IChemE Mini Conference - 'Towards sustainable production: the scaling up challenge'

Rob Peeling is a Chartered Chemical Engineer with 40 years experience. He has held roles in Research and Development, Process Design, Plant Operations and Process Safety across  titanium pigments, catalysts, fine chemicals and platinum group metals refining.  Since 2016 he has been delivering process understanding training and facilitation services to clients for Britest Ltd. where he is the Technical Services Director. Britest helps people across  a range of process industry sectors including pharmaceuticals, catalyst manufacture, contract chemicals and food processing. Britest also engages in government funded industry/academic collaborations which in recent years have focussed on sustainable, circular processing. Rob is Chair of IChemE Congress and Treasurer of the Pharmaceuticals Special Interest Group.

Co-founder and lead advisor at HancockHamlin, a freelance research, facilitation, education and coaching company that helps people and organisations operate effectively in complex and emergent environments. With a particular emphasis on digitalisation and sustainability, HancockHamlin’s aspiration is on realising the potential of technology and engineering to enable the transition to a just and sustainable future for all. Chris’s career started in manufacturing, progressed through global technical and business consultancy to recent leadership and incubation of critical capabilities in digital start-ups. Chris is a Fellow of the IChemE, recently chaired the ChemEng Evolution Futures panel, and is vice-chair of the PMCSIG. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and sits on the Regional Talent Engine and Sainsbury Management Fellowship Steering Groups, and chairs the RTE activity in the North-East. He is a qualified Co-Active coach with a passion for helping technical and scientific leaders to expand their awareness and consideration to secure the fulfilment that they work so hard to try to achieve.

Nigel has been involved in process design and project management for many years, including  responsibility for plant operations in the UK and Asia. His background in speciality chemicals, activated carbon and ion exchange resin manufacture equipped him well for his role in running a diverse group of companies. He has been an employee of large public companies, private companies and has led a successful management buyout. As CEO of Haden Freeman Group he was responsible for companies operating in consultancy, design and build, risk management, lean process improvement, facilities management, and manufacture of fired heaters and flare tips.

Manufacturing sectors served include chemical, environmental management, nuclear, oil and gas, and pharmaceutical. Projects have been carried out in many parts of the world, with a long and successful track record. He maintains a keen interest in the higher education sector and was a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of a large UK university’s chemical engineering department, performing a small role as facilitator during a major reorganisation. He has also been a trustee/chair of trustees of several charities over several decades, in the fields of music, education and social mobility. He is a passionate believer that opportunities in education and entry to professions should be open to all, not the preserve of the privileged few. He also brings experience of the financial services sector, having had the role of Local Chairman at Yorkshire Bank for ten years.

James Winterburn is a Reader in Chemical Engineering at The University of Manchester, where he is involved in both teaching and research and is the academic lead for Business Engagement and Innovation within the School of Engineering.  James is also Co-Founder of Holiferm, spun out from the Winterburn Group in 2018, who are commercialising biosurfactant production technology. His main research interest is in the development of efficient manufacturing methods for bio-based products, via a bioprocessing and biochemical engineering route.

Dr Anna Parsons (Process Engineering Associate Director) joined AstraZeneca in 2000 and has followed a career as a process engineer within drug substance development. Anna currently manages one of the Chemical Development process engineering teams, collaborating to define ways of working for process engineers to support drug projects to deliver robust, sustainable processes.

Anna has a passion for sustainability and has been instrumental in the development of waste stream assessment approaches and the implementation of technologies for solvent recovery with the work up team. This approach has Identified opportunities to improve the PMI (Process Mass Intensity) on AZ projects and will form a key part of sustainability strategy for projects.