On Thursday 8 December 2022, the IChemE London & South-East Young Members Group hosted a hybrid Industry Insights event at the University of Greenwich. The purpose of this event was to gain an insight into industry and academia from current professionals that have thrived in either world and share tips and advice. Speakers from 4 different sectors including food, healthcare, energy and academia gave inspiring talks about their unique career paths and answered questions from the audience.

The first speaker was Jack Boddy, an Industrial Engineering Manager from Mars. Jack graduated with a Masters in Chemical Engineering from Bath University, and joined Mars as part of the Engineering Graduate Scheme. He worked in a variety of regional and global roles for the last 12 years and shared his journey throughout these roles and his life as a Martian.

The second speaker of the event was Arran Marais-Gilchrist, a Chartered Senior Process Engineer at GSK. Arran has an MSci in Chemistry from the University of Bristol, and an MSc in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London. He joined GSK’s graduate scheme in 2014 and held roles in pharmaceutical production support, project work, process safety auditing and process commissioning. Since 2018, he has led the process re-design of a major renovation project at GSK, from feasibility to construction. Arran shared his experience and reflections from education to his early and mid-career, as well as tips on the Chartership application.

As a third speaker, we were grateful to have Dr Pablo García-Triñanes, an Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Greenwich and the Chair of the IChemE London & South-East Coast Main group. Pablo has been instrumental in bringing the discipline of Chemical Engineering to Medway Campus. Prior to joining the University of Greenwich, he was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Surrey, where he also collaborated with Unilever. Pablo shared his main achievements towards his journey as an Associate Professor as well as an interesting comparison between academia and industry.

Last but definitely not least, Dr Maryam Gharebaghi, a Principal Process Engineer from Worley shared her experience as a woman in engineering. Maryam was born Iran and studied internationally before moving to Scotland as a process engineer in the oil and gas industry. She completed her Chemical Engineering degree at the University of Tehran and worked for few years as a Graduate Engineer in consulting. She also completed a Mechanical Engineering master’s degree at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Cyprus and a PhD at Leeds University. Then she moved to Aberdeen and volunteered in a charity book shop before applying for jobs in the oil and gas sector. Maryam shared her great achievements and a technical case study from routine operations in oil filling and loading. She finished the session with an inspiring message to never stop improving what you do and not be afraid to try new things!

The event concluded with a Q&A panel and a networking session, allowing the audience to gain more knowledge from the experiences of the speakers.