CEB Focus 5, Jan 2012

In this issueMessage from HoD 2

Editorial 2

Front Cover Article 3

Achievements 6

Undergraduate Focus 8

Graduate Hub 9

Teaching Matters 10

Research Highlights 12

Research Feature 14

Industry Business 16

Alumni Corner 17

Department Events 18

Staff Room 19

Arrivals and Departures 21

Dear Dr Sarah 22

Tea-Time Teaser 23

CEBFocusDepartment of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

CEB Graduates -What happened next? p.3

Spores to Dine For p.12Spanish Innovation p.6 Life on the Edge p.17

Lent 2012Issue 5

www.ceb.cam.ac.uk

CEB Focus 5 Lent:_Layout 1 24/1/12 12:07 Page 1

Welcome

With the New Year it’s time for aState of the Union report: 2011 sawremarkable progress for CEB withexceptional contributions from allmembers of our staff, on whosebehalf I am extremely proud andgrateful.

CEB continues to achieve global recognition and wasranked second overall in the QS World UniversityRankings of Chemical Engineering Departments. Weare continuing to rejuvenate our staff profile and inturn, our graduates are making their mark at otheracademic institutions.

Also, UK biotech industry and CEB have continued tobuild the globally recognised Master’s in BioscienceEnterprise which has the active participation of over100 external entrepreneurs and industrialists andcontinues to recruit to our limit of 25 MPhil studentsper year.

CEB sadly waved goodbye to Professor Malcolm

Mackley and to Mr Barrie Goddard who both tookearly retirement, to Miss Linda Craft, who had workedin the department for 28 years, Mr Surinder Sall, MrsSabine Deering, and Mr Phil Salway. We wish themwell for the future.

As per New Year’s resolutions my own priorities are thatCEB should continue to develop the new building inWest Cambridge and to pursue the exciting sponsorshipleads that are emerging, which will likely involve us innew collaborations and partnerships overseas. I lookforward to encouraging our new Lecturers to build theirprofiles in teaching and research and to the continuedgrowth of our Teaching Consortium. We realise that thenew fees structure for undergraduates may affectstudent recruitment but we must endeavour tomaintain access for highly able students irrespective ofbackground and financial circumstances. Finally, 2012will be critical as we prepare for the Research ExcellenceFramework exercise in 2013 and position our case asadvantageously as possible. So, another exciting year inprospect and one in which I hope that CEB can workclosely with our friends and alumni.

2 | www.ceb.cam.ac.uk

Notes from the Editorial TeamCEB Focus Team wishes all our readers a very warmand happy New Year 2012!CEB Focus Editorial Team is led by Elena Gonzalez, PAto HoD, assisted by fellow editors: Alastair Clarke,Jawad Rehman, Nick Ramskill and Marijke Fagan. Wewould like to welcome Jawad to the Editorial Team.Jawad is a PhD student working on Bioelectrochemistryand Nanomaterials under the supervision of ProfessorLisa Hall.

In this issue we have talked to some of our graduatesand asked them about how their own careers and howthey think the job market or their own choices may beaffected by the ongoing recession. Our research sectionsdeals with hot and fascinating topics like molecularmicrobiology and re-vegetating contaminated land.Achievements in the areas of CO2 capture and theprestigious Donald and William S. Hancock awardsgiven to Department members are worth noting.

Alumni Corner presents Peter Varey’s insights into thelife of Peter Danckwerts, former HoD and ShellProfessor from 1959 to 1977, in his soon-to-be

published biography book ‘Living on the Edge’.

Staff Room highlights some of the talents of our staffmembers from poetry writing to radio DJ-ing and eveninterior design! Finally, Dr Sarah answers yourquestions in her regular column and Alastair returnswith a tea-time teaser on “sustainably-financed”institutions.

CEB Focus would like to thank Vanessa Blake forproviding photos and department members, alumniand corporate partners for article contributions. Pleasekeep sending them to [email protected]

To receive a regulare-copy of CEB Focussubscribe by sending amessage [email protected] with‘Subscribe’ as thesubject of the message.Editorial Team: From left to right

Marijke Fagan, Elena Gonzalez andAlastair Clarke; back row: Nick Ramskilland Jawad Rehman

Message fromHoD Professor Nigel Slater


Front Cover Article

Marijke FaganEditorial TeamMemberEvery year the CEB Department produces yet anothergroup of budding chemical engineers – but what dothey decide to do after graduating? e Department’sundergraduate degree equips students with an excellentgrounding in core chemical engineering, from scientificfundamentals to plant design. It would be logical toassume that many graduates choose to apply these skillsin a traditional chemical engineering role. e financialprospects for new chemical engineering graduates hasalso never been better, with e Times Good UniversityGuide finding that chemical engineering graduates hadthe 3rd highest starting salary in the UK at £28,415,lower only than medicine and dentistry. However, notall chemical engineering graduates choose to follow thepure chemical engineering route. e degree alsoteaches students advanced analytical, management andproblem solving skills which make them highlyemployable in sectors such as finance and managementconsulting.

Every year, the outgoing chemical engineeringundergraduate students fill out a form where theyinform the Department of their next career move. isinformation was used to explore the question ofgraduates’ career choices and to see if any significantchanges had occurred over the years.

Figure 1 summarises the survey responses for the period2005-2011. e results show that approximately half ofthe students chose to work in the chemical engineeringindustry after graduating. Figure 2 shows how thispercentage has varied each year. e most popularsectors within the chemical engineering field were oiland petrochemicals (17%), engineering consulting andmanufacturing (11%), oil and gas exploration (8%) andfood and consumer goods (7%).

e majority of students who did not enter a chemicalengineering job chose to work in finance andmanagement consulting or continued with their highereducation by enrolling for a Masters or PhDprogramme. e past few years have seen a slightincrease in the percentage of students who have chosen

to continue their education. is may have been linkedto the recession, which saw many companies cuttingtheir graduate intakes. As a result many new graduatesin the UK at this time chose to continue with theirstudies rather than enter the job market. Overall, 2011saw the largest proportion of students entering non-chemical engineering jobs, with 34% of this classchoosing to follow a career in finance or managementconsulting.

Figure 1. Career choices of CEB graduates in 2005-2011

Figure 2. Percentage of students who went into chemical engineering jobsfollowing completion of their degrees

CEB Focus have been in contact with some recentalumni in order to see how chemical engineeringgraduates have found the workplace. Here they givetheir impressions of the job market, tell us how andwhy they chose their next career and inform us of howtheir chemical engineering degree has helped them.

www.ceb.cam.ac.uk | 3

CEB Graduates -What happened next?


Front Cover Article


e PhD StudentRachel Myers

After graduating in 2009 I startedwork as a process engineer for DavyProcess Technology (DPT) inLondon designing chemical plantsin Saudi and China. Quite a lot ofthe work was very similar to thedreaded design project, just on abigger scale. After a year I realisedthat I missed intensive learning.Consequently I applied to theCentre for Doctoral Training inHealthcare Innovation programmeat the University of Oxford. It is afour year PhD with the first yearbeing a foundation year inbiomedical engineering. I have nowbegun the project that willhopefully turn into my PhD thesis.e topic is “active targeting ofsonosensitive nanoparticles forcancer therapy”. I intend tobioconjugate cancer targeting agentsonto the surface of drug-loadednanoparticles. ese nanoparticlesshould cavitate when exposed tounfocused ultrasound thus releasingthe drug as well as causing localisedhigh temperatures and pressureshockwaves. So far it has been a lotof fun but I don't yet know howsuccessful it will be. My impressionof the job market for recentlygraduated chemical engineers isextremely positive. DPT are stillworking flat out and seem to bedesperate for new recruits as theirwork is not dependant on the UKmarket. Funding for biomedicalresearch still seems to be available aswell.

e Business ConsultantChris Khoo

My degree started in Engineeringright after my National Service inSingapore and concluded in 2008.ese university years were the eraof unsustainable economicexpansion when solid interviewpreparation and a Cambridge degreewas a ticket to a top job. A love forsolving problems and facing newchallenges led me to chooseconsulting. I work withSchlumberger Business Consulting,a firm that is rapidly growing; onethat I can shape; solving a variety ofStrategic, Operational andCapability challenges for our clients;and it specializes in an industry thatI am passionate about: Energy. Myprojects in Singapore, Bangkok,Kuala Lumpur, Perth, Brisbane,Dubai and Paris were a mixed bagthat can all be described as hardwork, fun, interesting, mundane orfrustrating. I have stayed in tophotels of all those cities and eaten atsome of the top restaurants. I havealso worked through the Bangkokriots and had to evacuate whenBrisbane’s streets were flooded. Ifound the real lessons from my timeat CEB invaluable: thinking on myfeet, taking a step back fromcomplicated issues to rework thesolutions from first principles,conviction in my recommendations,keeping an open mind, chilling overfood with teammates and toughingit out through crunch times. I don’tknow what life in 10 years lookslike, but I know Monday is bright!

e EntrepreneurTom James

On graduating in 2008 I joined anoperations and efficiencyconsultancy. I worked mainly innuclear submarine yards and theNHS. e job was a greatopportunity to take on a high levelof responsibility at a very early stagein my career, and also understandhow both my own organisation andothers in which I worked. After twoyears I formed the biodieselcompany Organic Drive with twocolleagues, Duncan Morrison andGeoff Cunningham, both ex-Cambridge engineers, at the end of2010. Our aim was to become aleading player in the UK renewablefuels market producing biodieselfrom used cooking oil. On the 1stMarch 2011 we signed the lease ona 4,500 sq ft unit in the WestMidlands, and within a few monthshad built, commissioned and testeda plant designed completely inhouse. My background in chemicalengineering proved invaluableduring the design and build stage, asthe process required the use ofchemical engineering staples likevacuum flash separators, heatexchangers, as well as novel sawdust-based adsorption columns. eplant is currently producing arounda road tanker of fuel a week, withthis set to increase by two - fourfold in the New Year. I receivedthird place in the Young ChemicalEngineer of the Year Award at theannual IChemE Awards inNovember 2011.


Front Cover Article


e TraderYaoyao Liu

I graduated in 2009 from Trinity towork as an energy trader atGoldman Sachs. My role involvesproviding liquidity and riskmanagement solutions to clientssuch as airlines, refiners, and oilproducers, in addition to takingadvantage of market opportunitiesthrough proprietary positions.Having interned with the firm in2008 I found working in financialmarkets rewarding not merely inremunerative terms. e intellectualchallenge of keeping abreast withprice evolution in a market that isdifferent everyday and theinterpretation and prediction ofcurrent events as they unfold is bothengaging and motivating. edownsides are potentially longhours, high stress, and on occasionverbal abuse from a banker-bashingpublic. e current job market istough; firms are downsizing to cutcosts. However, most cuts are aimedat senior levels where the potentialsavings are more significant -graduate recruitment shouldn't betoo dissimilar to previous years.Graduates entering finance comefrom a variety of, but mostcommonly quantitative disciplines.Chemical engineering subjectknowledge is not directly applicableto most day-to-day work. However,in my case understanding refineryoperations and physical processeshas proven useful, e.g. when tradingdiesel or naphtha and unscheduledhydrotreater shutdown at a largerefinery...

e LecturerDr Samantha Gooneratne

When I stayed on in Cambridgeafter my undergraduate degree, itwas with the intention of doing aPhD so that I might get intolecturing. During my PhD, I triedto get as involved in teaching as Icould. I supervised a number ofsubjects, and in my final year, Ienrolled in the GraduateDevelopment Programme’sTeaching Associate Programme.is gave me the opportunity toexplore different teaching andlearning methods, and to look atteaching processes objectively andrevise my own techniques. At theend I was awarded Associate Fellowstatus of the UK Higher EducationAcademy. My post-PhD job huntwas difficult for a number ofreasons. e main problem was thatthere didn’t seem to be manylecturing posts available, presumablydue to the prevalent economicclimate. Furthermore, the posts thatwere available were directed atapplicants with a lot moreexperience. I also felt that that beinga non-EU citizen put me at adisadvantage. After six to ninemonths of searching, I was invitedto my first interview for alectureship at Teesside University (apost I had seen advertised in theIChemE’s TCE) and after a secondinterview, I was offered the job. Ihave been working at TeessideUniversity for almost four weeksnow and I am wholly convincedthat the path I’ve chosen is the rightone.

e Petroleum EngineerDeviyani Misra-Godwin

I supervise the day-to-day runningof a Higher Olefins plant. e jobcovers a range of areas, includingplant optimization, daily troubleshooting and improvement projects.I chose to work in the oil and gassector because it’s an enormousindustry, with a range of jobopportunities across the globe.ere is also satisfaction to bederived from making a tangibleproduct that serves a genuinepurpose. I enjoyed my degree, sowanted to use it after graduation! Iuse it to design heat exchangers,optimize distillation towers,simulate plant operations etc. edegree at Cambridge provides agreat theoretical understanding ofhow things should work. echallenge is then to convert theoryto practice! In the current climate, Ithink many graduates are looking togo in to industries like this whichprovide excellent pay, good work-life balance, and a broad range ofjobs to challenge them. Wheremany industries have been hit hardby the economic downturn, the oiland gas industry is one of the fewareas actively recruiting newgraduates. e important thing is toremember that you have to go towork every single day, and you spendmore time at work than you do athome! So do something you enjoy.I’m lucky to say that my work isvaried, interesting and challenging.And I have only just begun toglimpse the variety of opportunitiesavailable!


Achievements


CEB Focus: Congratulations on receiving a ‘TR35’award; what does being a winner of this award meanto you?Nuria: It is a great recognition to the entire workcarried out during my PhD in Spain. I feel very happyfor myself, but also for the Calcium LoopingTechnology which I have been working on. TR35awards valuate promising technologies that are able tochange the world, and I believe in the high potential ofCalcium Looping to mitigate CO2 emissions.

You have attended conferences in Boston, USA andMalaga, Spain to receive your award. How was thatexperience?e whole experience was really inspiring. Very smartand well-known people working in different fields gaveamazing talks in the EmTech Conference in Boston,USA. I also had the opportunity to visit the MITfacilities. If you have the chance, I recommend visitingthe MIT Media Lab. It’s like a technology playgroundwhere researchers have the space, tools, and toys tothink freely — just how a child would do. e EmTechin Malaga was the week after Boston. It was the firstedition of this conference in Spain and the result wasvery exciting.

Why do you think Technology Review chose Spainfor its 2011 regional award?e TR35 global awards were launched in USA twelveyears ago to recognize the world’s most outstandinginnovators who are younger than 35. e awards span awide range of fields, including biotechnology, materials,computer hardware, energy, transportation, and theInternet. In 2010, a regional TR35 was launched withTR35 India. Now there are regional versions of theTR35 in Singapore, Italy, and Spain. China, Brazil, andMexico are planned for 2012. As you probably know,Spain is going through hard financial times. For this

reason, it was stimulating to see many people wanting abig change in the country by using technology researchand development. Many institutions spoke up forsupporting young researchers and entrepreneurs inorder to create jobs and build a better future for Spain.

Could you describe your research?Calcium looping is a technology based on the use ofCaO to mitigate CO2 emission of highly energeticprocesses like power plants, biomass boilers or cementmanufacturing factories. ere are several possibleconfigurations, but I have been mainly working on theapplication of Calcium Looping to existing coal powerplants. My research has been focused on the assessmentof this process regarding mass, heat and economicbalances. e experimental work carried out in a30 kWth pilot plant led the scaling up of the process.Currently a 1.7 MWth pilot plant is commissioning inthe North of Spain to clean gases from a real powerplant.

Where is the greatest potential for innovation in thisfield? Is reducing the cost of capturing CO2 thegreatest need?e cost of a new process is always a key factor. We allknow how to get affordable energy, what we don’t knowis how to get clean affordable energy. Although the CO2

capture technologies are becoming a necessity, it isessential they are as cheap as possible; otherwisedeveloping countries, and even developed countries,would keep rejecting its implementation.

What ambitions do you have for 2012?I would like to keep working in the energy field. We arefacing the huge task of finding a source of efficient,clean energy that is able to supply global needs, and Iwant to be there as a researcher.

Nuria leads Spanish InnovationLast October, Dr Nuria Rodriguez was named one of Spain’s leading younginnovators by Technology Review, a magazine published by the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology. Nuria is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department’sCombustion Group. She is working on ‘Calcium Looping’, a method ofcapturing CO2 emissions from power plants through the carbonation ofcalcium oxide. CEB Focus caught up with Nuria to discuss her award, herfuture ambitions and the role of innovators in her field.


Achievements


Dr Ken Seamon receives CASSSHonourable Award

Dr Seamon, lecturer onthe MBE course at theInstitute ofBiotechnology is the firstrecipient of CASSS’William S. HancockAward for OutstandingAchievements inChemistry,Manufacturing &

Controls (CMC) Regulatory Science. is annualaward by CASSS (International Separation ScienceSociety) recognizes outstanding and sustainedcontributions to the field.

His achievements have been instrumental in enablingthe availability on a global basis of high quality life-saving medicines derived from recombinant technology.Ken accepted the award at the annual WCBPSymposium in San Francisco on the 21st January, whenhe was thanked in public for his life-long contributionsto the advancement of the field as a regulator, anindustry professional and now in academia.

He told CEB Focus “It is a huge honour to berecognized by such an organisation. It has been aprivilege to be able to work with so many bright anddedicated scientists representing the regulatoryauthorities, the industry, and academic research to helpbring new drugs and biologics to patients. Over theyears we have been able to advance the field ofbiotechnology by a collaborative effort based on goodscience and patient benefit. I hope to be able tocontinue to contribute to these efforts as we try torealise the benefits of the significant investment andinnovation in the pharmaceutical industry for publichealth in all regions. In particular, these are the valueswe want our students to understand as they moveforward in their careers. I have recently taken on anadditional role at the Cambridge Cancer Centre where Iwill continue my efforts to help facilitate cross-cuttingscience for the detection, diagnosis and treatment ofcancer.”

DonaldMedal forProfessor Howard Chasee Donald Medal is awarded by the BiochemicalEngineering Subject Group of the IChemE foroutstanding services in Biochemical Engineering and isnamed after a long-serving Honorary Secretary andformer Ramsay Professor at University College Londonwhere biochemical engineering was first established inthe UK.

Professor Chase wasHead of theDepartment ofChemical Engineering(1998-2006) and isnow Head of theSchool of Technology.Although knownprincipally for hisactivities inbioprocessing,downstreamprocessing andbioseparations, he hasalso led productive

research in biological waste treatment and the use ofmicrowave heating in process engineering applications.

CEB Focus asked Professor Chase about his feelings onreceiving this prestigious award. He commented, “I amdelighted that my research in biochemical engineeringover a 30-year period has been recognised in thismanner. It is indeed an honour to join a group ofdistinguished biochemical engineers who have helpedforge the UK’s reputation in this important area ofbiotechnology. My work on biochemical engineeringstarted in the department at the end of 1981 when Iwas employed as a research assistant under the directionof the late Dr Nigel Kenney.” He added, “My overallaim has always been to apply ‘traditional’ chemicalengineering approaches to biological issues and this hasenabled my work to span a number of areas. anks tothe research students and post-doctoral workers whohave enabled my ideas to be tested; this award wouldnot have happened without their valiant efforts in thelaboratory!”

Professor Christopher Hewitt ofLoughborough University presentedProfessor Howard Chase with theDonald Medal of the Institution ofChemical Engineers, 2 November 2011


Achievements


Undergraduate Focus

CEB Rewind: 2011 HighlightsSome specific highlights from 2011 are particularlynoteworthy:

- Young University Lecturers were appointed: DrAxel Zeitler who works on applications of terahertzspectoscopy in pharmaceutical formulation, Dr DanHolland who works on MRI imaging applications inreaction engineering, Dr Graham Christie who isworking on the control of sporulation and Dr SabineBahn who works on medical metabolomics.- CEB researchers moved to academic positions atother universities: Dr Rongjun Chen to a tenure trackFellowship at Leeds, Dr Alex Edwards to a Lectureshipin Pharmaceutical Sciences at Reading, Dr Nuno Reisto a Lectureship in Chemical Engineering atLoughborough and Dr Samantha Gooneratne to aLectureship in Chemical Engineering at Teeside.- Dr Sabine Bahn has been granted a $5M extensionof funding from US medical charity Stanley MedicalResearch Institute in recognition of her groundbreakingresearch on metabolomic biomarkers for schizophreniaand other neurological disorders. She was also awardeda Professorship at Erasmus University in theNetherlands.- e University awarded personal Chairs toProfessor Clemens Kaminski and Professor AlanTunnacliffe and a Readership to Dr Geoff Moggridge.- Professor Chris Lowe, Director of the Institute ofBiotechnology, was awarded an OBE and won theBBSRC Commercial Innovator of the Year (2011)award.- Professor Howard Chase won the Donald Medal ofthe IChemE for outstanding services to BiochemicalEngineering.- Dr David Scott won the University Pilkington Prizefor excellence in teaching.- CEB’s Teaching Consortium remains a vital linkbetween undergraduate teaching and industry. In 2011it expanded its membership with the addition of ABBand we are in final stage discussions with three othercompanies in the process industries sector.- Detailed architectural design and development hasbegun on CEB’s new building in West Cambridge,which has involved consultation with all CEB staff.

CUCES Michaelmas ReviewAs ever Michaelmas 2011 was an exciting couple ofmonths for the Cambridge University ChemicalEngineering Society (CUCES). e term beganwith a succession of careers events, each affordingstudents the opportunity to explore some of themost successful engineering companies in the worldand network with their representatives. eCUCES committee and visiting companies wouldlike to thank undergraduate and postgraduatestudents across the Department for the attendanceand enthusiasm consistently shown at careers eventsthroughout the term.

In keeping with tradition, the term was rounded offwith the CUCES Christmas Dinner 2011, anevening made possible by the kind sponsorship ofBP. e Christmas Dinner, held for the first time atBrowns, brought together the entire spectrum ofDepartment members, from undergraduates, MPhiland PhD students to lecturers and staff. eenthusiasm for the dinner was evident from the50% sign up within the first 24 hours and theevening itself continued to reflect the social spirit ofthe Department. e CUCES committee wouldlike to thank all those who attended for trulybrightening the evening and making it a pleasure toorganise.

Moving into Lent 2012, the CUCES committeeaims to shift its focus to the Frank Morton Games2012, a very social national sporting event, and theAnnual Dinner 2012. In addition, the committee ishoping to organise sponsored clothing forDepartment members and yet more careers events,so please do stayed tuned…


Graduate Hub


e Cambridge University Energy Network (CUEN) isa student-run society, with a focus on sustainableenergy. e objectives of the society are to inform andto raise awareness of the ever-important field ofsustainable energy, from technological, financial andpolitical viewpoints. Activities of CUEN includelectures and discussion groups, presented by speakersfrom the University of Cambridge and elsewhere, andfilm and documentary screenings. Our main event ofthe academic year is an Annual Conference held at theend of Easter Term. e programme for this topicalconference includes talks by leading figures both fromindustry and academia.

e executive committee reflects the multi-disciplinarynature of the world's energy problems, with itsmembers having different academic backgrounds,ranging from engineering to economics. Indeed, thesociety aims to bring together diverse disciplines toaddress the social, technical, political, economical,geological and environmental challenges in energygeneration. A high proportion of our committeemembers is based in the Department of ChemicalEngineering and Biotechnology, often taking up veryimportant roles in CUEN.

is year, the Annual Conference was held at theFaculty of Law, University of Cambridge, on 28th June2011. Entitled ‘Gale Force: Offshore Wind Power’, theconference focused on the generation of electricityusing offshore wind, successfully bringing together 100industry leaders, professionals, academics and students,who share a common interest in offshore wind energy.

A more recent talk was held at the Department ofEngineering on 21st November 2011. e lecture, titled‘Some inconvenient economics of energy and climatepolicy’, was delivered by Dr. Michael Pollitt from theJudge Business School and attracted an audience ofmore than 150 students and academics. More talks onenergy and environment related issues will be scheduledduring Lent and Easter terms.

Dr Michael Pollitt delivering his talk to CUEN, Michaelmas 2011.Photographer: Irufan Ahmed

We are continuously looking for chemical engineers tocontribute to the society, as we strongly believe thatchemical engineering students share a deep interest insustainable energy amongst all disciplines within the

University. In order to followup on our forthcomingevents and subscribe to theCUEN mailing list, pleasevisit our website,www.cuen.org.uk, and joinour Facebook group (eCambridge UniversityEnergy Network). We lookforward to seeing you at ourfuture events!

Prof Peter Tavner from Durham University delivering an opening speechat the CUEN Annual Conference on offshore wind energy.Photographer: Jin Yang Lim

Some members of the Department attending the CUEN Conference. Leftto right: Saquib Sultan, Marco Saucedo, Tzu-Ching Chu, Jin Yan, NuriaRodriguez, Wen (Paul) Liu. Photographer: Jin Yang Lim

The Cambridge University Energy NetworkJin Yang Lim, Paul Liu, Saquib Sultan, Giulia Privitera, Irufan Ahmed


Teaching Matters


Engineer Ethics: A ‘Hot’SubjectDr David ScottDirector of Teaching

We considered explicitcoverage ofengineering ethics intothe Tripos after helpfulcomments from theIChemE AccreditationTeam during their visitin May 2010. eyemphasised thatcoverage ofengineering ethics wasa requirement ofIChemE accreditation,

and that it should be embedded in our teaching. eDepartment has always had some coverage of ethicalissues in courses such as Safety, Health and theEnvironment, and more recently in Sustainability inChemical Engineering. For example, following theDavid Nutt issue, I have been asking the class attendingthe CET I Safety lectures which they consider the moredangerous of horse riding or taking ecstasy, with theintention of provoking discussion about the meaning of“dangerous”, “horse riding” and “taking ecstasy”.

e Royal Academy of Engineering is promoting theteaching of engineering ethics. ey state that the studyof ethics in an engineering course helps studentsprepare for their professional lives, develop clarity intheir understanding and thought about ethical issuesand practice, and develop widely applicable skills incommunication, reasoning and reflection, which couldhelp them engage with other activities such as groupwork and work placements. All good learningoutcomes.

Courses on engineering ethics are given in a number ofother Chem Eng departments, including ImperialCollege, where Esat Alpay, who gained his PhD in thisDepartment in 1992, working with Nigel Kenney andme on rapid pressure swing adsorption processes,currently gives courses to IC's Chem Eng,Bioprocessing, Computing and AeronauticalEngineering Departments. Esat kindly gave me a lot of

advice and information, including recommending thebook by Harris, Pritchard and Rabins1, which is aninteresting read. I’ve stumbled across lots of websitesindicating much activity, including the Online EthicsCentre of the US National Academy of Engineering,and IDEA, the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied centreat Leeds University.

We decided to approach this in two ways. Lecturerswere encouraged to ask some ethics-related questions intheir courses, such as “How would you check that yourreactor model works?” In addition, two sessions wereheld near the start of the CET IIA year in which weconsidered IChemE accreditation guidelines, the natureof ethics, what is a profession, codes of conduct, howethical issues might arise in the workplace, impedimentsto ethical behaviour, some topics in engineering, andhow one might address ethical issues. We looked at thecode of Hammurabi (the engineering aspects, ofcourse), the Hippocratic oath, the clip of Paxmaninterviewing Sting about South American rain forests.We wondered about the monarchy, Rhianna,foxhunting and badger culls. We noted, with pride, thatengineering is a great profession … though there can bedownsides. We finished with some scenarios includingconsiderations of bribery and conflict of loyalties. Useof scenarios seems to be a popular way of teachingethics - see the articles by Shallcross2, 3 and Parkinson2.

Some students may have come across much of thisbefore, and most students will have already seen someof it. But I think that exposure to, or reminder of, thismaterial is valuable. I certainly had fun, and I’dwelcome (constructive) suggestions of improvementsfor next year’s course.

Further Reading1. Harris, Jr, C.E., Pritchard, M.S., Rabins, M.J., 2009, Engineering Ethics:

Concepts and Cases, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

2. Shallcross, D.C., Parkinson, M.J., 2006, Teaching ethics to chemicalengineers. Some classroom scenarios, Education for Chemical Engineers, 1,49-54

3. Shallcross, D.C., 2010, Teaching ethics to chemical engineers 2. Furtherclassroom scenarios, Education for Chemical Engineers, 5, e13–e2


Teaching Matters


Dr Dave HamptonMPhil Graduate - CEO of CamStent Ltd

CamStent Ltd is an emerging medical materialscompany founded by members of the MBE class. It setabout a three-year effort to develop a improved urinarycatheter. By now, discussions with exit partners whomight manufacture and distribute the finished product(‘cardiac stents’) have already began.

CamStent raised £350K ($570K) Seed Funding from aConsortium of Business Angels back in September. Arecent study has demonstrated that the company’s firstproduct from its surface coating platform exerts strongantimicrobial effects against the organisms primarilyresponsible for hospital-acquired urinary-tractinfections.

e funding will be used to optimise this product forlicensing and clinical use to demonstrate impact oninfection rates.

CEB Focus caught up with MBE graduate Dr Hamptonwho highlighted the importance of preparation and theconnections that MBE course gave them, “It reallycould not have happened without that launch pad andthe great support from EEDA and our angel investorsthat provided the funding to propel us forward.”

Dave is a biomedical research scientist and entrepreneurwith global experience in medical device innovation andnew business development. Dave leads the MedicalDiagnostics and Devices course at the University ofCambridge (UK), and is a Medtronic Bakken Fellow, a

Senior Member of the IEEE, and a Fellow of theAIMBE.

Dave recalls, “I came to the Bioscience Enterpriseprogramme with a goal of becoming a better researchmanager. But the course helped me to see that productis not developed in isolation, but in the context of abusiness plan and financial resources. It gave me thetools and confidence to take an idea, just a clinicalproblem and a technology that might solve it, and builda growing business around it. e course gave me themethods and the confidence to pitch my ideas toinvestors and to recruit the very best people to drive theprocess forward. It continues to provide me with thenetwork of contacts and the access to resources that are,today, building CamStent and its products. And it giveme ongoing opportunities to return to work with eachnew class of students, sharing our experiences andencouraging them to build successful new companiesbased on the principles and skills that they are learning”

He added, “Our group of five students proposed aCambridge-based business, CamStent, to commercialisethe polymer for medical use. With guidance fromcourse advisors, we prepared a business plan andpitched it in the Cambridge University Entrepreneurscompetition. e panel of business angels judged us asfirst runner-up for 2006: we created the business withthe £5000 prize and began to refine our developmentplans and investment pitch.”

Cardiac stents required extensive testing and clinicaltrials in order to reach market with antibacterialapplications on disposable products another possibility.CamStent secured an East of England DevelopmentGrant to test the two market alternatives. e elementsof the business opportunity came together like a casestudy: urgent need, effective technology, exit partnersand economical development path.

And, in Spring 2010, CamStent demonstrated a coatingsuitable for use with catheter materials that impacted90% of the P. Mirabiius organisms responsible forurinary tract infections.

London Eye Pitch back in 2006

CamStent: A History of Success



Research Highlights

Spores to Dine ForDr GrahamChristieLecturer

It is fair to say that as a group of organisms, sporeforming bacteria have an image problem. ey havebeen associated with the post 9/11 anthrax attacks inthe US, which are still being cleaned-up 10 years afterthe event, and are regularly brought up in media reportsconcerning the hospital “superbug” Clostridium difficile.Assuming that you have personally managed to avoidthe really bad guys – and we should also throwC. botulinum into that category - there is still a fairchance that you’ve encountered at some point thedeleterious aspects of spore-former biology in the shapeof Bacillus cereus (my own “cream cake incident”,Egypt, 2007) or Clostridium perfringens-associated foodpoisoning.

It’s not all bad news, however, as several species ofBacillus have found useful industrial applications,particularly for the production of recombinantenzymes, vitamins, antibodies and other pharmaceuticalproducts. Additionally, the Bacilli and Clostridia are ofconsiderable interest from a fundamental biologicalperspective, since their ability to form dormant spores -by far the most durable cell-type on earth - uponsensing nutrient limitation, represents a simple celldifferentiation cycle that has served as a modeldevelopmental system for genetic regulation duringmicrobial growth.

Research conducted within the CEB MolecularMicrobiology group is concerned with bothfundamental and applied aspects of this group ofbacteria. A major focus of our work has centred onelucidating the molecular details that underpin theprocess by which dormant spores break their dormancyand re-enter the vegetative state. is is crucial, since itis only vegetative cells that are associated with theproduction of toxins and/or pathogenesis; hence if wecan develop strategies to keep the spore lockedindefinitely in the dormant form – by developinginhibitors of spore germination, for example – then wecan reduce risks associated with the presence of sporesin a number of environments e.g. hospital wards,food-processing plants etc.

A major contribution to the field by our group concernsthe application of molecular-genetic and biochemicaltechniques to identify the receptor protein responsiblefor binding germinant molecules that subsequentlytrigger spore germination (Figure 1).

In the absence of crystal structure information - whichwe are pursuing currently following successfulover-expression of receptor proteins in the heterologousexpression host Lactococcus lactis – we have conductedmolecular modelling and systematic mutagenic analysesto begin to elucidate structure-function relationships inspore germinant receptor proteins. Elsewhere, we havebeen applying HPLC-MS techniques to examinegermination-associated changes to the molecularstructure of the thick layer of peptidoglycan that servesto keep the spore in the dormant state. e dissolutionof this structure by so called cortex-lytic enzymes(CLEs) is essential for the spore to complete thegermination process; hence there is considerable appliedinterest in elucidating the mechanisms by which CLEsare activated during spore germination, since if thiscould be stimulated prematurely then the subsequentloss of resistance properties would, for example, permitreduced thermal processing of food products.

Figure 1. Molecular model of the spore germinant receptor proteinresponsible for binding germinants (courtesy Dr Ricardo Nunez Miguel).


Research Highlights


Finally, in more recent work that iscomplementary to existing research beingconducted within CEB, we have begun toexamine the potential application of spores asvectors for oral vaccines or as probiotic foodsupplements. As bizarre as this may seem in lightof earlier comments regarding pathogenicity, themolecular tools and genomic information are nowavailable to engineer spores of various species todisplay fragments of antigens on the outer surface(Figure 2), deliver drugs upon germination and/orserve as heterologous expression systems fortherapeutic molecules that are protected withinthe spore and which can then be stored forindefinite periods under ambient conditions.Who knows, perhaps progress with some of thelatter research objectives will lead to a revisedperception of this unique group of microbes astough, but essentially beneficial and usefulmicrobes?

Further Information“Initiation of Germination in Bacillus andClostridium Spores”, Graham Christie, in BacterialSpores: Current Research and Applications,Caister Academic Press (2012).

Acknowledgementsanks to Chris Lowe and all CEB sporebiologists who have contributed to this researchprogramme!

Figure 2. Co-DIC/Fluorescence image of sporulating Bacillusmegaterium cells displaying GFP on the outer surface of thedeveloping spore.

Why Paste Ram Extrusion usingMulti-holed Dies?Min ZhangPhD student, Powder and Paste Processing group

Pastes, which are highly dense suspensions of particulatesolids in a liquid phase, are commonly used inpharmaceutical manufacturing processes, such asextrusion-spheronisation (E-S). In extrusion, the pastes arecompacted and pushed through dies or screens to generatecylindrical extrudates. ese extrudates are then spheronisedon a rotating friction plate to produce pellets with relativelyuniform size, shape and density. e dried pharmaceuticalpellets, typically in the size range of 500 to 1500 μm, can befilled into capsules or compressed into tablets.

Industrial extruders usually employ screens and the pastesare pushed through the holes by blades or cylinders passingover the hole entrances, whereas ram extruders, whichcompact the paste in the barrels and force the materialthrough a concentric, cylindrical, single-holed die by themovement of a piston, are more popularly used in the labs.e screen extrusion enables the high throughput since itallows the shift of the production line from batch tocontinuous processing. In comparison, the single-holed dieram extrusion aids analysis of the paste flow behavior as itsgeometry is in essence a capillary rheometer. Academicworkers use the ram extrusion to characterise the pasterheology and investigate how the paste flow affects the finalpellet quality.

e work published in this paper investigated the pastebehaviors in the multi-hole die ram extrusion systems andcompared the results with those obtained from thesingle-holed die extrusions. e multi-holed dies have beenidentified as effective tools to produce pharmaceutical pelletswith acceptable size and shape properties. On top of that, wealso find that the multi-holed dies can avoid some processingproblems which may be encountered in single-holedsystems. Study of the multi-hold die ram extrusion givesuseful information about many holed (mesh-like)configuration and that helps us gaining a betterunderstanding of the industrial screen extrusion.

ReferenceZhang, M., Rough, S. L., Ward, R., Seiler, C. & Wilson, D. I. A comparison ofram extrusion by single-holed and multi-holed dies for extrusion-spheronisation ofmicrocrystalline-based pastes. Int. J. Pharm., 416, 210-222.


Research Feature


Peter J Leggo1, DavidMC Bailey21Department of Earth Sciences, 2Department ofChemical Engineering and Biotechnology

Former advances, developed at the Department ofEarth Sciences and Botanic Garden, University ofCambridge have lead to a new strategy for sustainingplant growth on contaminated land. is technologywill enable contaminated and marginal land to be re-vegetated.

By using the microporous properties of natural zeolites,it is possible to grow and sustain plants oncontaminated sites which in the past have not been ableto support any vegetation. In this way waste andmarginal land can be used to cultivate energy cropssuch as oil seed rape (B. napus), ossier willow and alarge number of other plants that could providebiomass for combined heating and power.

Figures 1 and 2 show the growth stage of plants after 44days since germination. All plants were grown underidentical green house conditions.

e technology is an in-situ method that requires onlysurface amendment by an organo-zeolitic mixture(biofertilizer). is material is made by compostingcrushed zeolitic rock with animal or plant waste.During composting, ammonia is generated by themicrobial degradation of the organic material andstored as NH4+ ions in the zeolite pore space thuspreventing lost to the atmosphere by volatilization or

leaching by rain water. In a soil environment the NH4+

becomes available for oxidation by nitrifying soil micro-organisms providing a supply of nitrate and othernutrients elements that are readily taken up by theplant.

is research has shown that plant growth can now besustained on sites that in the past have remained barrenfor tens of years or longer. ese sites can now betreated to provide a healthy top soil upon which it willbe possible to establish parkland or grow “bio-fuel”crops. is will help overcome the potential healthhazards and create a land surface that could beredeveloped in numerous ways.

In recent work using coal waste from a former collieryin the Nottingham coalfield, a series of plant growthexperiments has shown that waste of this type cansustain the growth of plants such as maize (Zea mays),sugar beet (Beta vulgaris), miscanthus, (Miscanthusgiganticus), ossier willow (Salix viminalis), oil seed rape(Brassica napus) and linseed (Linum usitatissimum).Figure 3 and Figure 4 show examples of the maize andsugar beet grown in these experiments.

Figure 1. B. napus growing on acid mine-waste.

Figure 2. B. napus growing on amended acid mine waste.

This research has shown that plant growthcan now be sustained on sites that in thepast have remained barren for tens of yearsor longer.

Re-vegetating Contaminated andMarginal Land


Research Feature


Research currently conducted in the Institute ofBiotechnology by Dr David Bailey involves biofilmsthat form on the zeolite crystal surfaces. is work willenable a better understanding of the way in which thebiofertilizer functions. It is thought that the speciationof soil nitrifying organisms, that are known to besponsored by the biofertilizer, are important to the

phenomenon. It is hypothesised that enzyme reactionsthat enable nitrification to function supply hydrogenions that protonate the soil pore-water forminghydronium ions. ese highly unstable ions, on re-equilibration, react with the plant substrate to release awide spectrum of cations. In this way a supply ofessential and beneficial cations are made available forplant uptake.

References1. Leggo PJ, 2000, An investigation of plant growth in an organo-zeolitic

substrate and its ecological significance. Plant and Soil 219: 135-146.2. Leggo PJ and Ledésert B, 2001, Use of an organo-zeolitic fertilizer to sustain

plant growth and stabilize metallurgical and mine-waste sites. MineralogicalMagazine, Vol. 65(5), 563-570.

3. Leggo PJ, Ledésert B and Christie G, 2006, e role of clinoptilolite inorgano-zeolitic-soil systems used for phytoremedation. Science of the TotalEnvironment, 363(2006) 1-10.

4. Leggo PJ and Ledésert B, 2008, Organo-zeolitic-soil systems: A new approachto plant nutrition. In: Fertilizers: Properties, Applications and Effects. (Eds)Elsworth LR and Paley WO, Nova Science Publishers, Inc, New York, 223-239.

5. Leggo P.J and Ledésert, B, 2009, e stimulation of nitrification in anorganically enriched soil by zeolitic tuff and its effect on plant growing.Annals of Agrarian Science, 7, 3, 9-15.

6. Leggo PJ, Lédesert B and Day J, 2010, Organo-zeolitic treatment of minewaste to enhance the growth of vegetation. Eur. J. Mineral, 22. 813-822.

Figure 3. Maize ears from mature plants that have grown in coal waste amended with the biofertilizer shown below those grown in un-amended coalwaste.

Figure 4. Sugar Beet grown in amended coal waste above those grown inun-amended coal waste.



Industry Business

ABB – Our Ambition, your LegacyA better world begins with you.ABB is one of the world’s largest andmost diverse engineering technologycompanies. It offers a highlystimulating work environment with a wide variety ofwork and global locations. As a leader in power andautomation technologies we help our customers to useelectrical power efficiently, to increase industrialproductivity and to lower environmental impact in asustainable way.

We provide our leading edge services and solutions toindustries and utilities across the globe. We employ124,000 people in over 100 countries.

ABB in the UKIn the UK alone we employ over 2,000 people in morethan 20 locations. One important location is St Neots,which delivers leading automation products andsolutions to oil & gas and chemical clients in the UKand overseas. Chemical engineers provide a key role inmany of our solutions, helping to optimise processesand control systems. Past projects include; the world’slongest single product pipeline which carries oil fromthe Caspian Sea to the Turkish Mediterranean port ofCeyhan and an integrated control, safety and telecomssystem for a gas storage facility in the UK.

ABB Consulting has a worldwide reputation as a leaderin process safety, integrity and energy efficiency. Wehelp deliver operational excellence in the areas ofcompliance, operations and engineering to customers inthe chemical, petrochemical, oil & gas, power,pharmaceutical, metals and consumer industriesworldwide.

Our employees are fundamental to our success. Wepride ourselves on being thought leaders in the industryand are constantly looking for new and effective ways toimprove our clients’ processes and operations. ABBoffers a number of undergraduate placements andgraduate positions.

InternshipsTo help you make a start on your career in engineering,we offer short term summer assignments for eight weeksin July and August paid at £16,000 pa pro-rata.

A range of opportunities exist each year coveringdesign, manufacturing and consulting to the processindustries.

Applicants must be on track for at least a 2.1 honoursdegree and eligible to work in the UK. A successfulplacement will lead to sponsorship of £2,000 perannum for the remainder of your degree and ideally toemployment on our graduate programme.

Graduate Programmee ABB Graduate Development Programme is a two-year course. It is divided into a variety of activities andtraining courses designed to give graduates a broadrange of experiences and a solid foundation for theirfuture career. e programme begins with an inductionto help you settle into life at ABB and give you anopportunity to network with both ABB seniormanagers and other ABB UK graduates. You will alsobe provided with a mentor who will support and guideyou throughout the programme. ey will be on handto show you around the workplace, support you in yourrole and answer any queries you may have. You willthen attend a number of residential events to developvital core skills such as; inter-personal skills,influencing, listening, negotiation, presentation skills,priority management and team working. In your secondyear you will work towards an Introductory Certificatein Line Management, to develop basic managementskills. e final year will also give you an opportunity toput all you have learnt to the test, working on a real lifeproject. You will be presented with a client problem andwill develop a solution to meet their needs. Once theprogramme has been completed you will have the skillsand contacts needed to continue to grow your careerand perhaps become an ABB leader of tomorrow.If you are ready for the challenge of working for aglobal business passionate about improving businessperformance, then visit www.abb.co.uk/careers for moredetails on our current vacancies.


Alumni Corner


Life on the EdgePeter VareyPeter recalls one fine morning in March of 1984, “Iknocked on the door of Abbey House in Cambridgeand waited. In due course an elderly-looking and ratherover-weight man opened the door. Peter Danckwertswas expecting me; he invited me into a darkenedlounge. Did memories of those glamorous and generousparties of yesteryear still hang in the air? Not at all. Itwas nerve-racking. I was a new Editor of TCE lackingin background; he was a legend in the science ofchemical engineering”.

“e idea had been to write about famous men in theprofession. My new colleagues at IChemE told meDanckwerts might help. He was reluctant at first, buteventually persuaded himself to tackle Dudley Newitt,Senior Professor at Imperial College when Danckwertshad spent three years there, and Terence Fox, his boss inCambridge in the early 1950s. He wrote withwonderful and delicate irony.”

“Danckwerts himself scared me stiff. I didn’t realize hewas a dying man. Back at the office I dug up the briefautobiographical sketch that fronted a collection of hisbest papers, published as a thank-you for Danckwerts’24-year stint as executive editor of Chemical EngineeringScience. Reading it, I realised I had met the theory ofresidence time distribution – just one area thatDanckwerts revolutionized – in the industrial processeslaboratory I had taught in Caracas for five years. A seedwas sown.”

“I knew that Danckwerts had a good war record andwas a great innovator, but when I started to research hisbiography in 2008 I found there was rather a lot I didn’tknow. e George Cross for disarming unexplodedparachute mines during the London Blitz, when lifeexpectancy in the role was measured in weeks; hisaccount was buried in a 1945 copy of Blackwood’s“Maga”. In a later issue Danckwerts was in Gibraltar in1942 countering Italian frogmen using midgetsubmarines and limpet mines. When one mine floatedto the surface, Danckwerts sent the first full descriptionback to Portsmouth and got an MBE for his efforts.Handing over in Gibraltar to the infamous ‘Buster’

Crabb, Danckwerts invaded Sicily on 10 July 1943. Henever spoke of what happened next, but an Americanreporter in Bangor, Maine, got it out of him in 1947.Absent-mindedly taking a stroll on D-day + 1, hewalked into a minefield and broke bones in both legs.”

“Back in Blighty aged 27, on crutches and sporting hismedal stripes, he provoked atavistic impulses in women.is happy attribute, and his Germanic good looks ledto dreams of a career in films. But Hollywood had towait. In a third Maga piece Danckwerts recordedelements of his next two years with CombinedOperations. is led to 1946 talks on the BBC HomeService (now Radio 4) about things like launchingrecovered V2 rockets and how man might get to themoon. Demobbed, he took a chemical engineeringpractice course at MIT and toured the USA in a Dodge.What he learned in America informed the rest of hisprofessional life.”

Peter Danckwerts (nearest camera) in the summer of 1933, aged 16 andengaged in dental hygiene at a German-English youth camp nearHeidelberg. Next to him is his friend from Winchester College MichaelMackenzie Smith. Peter wrote home ‘we set out to demoralise theGermans by not getting up until 10am’


Alumni Corner


“As a teenager Danckwerts had spent a gap year inAustria between Winchester College and Oxford. Helearned passable German and loved the mountainsand skiing. His tutor at Balliol College thought hewould be the last person ever to make a success ofresearch: ‘is life of cultured leisure MrDanckwerts…’ Yet after MIT he spent six years of‘academic indolence’ in Cambridge thinking andwriting. e research made him a huge reputation.After a break from academia with UKAEA, he arrivedat Imperial College in 1956 and met an aristocrat onthe dance floor. Danckwerts may have looked like one,but Lavinia Macfarlane was the real thing, related toLord Lucan. en came the summons back toCambridge, traveling the world and holding court inthe most sought-after department of its kind. He diedprematurely at 68, still in his intellectual prime.”

“ere’s no archive; Danckwerts had no time forpaperwork. e dusty drawers of his relations and the(marginally) better-ordered memories of hiscontemporaries and pupils yielded enough to piecetogether a story. Shy with all but his family and closecolleagues and always laconic, he could be veryamusing. I quote a lot of it verbatim or as friendsrecall it.”

Peter Varey was brought up as a chemist, took aninterest in industrial chemistry and then switched towriting and editing. Eventually he ran what used tobe called e Chemical Engineer (TCE) as well asIChemE’s publications. en, after ten years as afreelance, he turned – at least in this first instance –to biography.

Life on the Edge, his biography of Peter Danckwerts,will be available in hardback in the spring of 2012 atan estimated price of £28.

Alumni Speaker Seriesursday 26 January 2012, 4pmAlumna Deborah Grubbe (Former VP - GroupSafety, BP; Corporate Operations Director -DuPont Member, NASA Aerospace Advisory Panel)will be contributing a very interesting talk on“Looking at Safety in NASA; Lessons to Learn”

CEB Careers Eventursday 26 January 20125.30pm- 6.30pm:Careers Panel DiscussionFollowing CEB students request CEB will behosting an event in collaboration with CambridgeUniversity Chemical Engineering Society for PartIIB and Masters’ students. is career event will befocused on opportunities after graduation from theChemical Engineering and Biotechnologydepartment.

Department alumni representing chemicalengineering/biotechnology disciplines and careerpaths popular with our graduates (from allprograms) will take part in a discussion panelmoderated by a current graduate student.

6.30-7.30pm:Informal networking session with alumni overlight buffet/drinks

***All Department members are welcome andencouraged to attend.

CEB Pub NightsEvery second Friday of the month: starting at 5pmwith *Drinks and Snacks* in the Tea Roomprovided by Research Groups (New Museums Site).is is followed by the usual pub gathering(Location TBC). Next one Friday 10 February2012

Department Events



Staff Room

Scientia Scientie Femininum-EpistemologyThe Universal Canon of Collective KnowledgeA poem by Zlatko Saracevic

Science is the light, a very quantum of light indeed-a dichotomy between particles and waves:

I was borne in 1947 and I am now 64, too oldfor rock & roll but too young to die.I got married to the “Uni” in 1993 and we havehad so many children: mainly undergrads, then moreadvanced PhDs and some new relatives Profs andacademics like our darling JFD and LFG, who can takethe silly jokes of mine only because she likes me!

So what is the science all about?To me, being involved with industry, researchand education for the last thirty years,it has been an interactive process. Gaining the angleof collectiveness it can be bad like Hiroshimaor good like “wine fly” project. e choice can bevery large or narrow depending on how you look at it.But knowledge is all about thinking and resolvingusing the mightiest weapon we have, the brain.

So here is the puzzle, one of the most famouspoems of its time, “e Sick Rose” by William Blake.On first glance the rose is dying and all previous scholarsdid not recognise that, in fact, the title is an anagramof “eshotericks”. Spelt in its own way like “esoteric”,Greek “esoterikos” (esoter – inner + ikos).It means cryptic, enigmatic and arcane.All these scholars through the years did not see itbut I did, and that is why I doScience and Research at CEB.

A Passion for RadioJohn GannonElectronics Engineer

My love of radiobegan when, as ateenager living inLondon, I listenedavidly to all the‘Pirate’ Radio Stationsthat beganbroadcasting in 1964from offshore, givingus a constant diet ofmusic – almost 24hours a day.

ankfully they had now broken the BBC’s monopolyof the airwaves, where up until then we were lucky tohear half a dozen or so ‘pop’ records a day. How Ienvied those Pirate DJs having access to and playing allthat great new music, I just wanted to be out there andbe a part of it – it was a really exciting time, music-wise.It helped to firmly establish the careers of such 60sartists as e Beatles, e Rolling Stones, e Kinks,e Who and hundreds more besides.

I applied to join one station called Radio Caroline butto no avail. So here my dream seemed to end.Now, however in my later years, I have the chance tofulfil that dream and I feel very fortunate to be able torelive that marvellous period of my youth. I becameinvolved with local radio here in Cambridge andproduced and presented a show “e 60sScene” on “Affinity Radio”, a CommunityRadio Station. Incidentally, I am nowmoving onto another Show on “EnvisionRadio”, another Community RadioStation, Listen live every Sunday 10am - 12 noon overwww.envisionradio.co.uk/shows/that-60s-feeling/ andemail me your requests directly [email protected]

All the music used on the show comes from my ownpersonal collection. I like to be fairly selective in mychoice of material and I tend not only to play classictracks but a great deal of the rare and forgotten stuff

ww

w.bitstrips.com


Staff Room


too! e basic idea of the show is to try to play themusic that helps to recreate the spirit of the 60s foreveryone to enjoy, to jog people’s memories who werearound at the time, and possibly, for younger peoplewho may not have heard a lot of the music to hear morethan just tried and tested classic 60s hits!

Art in the DepartmentAlastair ClarkeEditorial TeamMember

Take a look around when you next walk through theDepartment. Collages, expressionist oil paintings,industrial photography, and even sculpture are all ondisplay. ese objects do more than just fill voids andcover walls, they enrich our environment.

In the corridor that leads to the Computing Suite is aprint of Matisse’s L’Escargot: a sparse collage of brightly-coloured paper depicting a snail. In representing theessence of reality with minimal effort, Matisse hasachieved the aim of any good modeller. In the DesignProject Room are photographs of oil refineries; anhomage to the industry that funded research andteaching in the Department. ese photographs ofprecision engineering should be contrasted with thepainting of a rural scene that hangs in the Tea-room. Itsimpressionist style reflecting the wildness of nature.

In Room S3C, are three paintings: one painted by DrSarah Rough, and two by Dr Moggridge’s grandmother,Helen Moggridge. e artists have made differentexamples of abstract art. Dr Rough’s painting is ofvibrantly coloured, simple geometrical shapes, whilstHelen Moggridge’s paintings are an example of a softer,more expressionist style.

Recently, theDepartment wasapproached by KelseyGrant, an interiordesigner and the wife ofcurrent MBE studentMatthew Grant. Kelseyhas professionalexperience inresidential interiordesign and hasvolunteered to helpimprove theDepartment’s décor.

“ere are a few areas that I will attempt to de-clutter inorder to free-up space and improve functionality,” shetold CEB Focus. “Hopefully we will be able to makethese spaces more visually appealing, perhaps byincorporating colourful artwork or photographs.”Kelsey would like to hear any suggestions that you havefor improving the working environment of theDepartment.

Kelsey vows to “produce design and décor concepts thatcomplement the high calibre of the education that takesplace within this Department”. Consider then thepainted, model heat exchanger on the first floor of theShell Building. It is a visual treat and an example ofsculptural art that not only complements but alsocontributes to our education.

Untitled by Dr Sarah Rough

Kelsey with husband Matthew

Painting by Helen Moggridge


Arrivals and Departures


Ipshita Mandal

PhD CandidateGraduate Rep Syndicate

Kia Ora! I have come from thefar South from a country withendearing landscapes, barbequesin Christmas, and a sheep: manratio of 6:1; the country furthestfrom England and often called“God’s own country”- take aguess!

As a new PhD student in Prof.Slater’s Bioscience EngineeringGroup, I am developing a novelmatrix by chemically modifyingporous Micro-Capillary Filmsinto a bio manufacturingsystem. is matrix willsubstantially improvepurification ofbiopharmaceuticals.

It is a privilege to be joining oneof the very top researchinstitutions in the world. Iwould like to thank thedepartment for recognising mypotential and helping me securean EPSRC InternationalDoctoral Scholarship and Princeof Wales CambridgeCommonwealth Scholarship. Isincerely wish to contributeback and help grow thedepartment as a Graduate Repin the Syndicate Board this year,and over time with otheropportunities.

Dr Fernando J R Abegão

Research ScientistJohnson Matthey, Royston

After having completed myPhD in MRI studies of tricklebed reactors, I was not sure thatan academic career would be thebest option. I considered severalother options, such as sciencecommunication, teaching,engineering, consultancy andresearch in industry. ere wasalways something lacking in allof them, except in research inindustry as it would combinescience and engineering withexperimental work, projectmanagement and team work. Aposition for Research Scientistin the Chemical Catalystbusiness of Johnson Mattheycame along and I joined thedevelopment team in August. Ithas been an incredibleexperience where I have learnt alot about how science andbusiness go together. I have beenwidening my knowledge incatalysis synthesis andformulation, and I make full useof the skills I have gained duringmy first degree and PhD todevelop manufacturingprocesses and analyticalmethods. I could not be moresatisfied!

Dr Nuno M Reis

LecturerLoughborough University

I joined the Department as apost-doctoral research fellow in2007. In 2008, I was awarded aMarie Curie Intra-EuropeanFellowship by the EuropeanCommission to explore the useof plastic MicroCapillary Films(MCFs) in the intensification ofbiopharmaceutical separations.Initial trials were promising andresulted in the development ofMCFs as an immunoassaydiagnostics tool.

In August 2011, I became apermanent Lecturer atLoughborough University.

I will always rememberCambridge not just for the goodcollection of scientificachievements but mainly as thecity where I built a family (mytwo children, Ema and Edgar,were born at the Rosiematernity, and my wife Cassieworked in the department forfew years), met fantastic people,made good friends, and had theopportunity to work with a trueinnovator who acted as mysupervisor, line-manager,mentor and friend: ProfessorMalcolm Mackley.


e brilliant doctor isback again to helpyou with more ofyour chemicalengineeringdilemmas. In thisedition we’re treatedto a double dose ofher infallible wisdom!If you have a questionthat you would likeaddressed in the nextissue, [email protected]

Dear Dr Sarah…A PhD is of course a huge commitment – especially ifnothing seems to work at times – how do you stopyourself from becoming some sort of weird engineeringhermit who mumbles to themselves constantly?anks,A weird engineering hermit

Dr Sarah says…It would be irresponsible for me to say “try sex, drugsand rock ‘n’ roll”, since these are fairly dangerouspursuits nowadays, especially the drivel that passes forrock music – Ozzy Osbourne would be turning in hisgrave. What? He’s not dead? Blimey, he should be …

Taking 3+ years (HoD wants less of the + please) toundertake a PhD requires dedication, but it doesn’tmean that the rest of your life has to be on hold. It’s allabout achieving the correct balance. I once saw a TVprogramme where a guy did some crazy martial arts tocrack open a block of concrete with his toes, and thento balance out this violent act he immediately did somecalligraphy whilst standing on a layer of unbroken duckeggs. You don’t have to be as extreme as that, butpersonally I like to keep in mind that wacky image.

Enjoy using the other side of the brain for a change –do something that cannot be appreciated in a rigorousscientific way, such as poetry, or managementconsultancy. Try to become more in tune with nature aswell – I’m not suggesting you go out and hug a tree ordig a vegetable patch, but just be more aware of what’s

happening around you. I once spent five minutesstaring at a patch of grass; admittedly I’d had six pintsof snakebite and black, but it felt like the right thing todo at the time.

Also, it’s important to meet lots of different people.Unfortunately most of the humanoids you’ll socialisewith here in Cambridge are complete loony-weirdosanyway, so try to go further afield in your quest – and Idon’t mean just signing up to some interweb FaceLinkchat room and seeing how many ‘friends’ you cancollect. Have face-to-face conversations with people;talk but also listen, otherwise you may as well justmumble to yourself.

Yes, one can get despondent when things don’t workout in a PhD, but isn’t that true with most aspects oflife? In the end the winners learn to deal with it, so stopbeing a loser and get cracking!

Dear Dr Sarah…I have been pining for a particular thermocouple for along time in order to advance my education. It’sreliable; it’s precise; it’s perfect for me. But recently, adifferent thermocouple has made itself available. I amstarting to like the new thermocouple but I’ve heardthat it is popular with many users and I may not be ableto have it for too long. I have to choose one. Whichthermocouple should I go for?Lady Kelvin

Dr Sarah says…e answer is easy – the one with the larger heattransfer coefficients.

Dear Dr Sarah


A thermocouple – size does matter. (www.thermocoupless.com)


Teatime Teaser


A Student’s Process Flow-sheetAlastair ClarkeEditorial TeamMember

In 2009, the government requested a review. eir goalwas to ensure that our higher education institutions are“sustainably-financed”, “accessible to anyone who hasthe talent to succeed”, and provide world-classteaching1. As a consequence of the review, led by LordBrowne, in the next academic year the tuition fee capwill rise from £3,225 (in England) to £9,000. Withhigher fees, come greater debts so students have hadgreater pressure on them to consider the economicvalue of their degree. e government should recognisethat the task of scaling-up a process constrained byeconomics is well-suited to chemical engineers. Imagineyou were the Education Secretary: how would youmass-produce high-calibre chemical engineeringgraduates?

Brief: Given a raw feed of engineers and naturalscientists from Part IA you must produce graduateswith “advanced chemical engineering knowledge andskills”2. Each student can spend three years in theprocess.

Findings: We find that the conversion process requiresvarious unit operations to be performed. A processflow-sheet is sketched in Figure 1 to aid our discussion.

Students enter the lecture theatres (LT1 and LT2)distributed around a mean time of 9am. eyexperience a residence time of two hours, before theyleave, exponentially-decaying towards the Tea-room.e lecturers act as catalysts to aid the conversionprocess. Not all students are adsorbed by lectures, andnot all catalysts have large effectiveness factors. We arenot sure what happens in the Tea-room but it seems tobenefit the process. Students reside for an average oftwenty minutes, gossiping, discussing supervision workand telling tales of college life. A large pressure drop isexperienced here before students are recycled to lecturesand practicals. Supervisions then follow, giving a chancefor the un-reacted to be converted. e heated debateprepares the students for boiling point in the final stagecalled ‘Tripos’. Here product quality is evaluated, andstudents are graded, with the older, loftier minds goingto the Senate House and younger products beingrecycled.

References1. Browne, J., 2010, Securing a Sustainable Future for Higher Education: An

Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance,London, p. 2.

2. IChemE, 2011, Accreditation of Chemical Engineering Degrees: A Guide forUniversity Departments and Assessors, accessed 12th December 2011, fromURL www.icheme.org, p. 3.

Figure 1. Process Flow-sheet of the Chemical Engineer Conversion Process


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