The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a global professional engineering institution with 30,000 members in 114 countries. It was founded in 1922 and awarded a

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

in 1957. The Institution has offices in

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

and

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

History

In 1881,

George E. Davis George Edward Davis (1850–1907) is regarded as the founding father of the discipline of chemical engineering. Life Davis was born at Eton on 27 July 1850, the eldest son of George Davis, a bookseller. At the age of fourteen he was apprent ...

proposed the formation of a Society of Chemical Engineers, but instead the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

(SCI) was formed. The

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

required a huge increase in chemical production to meet the needs of the munitions and its supply industries, including a twenty-fold increase in explosives. This brought a number of chemical engineers into high positions within the Ministry of Munitions, notably

K. B. Quinan Kenneth Bingham Quinan CH, usually known as K.B. Quinan, (July 3, 1878 – January 26, 1948) was an American born chemical engineer who settled in South Africa and contributed significantly to the British war effort in World War I by designing ...

, Frederic Nathan and Arthur Duckham. The increased public perception of chemical engineers renewed the interest in a society, and in 1918 John Hinchley, who was a Council Member of the SCI, petitioned it to form a Chemical Engineers Group (CEG), which was done, with him as chairman and 510 members. In 1920 this group voted to form a separate Institution of Chemical Engineers,which was achieved in 1922 with Hinchley as the Secretary, a role he held until his death. The inaugural meeting was held on 2 May 1922, at the

Hotel Cecil, London The Hotel Cecil was a grand hotel built 1890–96 between the Thames Embankment and the Strand in London, England. It was named after Cecil House (also known as Salisbury House), a mansion belonging to the Cecil family, which occupied the site ...

. Despite opposition from the

Institute of Chemistry An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

and the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...

, it was formally incorporated with the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

on 21 December 1922 as a company not for profit and limited by guarantee. The first Corporate meeting was held 14 March 1923 and the first Annual General Meeting on 8 June 1923: Arthur Duckham was confirmed as President, Hinchley as Secretary and Quinan as Vice-President. At this time it had about 200 members. Nathan was the second President in 1925. The

American Institute of Chemical Engineers The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as professionals independent of chemists and mechanical engineers. Curr ...

, which had been founded in 1908, served as a useful model. While suggestions of amalgamation were made and there was friendly but limited contact, the two organisations developed independently. In 1926 an official

Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

of the Institution was produced by

Edith Mary Hinchley Edith Mary Hinchley ( Mason; 23 January 1870 – 16 October 1940) was a British painter, suffragist, and humanist. Early life and education Edith Mary Mason was born in 1870 in the Chelsea area of London where her father was a florist and nurs ...

, wife of John Hinchley. The same year the Institution set the first examinations for Associate (i.e. professionally qualified) membership, bringing it into line with the Civil and Mechanical Institutions. In addition to four set examinations of three hours each, there was a 'Home Paper' requiring the candidate to gather information and data and design a chemical plant, accompanied by drawings and a written design proposal within a time limit of a month. In 1938 the membership passed 1000. In 1939 the first courses were recognised as granting exemption from the examinations for Associate Membership, being Manchester College of Technology and of the

South Wales and Monmouthshire School of Mines The University of South Wales (USW) () is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. The ...

. Others followed in subsequent years. In 1942 Mrs Hilda Derrick (née Stroud) was the first female member, in the category Student, taking a correspondence course in chemical engineering during the war. She was active in promoting the Institution and profession to women. In 1955

Canterbury University College The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

, New Zealand, and

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

, South Africa, were the first overseas institutions to have their qualifications recognised. On 8 April 1957 IChemE was granted a Royal Charter, changing it from a limited company to a body incorporated by Royal Charter, a professional institution like the

Civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

and

Mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

ones, with HRH

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

as patron, a role he continued for over 63 years. In 1971, the membership grades were changed: Associate became Member and Member became Fellow. In 1976 the Institution moved its Headquarters from London to

Relations with other bodies

IChemE is licensed by the

Engineering Council UK The Engineering Council (formerly Engineering Council UK; colloquially known as EngC) is the UK's regulatory authority for registration of Chartered and Incorporated engineers and engineering technician. The Engineering Council holds the natio ...

to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers, giving the status of

Chartered Engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thr ...

Incorporated Engineer An engineering technologist is a professional trained in certain aspects of development and implementation of a respective area of technology. An education in engineering technology concentrates more on application and less on theory than do ...

and

Engineering Technician An engineering technician is a professional trained in skills and techniques related to a specific branch of technology, with a practical understanding of the relevant engineering concepts. Engineering technicians often assist in projects relat ...

. It is licensed by the

Science Council The Science Council is a UK organisation that was established by Royal Charter in 2003. The principal activity of The Science Council is the promotion of the advancement and dissemination of knowledge of and education in science pure and applie ...

to grant the status of

Chartered Scientist Chartered Scientist (CSci) is a professional qualification in the United Kingdom that is awarded by the Science Council through its licensed member organisations. Holders of this qualification can use the post-nominal letters CSci. Chartered sci ...

and

Registered Science Technician Registered Science Technician (RSciTech) is a professional qualification in the United Kingdom for science technicians. It was introduced in 2011 alongside Registered Scientist as an extension to the UK Science Council's existing professional regis ...

. It is licensed by the

Society for the Environment The Society for the Environment (SocEnv) is an Umbrella organization, umbrella body for environmental organisations in the UK. Its primary function is the licensing of its member institutions to confer chartered (professional), chartered status o ...

to grant the status of

Chartered Environmentalist A Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) is a professional qualification in the United Kingdom that is awarded by the Society for the Environment through its 24 licensed member organisations (listed below). Chartered Environmentalists do not come fr ...

. It is a member of the

European Federation of Chemical Engineering The European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE), also known as Fédération Européenne du Génie Chimique and Europäische Föderation für Chemie-Ingenieur-Wesen, is an association of professional societies in Europe concerned with chemic ...

. It accredits

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

degree courses in 25 countries worldwide. In 2023, IChemE entered into a 'hydrogen alliance' with the

(AIChE). The collaboration aims to support industry's adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier in the drive to net zero.

Function

IChemE's vision is to "engineer a sustainable world" and its mission is to "put chemical and process engineering at the heart of a sustainable future, to benefit members, society, and the environment." These aims will be achieved by working towards two strategic goals: "Supporting a vibrant and thriving profession" and "serving society by collaborating with others", which are underpinned by five strategic enablers.

Membership grades and post-nominals

IChemE has two main types of membership, qualified and non-qualified, with the technician member grade being available in both categories.Membership Grade Info
. Accessed 25/09/2012. Qualified membership grades. Fellow – ''A chemical engineering professional in a very senior position in industry and/or academia. Entitling the holder to the post-nominal FIChemE and is a chartered grade encompassing all the privileges of Chartered Member grade.'' Chartered Member – ''Internationally recognised level of professional and academic competence requiring at least 4 years of field experience and a bachelors degree with honours. Entitles the holder to the post-nominal MIChemE and registration as one or a combination of; Chartered Engineer (CEng), Chartered Scientist (CSci) and Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv). This also entitles the individual to register as a European Engineer with the pre-nominal Eur Ing.'' Associate Member – ''This grade is for young professionals who are qualified in chemical & process engineering to bachelors with honours level or a higher. Typically this is the grade held by those working towards Chartered Member level or those graduates working other fields. This grade entitles the holder to the post-nominal AMIChemE. This grade can also lead to the grade of Incorporated Engineer (IEng) for those with some field experience but which falls short of the level required for Chartered Member grade.'' Technician Member – ''Uses practical understanding to solve engineering problems and could have a qualification, an apprenticeship or years of experience. This grade can lead to the Eng Tech TIChemE post-nominal and now in conjunction with the Nuclear Institute the post-nominal Eng Tech TIChemE TNucI.'' Non-qualified membership grades. Associate Fellow – ''Senior professionals trained in other fields of a level comparable to Fellow in other professional bodies.'' Affiliate – ''For people working in, with or with a general interest in the sector.'' Student – ''For undergraduate chemical & process engineering students.''

Activities

Medals

The Institution has been awarding Medals for different areas of chemical engineering work since the first Moulton medals were issued in 1929. The medal was named after

Lord Moulton John Fletcher Moulton, Baron Moulton (18 November 1844 – 9 March 1921) was an English mathematician, barrister, judge and Liberal politician. He was a Cambridge Apostle. Early life Moulton was born in Madeley, Shropshire, England, as ...

who helped develop chemical engineering during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

when he took charge of explosive supplies. Today the institution gives out eleven medals related to research and teaching, six medals in special interest groups, four medals relating to publications, two medals for services to the profession and two medals for contribution to the Institution.

Annual awards

The IChemE Global Awards take place in November in the UK. The awards are highly regarded throughout the process industries for recognising and rewarding chemical engineering excellence and innovation. The first awards took place at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham on 23 March 1994. There are 16 categories in total that applicants are invited to enter, including Business Start-Up, Industry Project, Process Safety, and Sustainability, offering a broad scope for entries. The organisation also holds awards ceremonies in other locations across the globe. 2024 will see the return of the IChemE Malaysia Awards alongside the first-ever IChemE Australasia Awards.

Ashok Kumar Fellowship

The

Ashok Kumar Ashok Kumar (born Kumudlal Ganguly; 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first Super-st ...

Fellowship is an opportunity for a graduate to spend three months working at the UK Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST). The fellowship was jointly funded by IChemE and the

Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster The North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) is an economic cluster developed in accordance with Michael Porter's theories and strategies regarding industrial clusters. The chemistry-using sectors in North East England, where mor ...

(NEPIC). However, NEPIC was unable to contribute in 2018 and the Fellowship was not offered in 2019. As of 2021 it is jointly funded by IChemE and the Materials Processing Institute (reflecting Kumar's employment with British Steel). The Fellowship was set up in memory of Dr Ashok Kumar, the only serving chemical engineer in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

at the time of his sudden death in 2010. Kumar was an IChemE Fellow who had been the Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and Cleveland East.

DiscoverChemEng

In 2023, the Institution launched DiscoverChemEng, an initiative focused on the development of a package of education outreach activities to help inspire future process and chemical engineers and raise awareness of the profession as a career option for young people. A range of resources have been created for IChemE volunteers and STEM ambassadors to use within schools and at careers fairs, alongside an Educator Network that informs volunteers of upcoming events in their local area.

ChemEng Evolution

In order to celebrate its centenary, in 2022 the Institution produced a website with short articles about historic matters in the history of chemical engineering and IChemE, hosting videos and webinars throughout the year
ChemEng Evolution

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

is a shield with two figures.College of Arms, London, 1964 ''The Armorial Bearings of the Institution of Chemical Engineers'' On the left a helmeted woman,

Pallas Athene Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress o ...

, the goddess of wisdom, and on the right, a bearded man with a large hammer,

Hephaestus Hephaestus ( , ; wikt:Hephaestus#Alternative forms, eight spellings; ) is the Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes.Walter Burkert, ''Greek Religion'' 1985: III.2. ...

the god of technology and of fire. The shield itself shows a

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

as the symbol of

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, and a corn

grinding mill A mill is a device, often a structure, machine or kitchen appliance, that breaks solid materials into smaller pieces by grinding, crushing, or cutting. Such comminution is an important unit operation in many processes. There are many different ty ...

as a symbol of continuous processes. Between these is a diagonal stripe in red and blue in steps to indicate the cascade nature of many chemical engineering processes. The shield is surmounted by helmet on which is a

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

, which is in

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

associated with intellectual activity, and also represents the importance of

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasma (physics), plasmas) and the forces on them. Originally applied to water (hydromechanics), it found applications in a wide range of discipl ...

. Just below the dolphin are two

Integral sign The integral symbol (''see below'') is used to denote integrals and antiderivatives in mathematics, especially in calculus. History The notation was introduced by the German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1675 in his private w ...

s to illustrate the necessity of mathematics and in particular

calculus Calculus is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations. Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the ...

. The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

motto is "Findendo Fingere Disco" or "I learn to make by separating".

Publications

Peer-reviewed journals

* Chemical Engineering Research and Design *

Process Safety and Environmental Protection A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

Food and Bioproducts Processing Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inges ...

Education for Chemical Engineers ''Education for Chemical Engineers'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by Elsevier on behalf of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. The journal's scope covers all aspects of chemical engineering education. The journal was ...

* Molecular Systems Design and Engineering (joint with the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

) * Sustainable Production and Consumption * South African Journal of Chemical Engineering

Other periodicals

The Chemical Engineer ''The Chemical Engineer'' is a monthly chemical engineering technical and news magazine published by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). It has technical articles of interest to practitioners and educators, and also addresses current ev ...

Loss Prevention Bulletin Loss may refer to: *Economic loss *Grief, an emotional response to loss **Animal loss, grief over the loss of an animal Mathematics, science, and technology * Angular misalignment loss, power loss caused by the deviation from optimum angular al ...

Books

* Conference Proceedings * Technical Guides * Safety Books * Forms of Contract

Past presidents

Notable members

* Roland Clift Developer of

Life cycle assessment Life cycle assessment (LCA), also known as life cycle analysis, is a methodology for assessing the impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case of a manufact ...

and broadcaster on environmental issues * John Coulson (1910–1990) Co-writer of classic UK textbooks *

M. B. Donald Maxwell Bruce Donald (1897 - 6 January 1978) was a Ramsay professor of chemical engineering at University College London and a historian specialising in mining. Early career Donald studied at the Royal College of Science and Massachusetts Insti ...

(1897 - 1978) Fourth Ramsay professor of Chemical engineering at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Former honorary secretary and vice-president of IChemE, Institution's Donald medal named after him. * Sir Arthur Duckham (1879–1932) First President of the IChemE *

Ian Fells Ian Fells is Emeritus Professor of Energy Conversion at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and former chairman of the "New and Renewable Energy Centre" at Blyth, Northumberland, England. Education and career Fells was educated at King Edwar ...

Noted energy expert and popular science broadcaster *

Trevor Kletz Trevor Asher Kletz (23 October 1922 – 31 October 2013) was a British author on the topic of chemical engineering safety. He was a central figure in establishing the discipline of process safety. He is credited with introducing the concept of ...

(1922-2013) Noted safety expert *

(1956–2010) UK Member of Parliament * Frank Lees (1931–1999) author of major safety encyclopaedia * Bodo Linnhoff His 1979 PhD thesis led to Pinch Technology which has enabled companies to save large amounts of energy * Montague A. Phillips (1902-1972) Chemist who first synthesised the antibiotic sulphapyradine *

(1878–1958) An American who, according to

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

"did more than any other single individual to win the (First World) War" * Jack Richardson (1929–2011) Co-writer of classic UK textbooks * P. N. Rowe (1919-2014) Fifth Ramsay professor of chemical engineering at

. He was president of the Institution between 1981 and 1982. * Meredith Thring (1915–2006) prolific inventor, futurologist and early proponent of sustainability

References

* * *

External links

Institution of Chemical Engineers

Origins of the IChemE

Why not Chemical Engineering – schools' website

Official IChemE Twitter feed

ChemEng Evolution
{{Authority control Chemical engineering organizations Chemical industry in the United Kingdom ECUK Licensed Members Engineering societies based in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Warwickshire Organizations established in 1922 Rugby, Warwickshire Science and technology in Warwickshire 1922 establishments in the United Kingdom