Layout 1 15/1/16 18:01 Page 1 Cebfocus Lent 2016 Issue 17 Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
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Focus Lent 2016:___Layout 1 15/1/16 18:01 Page 1 CEBFocus Lent 2016 Issue 17 Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology www.ceb.cam.ac.uk High-Impact Research CEB Annual Showcase p.3 Blood Test to detect Bipolar Disorder p.10 Alumnus Gavin Patterson, p.19 Emeritus Professor John Davidson: p.22 Reflections on Leadership 63 Years in Chemical Engineering In this Issue Message from HoD 2 Research Highlights 10 Department Events 21 Editorial 2 Research Feature 11 People Focus 22 Front Cover Article 3 CEB Innovation 13 CEB Women 24 Undergraduate Focus 5 Industry Business 15 Staff Room 25 Graduate Hub 7 Achievements 17 Tea-Time Teaser 27 Teaching Matters 9 Alumni Corner 19 Focus Lent 2016:___Layout 1 15/1/16 18:01 Page 2 Welcome Message from HoD, Professor John Dennis During the last quarter of 2015, the emphasis in CEB has been on identifying and defining our mission and core values and key objectives for the Department. My core belief is that we have the quality of staff and students to be clearly No. 1 in the world, but that we have neglected some of the“people”issues as the Department has grown in size and breadth of activity. Accordingly, a critical aspect of my job over the last few months has been to stress that every member of CEB, be they academic or non-academic, has a critical role to play in achieving the Department’s aspirations. As a result, our mission statement has a clear emphasis on commitment to the staff of the Department to ensure that we are able to offer attractive opportunities for work and study irrespective of gender and to demonstrate our commitment to equality and diversity. It is, of course, relatively easy to set objectives, but much harder, especially in academic life, to define a shared strategy and action plan to achieve them. The hard work to define such a strategy will begin in the New Year and will involve the newly-formed Strategic Management Board of CEB, drawing up draft proposals to be shared with all members of the Department, so as to take into account staff views. In many senses, the planning process is as important as the plan, and it is the ongoing process and consultation and refinement, which I trust will pay dividends. It will be an interesting year as shared plans mature! Editorial Note collaborations and developments in Industry Business. Undergraduate Focus features recent graduate Jenny Parkin, Salter’s Prize winner, and tells about preparations for the upcoming Frank Morton Games in Manchester in February. Research Highlights features a selection of breakthrough, high-impact papers recently published by talented CEB researchers like“Towards a blood-based diagnostic Panel for Bipolar Disorder”by Professor Sabine Bahn and colleagues, whilst Research Feature tells of ExoEvolution, the Art-Science exhibition curated by CEB academic Dr Ljiljana Fruk. Chief Editor Elena Gonzalez (middle), Research students Noha Al-Otaibi In Alumni Corner Chemical Engineering graduate Gavin and Aazraa Pankan (right), Geertje van Rees and new member Dimitrios Simatos (left) Patterson, Chief Executive Officer BT Group, highlights the benefits of his Chemical Engineering Degree. The Editorial Team wishes all its readers a fantastic 2016! People Focus presents Emeritus Professor John Davidson, in CEB Focus Newsletter is the product of a joint team effort advance of his 90th birthday, who shares his memories of 63 led by Elena Gonzalez assisted by volunteer editors. We years in the Department, his involvement in the Court of would like to welcome a new member to the Team, Enquiry Report following the 1974 explosion at the Dimitrios Simatos, a Sensor Innovation and Applications Flixborough plant including important health and safety st CDT 1 year graduate student. We are always keen to see lessons learned. CEB would like to thank him for his hugely new faces and if you are interested in joining, please email valuable contribution to the Department and the Chemical us on [email protected]. Each member is fully Engineering discipline. committed to the project and its timely delivery. Their individual contribution of enthusiastic ideas to the Team is Finally, Staff Room tells of important service milestones also hugely valuable, helping further develop the quality of reached by assistant staff, birthdays and colleagues gone in the editorial content and the publication look. search of pastures new: happy retirement to both John Gannon in Electronics, Lyn Hurst in Accounts and Professor In this issue the Front Cover article focuses on the CEB Howard Chase. Best of good luck to all in their new Research annual highlight, The Research Open Day, where ventures! young researchers showcased the latest research projects of remarkable impact, helping others establish inter- CEB Focus would like to thank webmaster Vanessa Blake for disciplinary collaboration or making ground for new joint regularly providing photos, and department members, ventures. alumni and corporate partners for sending article contributions. Dr Graham Dransfield, CEB Knowledge Transfer Facilitator, offers an overview of the latest exciting industry | www.ceb.cam.ac.uk Focus Lent 2016:___Layout 1 15/1/16 18:02 Page 3 Front Cover Article High-Impact Research CEB Annual Showcase Elena Gonzalez, Chief Editor CEB hosted its industry, on healthcare and on society in general. It is annual Research also noteworthy that it is organised by our talented Open Day (RoD) on cohort of post-doctoral researchers, and it is their talent, 12 January 2016 at enthusiasm and commitment to CEB and to their Robinson College in research which brings a distinctive freshness and Cambridge. The liveliness to the proceedings. It is an important occasion annual flagship for CEB’. event brought Around 15 corporate representatives and partners, old Opening proceedings at Robinson together the and new, attended the Research Open Day. College Auditorium Department's Throughout the day, young scientists from CEB research groups research clusters of Reaction Engineering, through a series of talks and research project poster Microstructure Engineering and Biotechnology presentations covering a wide spectrum of on-going discussed their most stimulating research activities research activities across different areas and cross- with leaders of industry. The projects undertaken cutting technologies. With over 150 people in covered areas as diverse as Materials and Processes, attendance this year, the event proved to be a fruitful Healthcare, and Modelling and Metrology. day of industry-academia engagement once again. At this year’s RoD, attendees were at hand to facilitate Following attendance last year, John Faraday from conversations with corporate partners and Sulnox has now invested in a Post-Doctoral Research representatives from key Chemical Engineering and Associate (PDRA). Josh Etkind from Shell was Biotechnology industries: including young researchers converted to the cause of MOFs, which he strongly and Principal Investigators, CEB’s Knowledge Transfer champions within the company, and Shell has since Facilitator, colleagues from the University’s Research sponsored a PDRA and a PhD student within Dr David Communications Office and Cambridge Enterprise. Fairen research group. They all congregated to celebrate the Department’s CEB Focus caught up with several captains of industry research diversity showing the richness of research such as Paul Varley from MedImmune, Michael Butler projects in the Department but also offering great from potential for collaboration among different research Unilever, groups in the Department and collaboration with Leslie Bolton local and global chemical engineering and from BP, biotechnology companies. Andrew The event programme included extremely inspiring Smith from and interesting talks focused on strategic research Johnson themes with a great varied selection of research topics Matthey, under discussion. There was very lively interaction Adriana amongst researchers from different groups. Botes from Young researchers’ poster presentation Invista, etc... Professor John Dennis (Head of Department) kicked off the event with an opening welcome in the Biotechnology alumnus Dr Darrin Disley, a serial Auditorium highlighting CEB’s achievements since the entrepreneur, top innovator and Horizon Discovery merger of the Department of Chemical Engineering CEO, was also among those present. Whilst at the and the Institute of Biotechnology back in 2008 to research poster presentation Dr Disley showed great culminate in the move to the new building in the West interest in the eScent® contextual technology in the Cambridge site later on in this summer. He wearable personalised medicine field developed by Dr commented; ‘The Research Open Day is a very Jenny Tillotson, CEB visitor working with Professor important activity in presenting the very best of our Chris Lowe (see CEB innovation article on Page 13). research and, in particular, demonstrating its impact on www.ceb.cam.ac.uk | Focus Lent 2016:___Layout 1 15/1/16 18:02 Page 4 Front Cover Article There were also students to share ideas, explore opportunities for a series of talks cross-disciplinary collaboration and forge new and on offer and innovative links with industry. Dr Claire Michel, flash posters member of PCB and one of the organisers of the from young event, added; ‘I would like to thank all the speakers who, researchers on through their talks, contributed to make the success of show. Tamsin the day.’ Bell from the Dr Dransfield added; ‘Given the commitment required to Catalysis group devote a day to such an activity, this is a great result presented a achieved by PCB and a sharp increase on last year’s poster on inaugural event. It is also gratifying to note the range of Dr Claire Michel and Dr Krishnaa Mahbubani at Hydrothermal interests of the companies: from healthcare to the front with other event committee members synthesis of petrochemicals. Giants such as Unilever are represented, nanostructured as well as start-up companies such as SulNOx (fuel g-Al2O3 with controlled size and morphology in a emulsions) and Woolcool (natural insulation recyclable process.