IChemE celebrates 2023 Global Awards winners

• The University of Oxford’s COVID-19 test won the Outstanding Achievement in Chemical and Process Engineering Award sponsored by ExxonMobil, the Business Start-up Award, sponsored by Sellafield, and the Innovative Product Award, sponsored by The Chemical Engineer.
• Kent won the Best Consultancy Award, sponsored by Womble Bond Dickinson, and the Process Safety Award, sponsored by PM Group.
• The Industry Project Award, sponsored by adi Group, was won by PETRONAS and University Kebangsaan, Malaysia.

The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) has announced the winners of its 2023 Global Awards at a ceremony held this evening at the Hilton Metropole, Birmingham, UK.

Widely recognised as the world’s most prestigious chemical engineering awards, the event showcased organisations and teams from around the world that are demonstrating excellence in chemical, biochemical and process engineering.

A panel of 30 judges, representing diverse industries worldwide, selected from more than 100 excellent finalists across 19 award categories, to shine a spotlight on organisations and individuals that are leading the way in their fields, and deserve wide recognition for their exceptional contributions and innovations.

The organisation winners were also in contention for IChemE’s top prize – the Outstanding Achievement in Chemical and Process Engineering Award, sponsored by ExxonMobil. This coveted trophy was won by the University of Oxford’s spin out, Oxsed, for their development of a rapid test for SARS-COV-2 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The University chemical engineering team pooled their expertise in biochemical engineering, bioprocessing and product design to develop a test that was performed millions of times at major airports in the UK and in Hong Kong to enable international travel.

The IChemE judges considered that the significant social impact, economic returns and clear demonstration of the direct contribution that chemical engineers made to combating the pandemic, meant that this entry was a very worthy winner. The Oxford University team stepped on stage three times during the evening, also collecting the Business Start-up Award sponsored by Sellafield, and the Innovative Product Award, sponsored by The Chemical Engineer.

There was global representation across the award categories with winners and highly commended finalists from Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, Portugal, Australia and Malaysia.

IChemE President Nigel Hirst said: “This event is a highlight of the year for IChemE, and a fantastic opportunity to learn about the latest developments in our profession. The IChemE Global Awards showcase the enormous breadth of activity being undertaken by chemical and process engineers, and I warmly congratulate all our winners. I also extend my sincere appreciation to all our award sponsors, for their generous support.

“It’s very encouraging that many of tonight’s finalists are helping to make IChemE’s vision – engineering a sustainable world – a reality, with entries such as accelerating the adoption of green hydrogen, reinventing the way plastics are used and recycled, and developing energy-efficient ship hull coatings.

“Volunteering underpins all the Institution’s work and having served as Head Judge myself for many years, I know first-hand how much work goes into the judging process. On behalf of IChemE’s Board of Trustees, I thank all the members of the volunteer judging panel, led for the final time this year by Keith Batchelor. I was delighted to present Keith with the inaugural IChemE Judges’ Award this evening, in recognition of his tremendous dedication over many years.”

For more information on the IChemE Global Awards visit www.icheme.org/globalawards.