Regional engagement: Year in review

This year has been a busy and productive one for IChemE’s Regional Engagement activity, with a strong focus on students, members, employers, and external partners, and a clear emphasis on strengthening connections across the chemical engineering community.

Supporting students and the future pipeline

Our engagement with students continued to grow, with sessions delivered at all UK universities offering IChemE-accredited courses. We extended our approach beyond traditional first-term, on-campus activity, enabling engagement throughout the academic year and reaching students at different stages of their studies.

As a result, we saw a 22% increase in student membership, alongside an expanded focus on non-accredited programmes, helping to raise awareness of IChemE and chemical engineering careers more broadly.

Strengthening member groups and local activity

We worked closely with volunteers to restart two member groups, helping to rebuild momentum and improve local support for members. Member groups were supported to deliver more localised, relevant activity, increasing engagement and reinforcing the value of IChemE membership at a regional level.

Deepening employer engagement

Employer engagement remained a key priority throughout the year. In addition to delivering three employer partner networking lunches in different regions, we spent more time working directly with organisations on-site, delivering sessions to raise awareness of IChemE, professional registration, and the breadth of professional development support available to engineers at all career stages.

These sessions helped organisations better understand how IChemE can support workforce development, retention, and progression, while giving engineers clearer insight into routes to Chartership, Fellowship, mentoring, and CPD.

The employer partner networking lunches created valuable opportunities for peer discussion on industrial strategy, skills, placements, and workforce development, strengthening connections across the employer partner network and helping to inform IChemE’s wider engagement and policy work.

Alongside this, we continued to support ACTS organisations, including hosting a well-attended ACTS Manager Workshop and introducing updated guidance and templates aligned with the new single-stage Chartered Member application process.

Celebrating professional achievement

This year saw the launch of regional conferring ceremonies, providing a new way to celebrate Chartered Members, Fellows, medal and prize winners, and key volunteers closer to home. These events marked an important step in recognising professional achievement and employer support across the UK.

Building external partnerships

Finally, we strengthened collaboration with national and regional partners, including education bodies, policy organisations, and professional networks, helping to raise the profile of chemical engineering and amplify our collective impact.

As we look ahead, regional engagement will continue to focus on supporting the talent pipeline, strengthening employer and volunteer relationships, and creating meaningful opportunities for connection and recognition across the profession.