A new set of short courses is necessary to train chemical engineers in transition technology

We live in a challenging era of revolutionary change and transition. In ten to fifteen years’ time our houses and urban environment, our work, our mobility solutions, our food and energy supply will be completely different from today. Technological innovation will have to drive all of these transition processes and for that, well-trained chemical engineers with technological depth are of key importance. But most of our chemical engineers with sufficient depth have been trained in other eras, and fresh engineers lack depth.

Courses that bring our chemical engineers beyond Master level are essential to empower them for the challenges they are faced with in energy- and material transition now and in the (near) future. This includes engineers working in industry and those pursuing a third cycle degree (Eng D or PhD).

We deem it essential for our engineering work force to comprehend in full depth the chemical installations that today convert fossil feedstock into products (e.g. complex multiphase operations such as fluidized beds, gas-liquid contactors and membrane installations), and to transition this industry into circular and bio-based.

Full depth comprehension of equipment should go hand in hand with post-mastering challenges related to composition of feed (end-of-life materials) and requirements for products (application properties and fulfilling safety, health and environment constraints).

We develop courses to empower our engineers at post-master level critical thinking and engineering

In our opinion:

1. There is not enough time in the BSc and MSc curricula to treat all aspects of key technologies in full depth. We highly value the quality of the European BSc and MSc courses in chemical engineering, in which a broad set of technologies and skills is taught, but making a specialist requires additional specific training (what you train is what you build, in analogy to sports training)
2. There is not enough in-depth knowledge available at companies to transition their own technology. Over the past decades, producing companies have become more and more reliant on vendors for detailing their equipment, but to transition, better understanding of own processes and equipment is key.
3. There is a clear need for critical thinkers who understand that what is possible does not always work in practice. We sometimes see that millions are spent on further development of techniques that might be great ideas in themselves, but will never make it to full scale.

We develop courses to empower our engineers at post-master level critical thinking and engineering. This joint ISPT and NPT initiative relies on highly skilled specialists in our networks. Their unique insights and oversight allows a birds eye overview on transition technologies such as plastics and (critical) metals recycling and (partial) electrification of unit operations.

Are you interested? Let us know by reacting on the LinkedIn post that accompanies this newsletter item or send an e-mail to npt@kivi.nl, and Sign up for the NPT and ISPT newsletter!

   

Tjeerd Jongsma (Managing Director ISPT)
Bipin Taneja (Chair NPT)
Boelo Schuur (Scientific Vice President of the EFCE & Program Director SFC ISPT)
Sascha Kersten (Program Director Long Term Program Process Technology ISPT)
Pavlina Nanou (Prins Friso Engineer of the Year 2024)
Fer Klinckhamers (Vice-Chair NPT)