The Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability 2026 attracted over 100 outstanding entries, an incredible achievement! A huge congratulations to all our winners and highly commended finalists for their inspiring work.

The top three awards recognise the highest scoring entry in each age category.

Undergraduate

Winner: PE(r)Fect Pack: Advancing Circular Pharmaceutical Packaging by Laura Thompson, University of Bath

Postgraduate

Winner: Development of photoelectrochemical reactors for solar hydrogen production by George Creasey, Imperial College London

Early Career

Winner: High Pressure Dewatering Rolls (HPDR) Mk-II: A Step-Change Technology for Sustainable Mineral Tailings Dewatering and Water Recovery by Sajid Hassan, The University of Melbourne

Individual category winners

Eligible presentations were classified into eleven categories aligned to IChemE’s priority topics.

Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence

Winner: Multi-Functional Regression (MFR) using Python for Petroleum Property Inferential Development by Karthigesan Velautham, Malaysian Refining Company

Highly commended:

• Myles Bentley, Johnson Matthey
• Ng Sheng Tat, Inprocess Technology & Consulting Group

Energy and Climate Action

Winner: Development of photoelectrochemical reactors for solar hydrogen production by George Creasey, Imperial College London

Highly commended:

• Gisoo Pasha Moghaddam, AstraZeneca

Engineering Biology

Winner: NanoSense: An Electrospun Nanofibre-Integrated Hyaluronic Acid Microneedle Patch for Localized Delivery of Diclofenac by Priyarubhini Krishnan & Angeline Sue Anne Sia, Universiti Malaya

Environmental Protection and Improvement

Winner: Small-scale testing solving global emissions problems: Insights into catalytic N2O decomposition by Alina Tony and Theo Bockmuehl, Johnson Matthey

Highly commended:

• Amro Elsayed, University of Cambridge
• Tai Ji Zhang, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Excellence in Education, Skills and Training

Winner: XElectric FS: Project XE01 by Rosaleen Knox, Sebastian Ridley, Vedaant Raghunath, Alexander Barton & Jasper Clark, University of Exeter

Food and Drink

Winner: Design of a Community Garden Project for the Student Community at the University of Strathclyde by Lewis Philips and Reuben Selman, University of Strathclyde

Health and Wellbeing

Winner: CaviTrace: Hydrodynamic Cavitation-Based Rapid Gram by Setornam Gli, Newcastle University

Materials, Mining and Minerals

Winner: High Pressure Dewatering Rolls (HPDR) Mk-II: A Step-Change Technology for Sustainable Mineral Tailings Dewatering and Water Recovery by Sajid Hassan, The University of Melbourne

Waste Valorisation and Circular Economy

Winner: PE(r)Fect Pack: Advancing Circular Pharmaceutical Packaging by Laura Thompson, University of Bath

Highly commended:

• Evangeline Leong, Monash University

Water and Sanitation

UK Winner: Natural Coagulation for Clean Water: A Moringa Oleifera Based Treatment System for Low-Resource Communities by Ryan Oatley and Soluna Stojanovska, University of Leeds

AUS Winner: A Year in Action - Hybrid MABR-MBR WWTP in Te Kauwhata New Zealand by Sela Maka and Emma Cross, Watercare Services and Veolia Water Technologies

Highly commended:

• Abdulrahman Mohamed Mohamud, Russell McDonnell and Ubaydullah Ahmed, Queen Mary University of London

The Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability in 2025 received over 100 brilliant entries. Huge congratulations to all winners and highly commended finalists!

The top three awards recognise the highest scoring entry in each age category.

Undergraduate

Winner: EcoMed: Powering Healthcare, Protecting Lives by Anam Ahmed, Eylul Akgok, Jungho Na, Daniel Bull and Helen Lee, Imperial College London

Highly commended:

• Tan Hui Hui, Yi Hang Lok, University of Cambridge
• Kelly Lai Yan Kei, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP)

Postgraduate

Winner: A Waste-To-Health & Wealth (W2HW) Approach: Tuning Multifunctional and Sustainable Colloids (Eutectogel & Oleogel) by Zhi Ling Chew, Xiamen University Malaysia

Highly commended:

• Min Kaung Htet Ko Ko, UCSI University
• Abhisek Sahoo, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Early Career

Winner: Wem: Implementing Innovative Low Footprint Wastewater Treatment for Small Communities by William Ryden, Mott MacDonald Bentley – MMB

Highly commended:

• Ikuni Ebereonwu, University of Birmingham and Arup
• Joshua Saczek, University of Manchester

UK Schools

Winner: The Process of Decomposing Organic Textiles using Fungi by Priya, Emily and Laura, St Helen & St Katharine Girls School

Highly commended:

• Sana, Shay, Rishika, Hafsa and Shafia, Wolverhampton Girls’ High School
• Isabel, Rio, Maxwell, Sanad and Patrick, St Mary’s College

Individual category winners

Eligible presentations were classified into seven categories aligned to IChemE’s priority topics.

Clean Energy and Climate Action - Sponsored by The Environment Agency

Winner: Process Synthesis and Performance Analysis of Low Carbon Heat-Driven Direct Air Capture by Ikuni Ebereonwu, University of Birmingham and Arup

Highly commended:

• Theodoros Papalas, University of Cambridge
• Anuj Joshi, Rushikesh Joshi, Ohio State University
• Claudia Cavallo, Caitlin Grant, Worley Consulting

Water and Sanitation

Winner: Wem: Implementing Innovative Low Footprint Wastewater Treatment for Small Communities by William Ryden, Mott MacDonald Bentley – MMB

Highly commended:

• Sam Sarrafi, Rowan French, United Utilities
• Darren Lim Ming Qian, Aishah Sabarudin, Heriot-Watt University Malaysia

Food, Health and Wellbeing - Sponsored by Elsevier

Winner: EcoMed: Powering Healthcare, Protecting Lives by Anam Ahmed, Eylul Akgok, Jungho Na, Daniel Bull and Helen Lee, Imperial College London

Highly commended:

• Joshua Saczek, University of Manchester

Responsible Production, Innovation and Industry

Winner: A Waste-To-Health & Wealth (W2HW) Approach: Tuning Multifunctional and Sustainable Colloids (Eutectogel & Oleogel) by Zhi Ling Chew, Xiamen University Malaysia

Highly commended:

• Tan Hui Hu, Yi Hang Lok, University of Cambridge
• Abhisek Sahoo, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Quality Education

Winner: A Novel Approach to Chemical Engineering Work Experience: By Young Engineers, for Young Engineers by Joseph Harry Carter, Benjamin Patrick Hilton, Lara Alice Hill and Alana Rose Prior, Sellafield Ltd

Process Safety

Winner: A Budget-Constrained Optimization Framework for Mitigating Domino Effects in Chemical Storage Facilities by Shuya Hou, University of Surrey

Digitalisation and Cybersecurity

Winner: Enhancing Oilfield Efficiency with Interactive Maps and Pressure Simulations by Abigail Clarke, Shell Trinidad and Tobago

Highly commended:

• Henry Susilo, Honeywell

The inaugural Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability in 2024 received a fantastic array of entries. Huge congratulations to all winners!

Undergraduate

Winner: Alexandra Joyce Roe, Loughborough University. Priority topic: Responsible Production, Innovation and Industry

Highly commended:

• Joseph Carver and Ethan Grigor (group entry), University of Bath. Priority topic: Responsible Production, Innovation and Industry
• Daniel Singleton, Manchester University. Priority topic: Responsible Production, Innovation and Industry

Postgraduate

Winner: Andrei-Leonard Nicusan and Roberto Hart-Villamil (group entry), Birmingham University. Priority topic: Responsible Production, Innovation and Industry

Highly commended:

• William Gordon-Petrovskii, University College London. Priority topic: Food, Health and Wellbeing
• Cherie Wong, University of Oxford. Priority topic: Clean Energy and Climate Action

Early Career

Winner: Roseanna Edney, Plastic Energy. Priority topic: Responsible Production, Innovation and Industry

Highly commended:

• Sam Smith, Air Products. Priority topic: Clean Energy and Climate Action
• Zoha Tariq, Graduate Chemical Engineer (AMIChemE). Priority topic: Digitalisation, including Cybersecurity