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Foundation News and Events

Foundation’s Annual General Meeting

The Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Foundation invites you to the Foundation’s Annual General Meeting to be followed immediately after by the Annual Foundation Dinner on Wednesday, 27 May 2009, at 5.45 pm in the Holme Building, Science Road University of Sydney

Dinner Key Speaker: Mr Desmond King
CEO, Caltex Australia and Deputy President, IChemE

Please book by faxing the attached Acceptance form or AGM Proxy Form.

Please find more information from Dinner talk and Venue map and Dinner presentation

Foundation Activities

The Foundation organises and facilitates events and activities which provide members with opportunities to draw maximum benefit from their relationship with the Foundation.
The activities include:

All these activities aim at strengthening the relationship with members and promoting networking opportunities for all participants.

Foundation Member Meetings

Members are invited to attend Foundation Meetings by letter or email. The meetings generally start after 4.30pm during the week. Guest speakers talk on selected topics, generally of high relevance for industry and very often of concern to society at large. A panel of experts might then present alternate views or comments and an open discussion then ensues. The presentation is usually followed by drinks and nibbles at 6pm. The programs with more information about the guest speakers are generally sent to members before the meeting.

Presentations at Foundation Meetings in 2008 were:

  • An engineer’s experience in the workforce - Jim McIlvenny, Vice-President Asia Pacific of the Dow Chemical Company
    This student-focused talk was also attended by several members of the Foundation, and was during the day. It was followed by a dinner for members of industry to meet Jim McIlvenny.
  • Our Infrastructure needs – Government and Industry challenges ahead – at AGM’s dinner – Norman Johnston, Project Director for the Western Sydney Employment Lands Investigation, NSW Dept of Planning.
  • Flow of Resource Waste: meeting the challenges of development – Prof Richard Darton, President IChemE and Head, Engineering Science, Oxford University (UK).

Topics being considered for 2009 are based on experiences of School Alumni who achieved high levels and top positions of responsibility in industry. A debate between new graduates and older graduates will be held, and there are plans for a talk on Scientists and engineers and the media.

Topics and speakers for the Meetings are exciting, topical, and often confronting, and aim at making us think of what has happened, what is happening, and the possible consequences of our actions.

The discussion that follows a presentation is always a good indicator of the impact the thoughts expressed have had on the participants, and the feedback on the Meetings has been extremely positive.

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Professional Development Courses

Two courses were held – the highly successful course by Prof Roger Boulton, Professor of Enology and Chemical Engineering of the University of California, Davis, on ‘Chemical Engineering Solutions for Sustainable Winemaking Practices' was run at the Yalumba Winery, in the Barossa Valley in SA, again with an emphasis of cooperation – done with the support of the Winery Engineering Association.

The highly-popular Henry Kister Distillation Troubleshooting course was run again this year, with an excellent turn-out. It is recommended by all participants as an superb overview of many faces of distillation.

A new course was added to the Foundation's work, ‘Practical Process Control’, run for a small group to test interest in such a course for the future.
In May this year the ‘Cogeneration and Trigeneration’ course was presented by Dr Jacob Klimstra, Senior Energy and Engine Specialist, Power Plants Department, Wärtsilä, of Zwolle, The Netherlands, following the successful Symposium on Cogen and Trigen. This course will become, as with the Chemical Engineering Solutions for Sustainable Winemaking Practices and the Distillation Troubleshooting courses, part of our regular program of courses.

Other courses are now being organised:

‘Fundamentals of Membrane Technology; applications, capabilities, limitations’ will be held on November 25, to be presented by Professor Tony Fane, Director of the Singapore Technology Centre, and will include case studies and information on new product developments by industry speakers. Click here for information.

‘Project Management’ will be presented by Peter O’Dea, who has over 30 years experience in owner, contractor and consultant organisations managing complex industrial projects across a wide range of industries. As Operations Manager – Projects with Bilfinger Berger Services, Peter is currently responsible for overseeing $700 million worth of industrial projects and is also the project manager for a gas-fired power station contract. For more information contact the .

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MIPPS - Major Industrial Project Placement Scheme

The MIPPS 2008 program again proved successful with nine of the students of the School assigned projects to undertake on a full time basis at the companies to which they were allocated.
The companies which took on the Fourth Year MIPPS students last year were BHP Billiton Technology (2 students at the Newcastle Technology Centre, and 1 to Olympic Dam Technology Centre), BOC Gases (1 student in Ryde), Caltex (1 student at Kurnell Refinery), INTEC (1 student in the Gordon Chiu Building, University of Sydney), Qenos (1 student at Botany Industrial Park), Shell (1 student at the Clyde Refinery), and Visy Pulp and Paper (1 student at Smithfield).

The students completed their projects and presented their work as part of their thesis for their degree, as well as presenting the project and outcomes at Poster Day (See Section on Poster Day and Conversazione below).

The MIPPS 2009 program has now commenced and thirteen students have been selected and allocated to companies. They will be based at the companies’ premises till June and present their project results and recommendations in August.

The MIPPS program, first set up by Emeritus Professor Rolf Prince, and nurtured and promoted by him over time, is gaining interest within the Faculty of Engineering with other Schools now initiating the program as part of their curricula. Faculties if other universities, both in Australia and overseas, are looking at the program with a view to setting it up in their courses.

MIPPS has been an outstanding success both for industry and the students. Companies have benefited from the work of the students, with many implementing the recommendations and gaining in terms of production efficiencies, quality outcomes, work practices, etc. Another benefit to the companies is that some have identified as a result of the work experience relationship a potential new employee and offered them positions to be taken up upon completion of their courses.

Feedback from students has also been extremely positive. They have found the experience to be beneficial in that it gave them exposure to the working environment, both in terms of work experience and working place interaction in the ‘real world’.

An important step forward this year entails a move in the internationalisation of the program. Three students have undertaken MIPPS overseas, two with The Dow Chemical Company in China, and one with Dow in New Zealand. This has been organised as one of the projects to be undertaken under the guidelines of the Memorandum of Understanding entered into by Dow, the Foundation and the University in 2008.

Companies that are Members of the Foundation receive a discount on the program. For further information on MIPPS contact the .

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Fourth Year Students Poster Day and Research Conversazione

The ‘Poster Day’ and ‘Research Conversazione’ events give students of the School the opportunity to present to the University and to industry the results, in poster form, of their research work.

The undergraduate final year students’ ‘2008 Poster Day’ was held on Friday 26 September and the posters and projects were judged by academic and researchers in the School, as well as industry representatives who attended. A number of posters were selected to be presented at the ‘2008 Research Conversazione’.

On Friday, 31th October 2008, the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Foundation, along with other Engineering Foundations at the University of Sydney welcomed industry guests and alumni to the ‘2008 Research Conversazione’.

The top 12 undergraduate final year student thesis posters were displayed along with 18 posters from the Academic Research Groups and postgraduate students. They presented their cutting-edge research following a joint lunch. All posters competed for a top prizes in the undergraduate and postgraduate categories. The afternoon ended with the presentation of the prizes and refreshments at the School.

Prize winners were:

  • Andrew Gadd, who was presented the Tom Svetiev Memorial Award by SEMF, as winner of the First Prize for the category ‘Best Postgraduate Poster Presentation’; Title of Thesis: Developing Electrocoagulation Technology for Industrial Wastewater Treatment
  • Wei Seng Eu, who was presented the Certificate of Award by Hays Oil & Gas as Second Prize for the category ‘Best Postgraduate Poster Presentation’; Title of Thesis: The Role of Thermal Treatment on the Activation of Ilmenite Ores for Leaching
  • John Nowakowski, who was presented a Certificate of Award by The Dow Chemical Company as Special Prize for Postgraduate Research Poster; Title of Thesis: Modelling Fluid Flow of Carbon Nanotubes in Suspension
  • Nasim Annabi, who was presented a Certificate of Award by StantonChase International as a Special Prize for Postgraduate Research Poster; Title of Thesis: Rapid Fabrication of Elastin Based Hydrogels using High Pressure CO2
  • Chris Peponis, who was presented a Certificate of Award by ICD (Asia Pacific) Pty Ltd as First Prize for the category ‘Best Fourth Year Poster Presentation’; Title of Thesis: Enhancement of Storm and Waste Water Systems at Shell Clyde Refinery
  • Christopher Maher, who was presented a Certificate of Award by Hays Resources & Mining as Second Prize for the category ‘Best Fourth Year Poster Presentation’; Title of Thesis: Conversion of the Furfural Refining Unit to Alternative Solvent.

The standard on the day was generally very high, and the industry representatives commented very favourably on the presentations.

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Graduate Recruitment Forums

The Foundation organises forums at which companies can meet with students with a view to recruiting future employees. Special events are organised for the Members of the Foundation, who are given first option for the forums. They also have the opportunity to pass on to potential recruits information through the Foundation and the School.
This is a major benefit to company Members given the current tight labour force situation.

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Major Issues Discussion Forums

The engineering community is facing a number of issues of major importance which it will need to tackle, and some of these appear to display the ‘Pandora’s Box’ syndrome.
Undoubtedly many questions are being raised in fields such as nuclear power, green fossil fuels (and their impact on society), water, carbon emissions and carbon sequestration in light of the political and economic forces that influence decision is this field…
Leaders in industry and major institutions are speaking up and promoting research on the issues and those related:

  • Rick Wagoner, Chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation at Detroit in January, at the Car Show, where GMH, as well as many other companies – including, believe it or not, GM’s Hummer, and Ferrari – unveiled a host of cars driven by green technologies (electricity, ethanol, H2…), stated that oil consumption versus oil reserves had peaked, and demand will from now on outstrip supply, with the cost of oil increasing due to demand. The green car is the way of the future, as far as GMH is concerned… ‘We need to develop alternative sources of propulsion’, he stated unequivocally (source: AFP Business, January 14, 2008)
  • IChemE, the Institute of Chemical Engineering, is promoting its ‘Shared Challenges, Shared Solutions’ program, part of its ‘Roadmap for 21st Century Chemical Engineering’.

The Foundation intends to facilitate debate on the trends and associated challenges of our time, and will consider organising round table discussions and seminars, in conjunction with other institutions, including government bodies, associations, educational and research bodies, with a view to developing and promoting strategies which may be brought to the attention of the community at large, industry and all the key players in the relevant fields.

The Foundation took up the two issues which IChemE assigned its Australian Members to develop for the ‘Roadmap for 21st Century Chemical Engineering’ project, and in collaboration with IChemE ran the ‘Shared Challenges, Shared Solutions – Sustainable energy and water’ Symposium at Parliament House in Sydney, on June 4, 2008.

Participants on the day suggested there was a need for symposia and fora dealing with specific topics on issues such as those covered on the day, and as a result on May 6 and 7 the Cogeneration and Trigeneration – Sustainability in action Symposium is taking place at the University of Sydney, with a number of highly qualified speakers from industry presenting. Dr Jacob Klimstra, Senior Energy and Engine Specialist, Wärtsilä Power Plants, from The Netherlands is a guest overseas presenter. For more information on the Symposium go to: http://www.chem.eng.usyd.edu.au/news_events.shtml

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AGM and Foundation Dinner

The 2008 Foundation AGM and Dinner was held on May 27 at the Holme Building, University of Sydney.

Around 40 people attended and enjoyed the dinner presentation by Norman W. Johnston, Project Director for the Western Sydney Employment Lands Investigation Area, NSW Department of Planning, on “Our Infrastructure needs – Government and Industry challenges ahead”.

Present were Members of the Foundation and University academics including Greg Hancock, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering.

A special door prize was won by Emeritus Professor Rolf Prince, who left with an invitation to drive a new BMW, compliments of Mr Nat Zanardi, Principal of Canterbury BMW.

The 2009 Foundation AGM and Dinner will be held again on May 27, and again at the Holme Building, University of Sydney.
Keynote Speaker will be Mr Des King, CEO, Caltex Australia, and newly appointed Deputy President of IChemE.

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Breakfast and social meetings

The Foundation will organise breakfast meetings for Members and prospective members, with speakers, offering the opportunity for representatives from industry to find out about the Foundation and its benefits, and at the same time giving the m the opportunity to meet other operators, generally from their sector.

Opportunities exist to meet in occasion of the breakfasts organised by the University of Sydney Alumni & Friends. Alumni who have not been contacted by the University recently should inform the University of their contact details. This may be done via the update section on the Alumni website.

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R&D and Specialist Expertise collaboration programs

The Foundation is the first point of contact for industry to contact if you are interested in talking to the School about R&D collaboration, or if you require specialist advice from a Chemical and Biomolecular Engineer.
Please do contact the Executive Officer who will be able to follow up your request and identify the most appropriate academic or research staff member for you to discuss the matter of interest to you.
Where the School cannot provide the relevant expertise, the Foundation can suggest experts among its Members or other institutions.
The Foundation has every interest in providing assistance to its members where expert advice and support is required, and extends such services to companies and chemical engineers, whom we hope will feel that membership will provide important benefits to them.

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Work experience for students: placement in industry for the ‘Week in Industry’ and ‘Vacation Work’ programs

Work experience is to be undertaken by all students before they can be awarded their degree, and the Foundation seeks to be the contact point for companies wishing to identify students to employ for vacation work.
Further to the usual ‘Vacation Work’ program that final year students undertake, groups of third year students – generally two or three students - are placed in companies for a week, under the supervision of a postgraduate student from the School (thus minimising the need for supervision by the company’s staffl, to work on a short, but important project which the company has not had the resources (time or people) to dedicate to it.
The students then present their findings to management and prepare a short report to the School.
‘Week in Industry’ is important in that it provides students with a first experience of working in industry. From the point of view of the company, it allows management to get work done which usually, for a number of reasons, would not be done, while at the same time meeting students who might at the end of the year be of interest to the company for vacation work, or eventual employment.
In 2007 thirty two students were placed in companies for their ‘Week in Industry’ experience.

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Special industry focused events

The Foundation plans to organise activities aimed at specifically selected industry segments. A visit to coal mines for Members and Friends of the Foundation is in the planning phase (see Breakfast and Social Meetings Section above).
Other events will be organised on this basis in conjunction with the company Members; breakfast meetings with representatives of companies from the same sectors will be organised, and Foundation Meetings will be promoted among industry particularly interested in the issue at hand.

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Student visits to industry facilities and plants

Members of the Foundation will have the opportunity of hosting visits of students of the School to their facilities and plants.
The visits might include the presentation of a case study which the students could discuss with management, who would then present the solutions considered and the solution eventually adopted, as well as a tour of the facilities.

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Liaison with industry organisations and associations and dissemination of information on industry events

The Foundation will increase its level of contact and collaboration with industry bodies and liaise more closely in order to inform Members of activities and events of interest that are being conducted.
Where possible the Foundation will seek to have benefits made available by the organisers of the events to its Members who are keen to participate.
A ‘Foundation Noticeboard’ has already been sent by email to Members and Friends of the Foundation and this concept will be continued rather than publishing a magazine or newsletter, as the concept allows for a ‘mailing’ to members as and when there are events and news that are of merit. The option of having the Noticeboard made available on this website will be investigated.

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Liaison with overseas organisations and companies

Industry operates in a global environment and the Foundation intends to open up its scope to include events, activities and interests from overseas.
The Italian Scientific Attache’ of the Embassy of Italy in Canberra has offered a spot in its three monthly ‘Bulletin’ published on internet and the Foundation and its members can prepare material to open itself up the Italy and Europe. If this exercise is successful it may be able to expand it to include other countries and thus promote the Foundation world-wide.
In the meantime the Foundation will endeavour to develop stronger relationships with overseas companies, beginning initially with those that have operations in Australia

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Summer Schools and Workshops on special topics

The Foundation plans to organise Summer Schools and Workshops on topical issues in order to cater for engineers from overseas and local engineers who cannot take time during the year due to work pressures.
These workshops and courses will also be available to students of engineering wishing to study specialist professional courses.
Further details will be published when available, or contact the .

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