covid-19 response
THE Royal Academy of Engineering will make a special series of awards to engineers who are have b...
Researchers source and develop PPE to protect surgeons
RESEARCHERS at Imperial College London, UK, have sourced and developed personal respirator equipm...
COP26 delayed a year until November 2021
THE COP26 climate change summit has been delayed for a full year until November 2021 due to the C...
Call for evidence on the economic recovery benefits of hydrogen
THE UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hydrogen has called for submissions to inform an...
Vaccine manufacturing centre to be scaled up
THE Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) has received funding from the UK Governme...
Urgent call for members to donate unused PPE for testing
ICHEME is calling on members and their employers to donate any unused PPE they can spare to a vol...
Evonik spends €25m as part of API and intermediates manufacturing expansion
EVONIK is spending €25m (US$27.1m) on the first stage of a long-term project to increase contract...
UK Government warned against plastic lobbyist efforts during the coronavirus crisis
MORE than 20 scientists, campaigners, and politicians have signed a letter in which they warned t...
CEPI invests US$338m in manufacturing a Covid-19 vaccine
THE Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is investing US$338m to develop and ma...
US$130trn investment needed for carbon neutrality by 2060
A US$130trn investment to 2050 could help to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2060, according t...
Hundreds hospitalised after styrene gas leak in India
A GAS leak at an Indian chemical factory has killed at least 11 people and hospitalised hundreds....
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...
Sasol cuts production to mitigate coronavirus impacts
SOUTH African integrated energy and chemicals company Sasol has announced production cuts to help...
OGUK calls for urgent action to prevent up to 30,000 job losses
UPTO 30,000 jobs in the UK's oil and gas industry are at risk due to the coronavirus pandemic and...
EPA finalises changes to mercury rule
THE US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalised changes to a rule that requires coal a...
ExxonMobil and medical product accelerator collaborate to produce PPE
EXXONMOBIL and the Global Center of Medical Innovation (GCMI) have initiated multi-sector and joi...
Shell delays several major projects
FOLLOWING a decision last month to reduce capital spending by 20%, Shell has postponed a number o...
IChemE volunteers identify areas of focus to help fight pandemic
ICHEME’S volunteer Covid-19 Response Team has divided into distinct workstreams, including on dia...
Shell makes pledge to be net zero by 2050
SHELL has announced that it aims to cut emissions from its operations to net zero by 2050 or soon...
Liveris joins Australia’s business response group
CHEMICAL engineer Andrew Liveris, former CEO of Dow Chemical, has joined a commission established...
Shell and PetroChina give green light to Australian coal-seam gas project
SHELL and PetroChina have approved the first stage of their A$10bn (US$6.3bn) Surat Basin coal-se...
Organisations call for halt to US mining and drilling decisions, due to coronavirus
ONE hundred and one environmental and public health organisations have sent a letter to the US Go...
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...
OPEC agrees to cut global oil by 10% but there are fears it is not enough
OPEC has agreed to cut global oil output by around 10% in response to the coronavirus pandemic, e...
More than a quarter of Europe’s ethylene capacity under threat
AROUND 6.6m t/y – or 26% – of Europe’s ethylene production capacity is threatened by reduced acti...
Bayer boosts Germany’s coronavirus testing capacity
LIFE science company Bayer has boosted Germany’s coronavirus analysis capacity by several thousan...
Exxon cuts spending in response to coronavirus
EXXONMOBIL is cutting capital spending this year by 30% and operating expenses by 15% in response...
Update: Coronavirus delays Forties shutdown to 2021
INEOS has extended plans to postpone the shutdown of the Forties oil pipeline which transports to...
Coronavirus could lead to packaging material shortage, warns Recycling Association
THE UK risks a shortage in material for vital packaging needed to protect food and medical suppli...
Woodside CEO: Browse project could get carbon capture from day one
WOODSIDE says it will add a carbon capture project to its Browse gas project off the coast of Wes...
UK relaxes rules to speed up sanitiser production
THE UK Government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have relaxed rules over the manufactu...
COP26 postponed due to coronavirus crisis
THE COP26 climate change summit, which was due to take place in Glasgow, UK, in November, has bee...
BP protects jobs for three months
BP has announced that it will not be cutting any jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Coronavirus delays Forties shutdown
INEOS is postponing the shutdown of the Forties oil pipeline which transports to shore around 40%...
US EPA relaxes policy, citing coronavirus pandemic
THE US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced temporary policy that will allow non-c...
Ineos completes construction of two sanitiser plants
INEOS has completed construction of two new hand sanitiser production plants in the UK and German...
Life sciences companies collaborate to accelerate coronavirus response
A CONSORTIUM of life sciences companies including GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer, is c...
GSK efforts against coronavirus include US$10m to response fund
BRITISH multinational pharma company GSK is helping to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, including...
Engineering company increases ventilator component production
IMI Precision Engineering, a pneumatic motion and fluid control technology company, has rapidly a...
Industry pushes to keep staff safe and plants running
Industry reacts to keep staff and plants running during pandemic
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 ...
BP ensures energy supplies are uninterrupted
IN its response to the coronavirus crisis, BP has said that it will ensure supplies of energy, fu...
Ineos to produce hand sanitiser
INEOS has announced that it will start to make hand sanitiser and will build plants in the UK and...
IChemE SIG calls on members for supply support in response to coronavirus
ICHEME’s Pharma Special Interest Group (SIG) has called for members to come forward and help supp...
Companies repurpose to produce hand sanitiser
IN the fight against the spread of coronavirus, chemical companies and distilleries are stepping ...
UK workers in critical sectors could still send children to school
THE UK Government has announced that the children of those working in the healthcare supply chain...
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...
