Foundation News and Events

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 Tuesday, 27 May 2008, at 5.45 pm in the Holme Building, Science Road University of Sydney

Dinner Key Speaker: Mr 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”
Cost of the dinner is $85 per person

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

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:

• Foundation Member Meetings
• Professional Development Courses
• MIPPS - Major Industrial Project Placement Scheme
• Fourth Year Students 'Poster Day' and 'Research Conversazione'
• Graduate Recruitment Forums
• Major Issues Discussion Forums
• AGM and Foundation Dinner
• Breakfast and social meetings
• R&D and Specialist Expertise collaboration programs
• Work experience for students: placement in industry for the ‘Week in Industry’ and ‘Vacation Work’ programs
• Special industry focussed events
• Student visits to industry facilities and plants
• Liaison with industry organisations and associations and dissemination of information on industry events
• Liaison with overseas organisations and companies
• Summer Schools and Workshops on special topics.

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

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 2007 were:

• ‘Bio-Fuels or Bust’ – Speaker: Barry Murphy, Chairman of Natural Fuels Australia Ltd., and ‘Processing Challenges in Bio-Fuels’ – Speaker: Professor Brian Haynes, President of The Combustion Institute
• ‘Clean Fossil Fuels, Carbon Sequestration… Burying Global Warming' – Speaker: Brad Mullard, Director Coal and Petroleum Development, NSW Department of Primary Industry
• ‘Engineers in the Boardroom?’ - Speaker: James McIlvenny, President Asia Pacific & Greater China, The Dow Chemical Company

Topics being considered for the 2008 Foundation Meetings Program include ‘Legal aspects in relation to major engineering projects and activities, including major infrastructure, Joint Ventures and takeovers’, 'The Engineering Community: Shared Challenges, Shared Solutions’, ‘Waste Water Management and Treatment – Are we dealing efficiently and effectively with the issue?’, ‘Waste to Energy – Still an Unexploited Resource’, ‘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.

Two courses were run in 2007, namely:

• ‘Distillation Troubleshooting’ – Presenter: Henry Kister, Senior Fellow and Director, Fractionation Technology, Fluor
• ‘The Role of Chemical Engineering in Winemaking’ – Presenter: Prof. Roger Boulton, Stephen Scott Professor of Enology and Chemical Engineering, Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis.

Places for participants are limited and in both cases the courses were well attended. The participants gave highly positive feedback on the courses and the presenters.
It is envisaged that four courses will be run in 2008, and topics being considered are ‘Practical Process Control’, 'Advanced Control and Operation for Modern Manufacturing’, ‘Safety in Process Engineering Design’, ‘Waste Water Treatment and Management’, ‘Data Communications’, as well as system specific training courses by request (eg SCADA HMI and Systems, PCL Systems, etc.).
Further details will be published when available, or contact the
.

The MIPPS 2007 program again proved successful with twelve 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 (4 students at the Newcastle 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), MasterFoods Australia New Zealand (1 student at Wyong), Qenos (1 student at Botany Industrial Park), Sydney Water Corporation (2 students at Malabar), 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 2008 program has now commenced and ten 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’.
Companies that are Members of the Foundation are receive a discount on the program. For further information on MIPPS contact the .

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’ ‘2007 Poster Day’ was held on Friday 21 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 ‘2007 Research Conversazione’.
On Friday, 27th October 2006, the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Foundation, along with other Engineering Foundations at the University of Sydney welcomed industry guests and alumni to the ‘2007Research 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:

• Pallavi Agrawal – Best Year Four Poster Presentation ‘Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Foundation’ Award, for her thesis ‘Mercury Removal from Refinery Wastewater’
• Nasim Annabi – Best Postgraduate Presentation ‘Hays Recruitment’ Award, for her thesis ‘The Effect of Dense Gas CO2 on the Coacervation of Elastin’.

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

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.

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.
In particular two issues may be tackled in the first instance, that of water, and the environment, the topics that IChemE has assigned to its Australian members, in conjunction with the Institute.

The 2007 Foundation AGM and Dinner was held on May 29 at the Darlington Centre.
Around 45 people attended and enjoyed the dinner presentation by Greg Everett, General Manager Strategy of Delta Electricity on 'Strategic Challenges for Electricity Generation in Australia'.
Presnet were Members of the Foundation and University academic staff were Greg Hancock, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, as well as special guests Nick Papallo, Chairman of the NSW Ministerial Advisory Committee on the Mining Industry' and Robert Cameron, Managing Director of Centennial Coal.
The Annual General Meeting was the perfect opportunity for the outgoing President of the Foundation, Ian Frew, and Fundation Director, Emeritus Professor Jim Petrie, to introduce the newly appointed Executive Officer, Skender Bregu.
A special door prize was won by Tom Svetiev of SMEF, who got to enjoy a weekend with a Gran Turismo Maserati, compliments of Tony Graziani, Dealer Principal of Italia Motori, distributors of Maserati and Ferrari... for Tom a step up from his first car, a Fiat Bambino!

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 via the update your details page on the Alumni site.
A special function, a social occasion targeted at a specific industry, is being planned in conjunction with Italia Motori, the Ferrari and Maserati distributor and relevant clubs. Members and friends of the Foundation will travel to the Hunter Valley, hosted by Maserati and Ferrari owners, to visit two coal mines, a power generator, and carbon sequestration research facilities. A great day should be had by all!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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
.