Events and training
Events
Knowledge-sharing and supporting continuing professional development (CPD) activities continued at the Hazards 32 conference in Harrogate, UK, delivered face-to-face for the first time since 2019.
Held in October, 290 delegates attended to listen to a range of technical presentations from industry practitioners, researchers and regulators designed to help advance the understanding and application of managing major hazards.
The prestigious Trevor Kletz Lecture was given by Dame Judith Hackitt who led the independent review into building regulations and fire safety for the UK Government after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
Emphasising the importance of cross-sector hazards learnings, Dame Judith reflected on her personal journey in process safety and related it to the challenges in the built environment sector as it faces new and tougher regulation in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
For the first time, and to mark IChemE’s centenary year, the Chemeca conference was held in conjunction with Hazards Australasia in Melbourne, Australia, in September.
At Hazards Australasia, delegates learnt how to improve process safety practices in uncertain times, including the impact of sustained pressures and strains on workforces from the Covid-19 pandemic and Australian bush fires. Attendees had the opportunity to gain further knowledge at Chemeca with the sharing of engineering research and innovations helping to make a greener, safer, cleaner future. New to Chemeca this year was a panel discussion on the next 100 years of chemical engineering and a Hackathon competition.
Eleven teams of students entered the Chemeca Future Fuels CRC Student Hackathon which saw teams pitch their net zero carbon fuel infrastructure solutions to a panel of industry experts.
The winning team was announced as The Future Shapers from the University of Melbourne with runners up, Fuelture, from the University of New South Wales being awarded the Australian Gas Industry Trust innovation award for best use of existing gas infrastructure.
IChemE Honorary Fellow and Chair of the Major Hazards Committee, Dr Marlene Kanga, gave the keynote address at the joint events’ gala dinner and encouraged chemical and process safety engineers to focus on not just their technical abilities, but also their personal responsibility as they lead the transition to a greener world.
Focusing on the specific challenges facing process safety practitioners in the Asia Pacific region, 296 people registered for the free-to-attend IChemE Regional Process Safety Seminar, held virtually in March.
Training
More than 80 live public training courses were delivered to over 900 attendees from all over the world. Eight new training courses were launched including Plant and Production Management and What Engineers Need to Know About Hydrogen Safety.
With IChemE members having free access to courses within the Sustainability Hub, over 3,500 registrations were received
With IChemE members having free access to the full collection of courses within the Sustainability Hub, over 3,500 registrations were received for on-demand courses designed to further chemical engineer’s knowledge and understanding around subjects that can contribute to sustainable development. Read more about the Sustainability Hub in a dedicated section of the Annual Review.