Chemical Engineers showcase their research at the 2016 Imperial Festival

The Department of Chemical Engineering welcomed the general public as well as returning alumni at this year's Imperial Festival.

Thousands of visitors descended onto the South Kensington campus over the sunny weekend of 7-8 May this year to participate in the Imperial Festival, an annual showcase of the pioneering work that is being undertaken at Imperial College. Researchers from the Department of Chemical Engineering presented at a number of events highlighting the breadth of research topics being investigated from carbon capture and storage to membrane technology for water purification.

The Qatar Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (QCCSRC) demonstrated how technologies being developed right here at Imperial might be the key to making heavy industries more environmentally neutral over the short and medium term. Further, the state of the art Pilot Plant, located in the main Chemical Engineering building, was open for visitors to get a peek into a real-life demonstration of what these technologies are able to do. The new Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering (IMSE) also demonstrated how Imperial scientists are working on the problem of climate change and invited their guests to participate in a fun carbon capture challenge! 

Some of our younger visitors kit up to check out the Pilot Plant!

The Research Zone at the Festival featured many of the research groups from the Department illustrating their work in fun and creative ways. Dr Rongjun Chen and his group invited visitors to create beautiful works of art by taking advantage of the interesting properties exhibited by fat molecules and demonstrating how these molecules are so essential to life! Meanwhile Professor Erich Muller gave visitors a chance to create their very own dry ice clouds and demonstrated how we are trying to manipulate matter on the molecular scale using tiny computers.

The Hallett Group led by Dr Jason Hallett demonstrated how biomass could become one of the most sustainable sources of energy with the insights gained through their research. They were also responsible for a catchy and eye-opening dance performance that demonstrated how solvents one of the key ways in which we separate materials into their useful components.

The Livingston group, led by the Head of Department Professor Andrew Livingston invited guests to participate in a bicycle challenge to prove how membranes can be one of the most efficient methods for water purification. Also, Professor Sergei Kazarian and his research group allowed visitors the chance to become ‘spectroscopists’ by collecting their own infra-red spectra of everyday objects!

The Festival also coincided with the Alumni Weekend which saw many of our old students and faculty members return. The Department of Chemical Engineering hosted a reception where alumni were invited back to their Department to meet with former classmates, past and present members of academic staff, and current students. Alumni were invited to bring their children along who were treated to a variety of chemical engineering fun activities, the highlight being a demonstration of how to get ice cream from a fire extinguisher! There was also an update from Head of Department, Professor Andrew Livingston, as well as tours of the Department and Pilot Plant. Click through the slideshow below for more pictures from the Festival and alumni reception.