Conference Programme
Thursday 16 April 2026
| Time | Session | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 - 09:45 | Registration and Refreshments | Atrium |
| 09:45 - 10:00 | Welcome & Opening Remarks | Lecture Theatre 1 (LG18) |
| 10:00 - 10:45 |
Plenary Speaker - Marianne Ellis Session Chair - Liam Grover |
Lecture Theatre 1 (LG18) |
| 10:45 - 11:45 |
Bioprocessing and Biotechnology (15 minutes each) O1 - Ricky Wildman - Process intensification through design: digitally manufacturing biocatalytic reaction systems O2 - Alexander Brooks - Identifying biofilm-forming conditions in probiotic bacteria O3 - Zichen Fan - Virus-Mimicking pH-Responsive Polymer-Functionalised Lipid Nanoparticles for Effective RNA Delivery and Enhanced Thermostability O4 - Owen Thomas - Real-time Determination of Monoclonal Antibody Structure During Chromatography Session Chair: Patricia Perez Esteban |
Lecture Theatre 1 (LG18) |
|
10:45 - 11:45 |
Process Modelling, Reactions & Simulation (15 minutes each) O5 - Bara Anaya - Process Compatible Modelling of Bubbling Fluidised Bed Gasifiers for Steam Oxygen Gasification of Waste to Fuel Systems O6 - Freddie Barter - A Novel Dimensionless Number for the Characterisation of Densification and Segregation in a Vibrationally Excited Granular System O7 - Mostafa Delpisheh - Toward offshore wind to green hydrogen: Multiphysics insights into rotation and magnetic-field induced electrolysis O8 - Aiden Cranney - Molecular Insights into Enzyme Selectivity for Terpene Alcohol Esterification in Flower Essential Oils Session Chair - Peter Fryer |
Lecture Theatre 2 (102) |
|
10:45 - 11:45 |
Healthcare Technologies (15 minutes each) O9 - Ben Cassidy - Development of biomimetic extracellular matrix coatings to improve tissue integration of arteriovenous grafts 010 - Ahsan Razaq - PEG-based fluid gels for cellular microenvironments: tailoring chemistry and gelation mechanics via temperature and mixing O11 - Dan Baiocco - Biocompatible electrophoretic ink microcapsules for on-skin interactive displays and sustainable healthcare applications O12 - Shyam Rana - Sustainable Terpene-Derived Polymers for Biofilm Prevention in Neonatal Intensive Care Session Chair - Richard Moakes |
Room 211/212 |
| 11:45 - 13:45 | Lunch | Atrium |
|
11:45 - 12:45 |
EPSRC Netork Plus SUM4Products Session Chair - Rosemary Dyson |
Room 202 |
| 11:45 - 13:45 | HCE (iChemE) - Private Event Session Chair - Liam Grover |
Room 211/212 |
| 11:45 - 12:45 |
Poster Presentations - Themes
|
Rooms 118/119 |
| 11:45 - 12:45 |
Poster Presentations - Themes
|
Rooms M208/M209 |
| 12:45 - 13:45 |
Poster Presentations - Themes
|
Rooms 118/119 |
| 12:45 - 13:45 |
Poster Presentations - Themes
|
Rooms M208/M209 |
| 12:45 - 13:45 | Publishing with Impact: Journals, Peer Review, and Editorial Pathways for Early Career Researchers Workshop | Room 202 |
|
13:45 - 14:45 |
Special Session: Chemical Engineering of Public Policy (IChemE) Session Chair - Jonathan Radcliffe |
Room 202 |
| 13:45 - 15:15 |
Bioprocessing and Biotechnology (15 minutes each) O13 - You Cheng - Scalable Production of Virus-Mimicking Polymer-Enveloped Lipid Nanoparticles for RNA Formulations with Enhanced Efficacy and Thermostability O14 - Vinay Patel - Studying The Viability of Termite Hydrogen Production for Renewable Energy O15 - Angeliki Xyderou Malefaki - Optimising Fig Peel Waste Phenolic Extraction through a Life Cycle and Cost-Analysis O16 - Abraham Chacko - From Microstructure to Bioeconomy: SEM–EDX Characterisation of Nettle Leaves for Value-Added Applications O17 - Sharon Velasquez Orta - Second Generation Bioethanol and Bioelectricity Production- An Empirical and Economic Analysis O18 - Parimala Shivaprasad - Valorising UK’s horticulture waste: bio-based ingredients for the consumer goods sector Session Chair - Owen Thomas |
Lecture Theatre 1 (LG18) |
|
13:45 - 15:00 |
Process Modelling, Reactions & Simulation (15 minutes each) O19 - Blessings Malimusi - Numerical modelling of chlorine-mediated selectivity in direct seawater electrolysis O20 - Sylvanus Lilonfe - Integrated techno‑economic, life cycle, and surrogate modelling for scaling production of bioplastic precursors O21 - Jack Grogan - Discrete element method study of the impact of vessel wall friction on the mixing dynamics of a resonant acoustic mixer O22 - Luisa Attfield - Assessing the Feasibility of a Drag Force Flow Sensor for the Inline Monitoring of High Shear Wet Granulation Using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) O23 - Thabang Selalame - Process modelling for bottom-up estimation of emissions from ethylene production in Europe Session Chair - Thomas Abadie |
Lecture Theatre 2 (102) |
|
13:45 - 15:15 |
Special Session: EDI and Athena Swan (20 minutes each) Prof. Pangiota Angeli - How to Get Athena Swan Gold Dr. Mark McBride Wright - Safety and Inclusion in Engineering Dr. Holly Foss - 100 Years of Women in Engineering Followed by a 30 minute panel discussion Session Chairs - Taghi Miri & Joe Wood |
Room 211/212 |
|
15:00 - 15:15 |
Sponsor Talk: Henry Heckmann, GUNT Technology |
Lecture Theatre 2 (102) |
| 15:15 - 15:45 | Refreshments |
Atrium |
| 15:45 - 16:45 |
Bioprocessing and Biotechnology (15 minutes each) O24 - Sylvanus Lilonfe - Sustainable production of rose oil terpene esters for fragrance applications: economic and environmental insights O25 - Peace John-Banjo - Green Extraction of Phenolic Compounds from Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) leaves O26 - Yuting Han - Valorisation of Brewers’ Spent Yeast for Biodegradable and Active Food Packaging Films O27 - Darlington Nnabodo - Activated Carbon Synthesis from Microalgae (Chlorella sp.) Session Chair - Yin Hoon Chew |
Lecture Theatre 1 (LG18) |
| 15:45 - 16:45 |
Process Modelling, Reactions & Simulation (15 minutes each) O28 - Fawaz Alwarthan - Co-processing of Bio-Based Fischer Tropsch Wax in an Industrial Hydrocracking Unit: A Pathway Toward Lower-Carbon Fuel Production O29 - Charlie Brayson - Multiphase CFD Modelling of a Calcination System Using OpenFOAM O30 - Ali Rabeeah - Boosting Chemical Looping Hydrogen Generation and CO2 Removal by Integrating with the Charcoal Gasification Process O31 - Aran Klair - Numerical Simulation and AI-Driven Geometry Optimisation of Cohesive Material Feeders Session Chair - Amin Rahmat |
Lecture Theatre 2 (102) |
|
15:45 - 16:45 |
Education (10 minutes each) O32 - Luis Roman - AI Developed MATLAB Apps for Enhanced Learning of Thermodynamics in Chemical Engineering O33 - Mauryn Chika Nweke - Exploring the feasibility of integrating personalised AI in project work and its impact on student learning and staff load in Biochemical Engineering O34 - Eleni Routoula - Bridging the Digital Gap: Mapping Digitalisation Skills in Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Curricula O35 - Abdul Wadood Sharif - Smoke and Mirrors: A Grounded Theory of Chemical Engineering Students' Motivations and Perception of GenAI-Learning Followed by a 20 minute panel discussion Session Chair - Matt Keith |
Room 211/212 |
| 16:45 - 17:15 | Refreshments | Atrium |
|
17:15 - 18:15 |
Special Session: AI in Process industries Dominica D'Arcangelo and Alexandra Araujo Alvarez, BridgeAI Brian Liu, Johnson Matthey Session Chair - Kit Windows Yule |
Lecture Theatre 1 (LG18) |
|
17:15 - 18:15 |
Early careers: Sponsored special session Panel Discussion (Freya Barrett, Theodoros Papalas, William Ryden, Luisa Attfield) |
Lecture Theatre 2 (102) |
|
17:15 - 18:15 |
Education (10 minutes each) O36 - Hosam Aleem - Labs 4.0: Redefining Chemical Engineering Laboratories O37 - Rana Khalife - Investigating the Usage of Labster and Its Future Implications for Industry and Academia O38 - Michaela Pollock - Embedding safety and sustainability in the capstone design project O39 - Polina Yaseneva - Seeing the Connections: Teaching Systems Thinking through SDG Network Visualization Followed by a 20 minute panel discussion Session Chairs - Matt Keith and Phil Robbins |
Room 211/212 |
| 18:15 - 21:00 |
Social Event - Drinks Reception with Street Food |
Atrium |
Friday 17 April 2026
| Time | Session | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30 - 09:00 | Registration and Refreshments | Atrium |
| 09:00 - 09:45 |
Plenary Speaker - Peter Styring Session Chair - Sarah Walker |
Lecture Theatre 1 (LG18) |
| 09:45 - 10:15 |
Refreshments |
Atrium |
|
10:15 - 12:00 |
Energy & Net Zero & LCA (15 minutes each) O40 - Idris Uthman - Life Cycle Assessment of Low-Carbon Olefin Production from Waste Biomass via Methanol to Olefins with Carbon Capture and Storage O41 - Israa Alghurabi - Experimental Screening of Zeolite Adsorbents for CO₂ Capture Using Temperature Swing Adsorption (TSA) O42 - Ijudigal Amtagu Birdling - Enhanced CO₂ mineralisation using a biogenic Ni-HAp composite in a continuous plug flow reactor O43 - Alexandra Brochoire - Enhanced catalytic effect of chloride ions for iridium catalysts in proton exchange membrane water electrolysers O44 - Maria Mourkou - Experimental study of green H2 production via photocatalytic ethanol dehydrogenation by Pt/CGCN in flat-plate reactor O45 - Fahad Alajmi - Ball Milling for Mechanical Valorisation of Asphaltene O46 - Kenechukwu Ugonabo - Enhancing CaO Based Thermochemical Energy Storage through Magnesium Doping Session Chair - Neha Mehta |
Lecture Theatre 1 (LG18) |
|
10:15 - 12:00 |
Formulation Engineering, Sustainable Manufacture & Materials (15 minutes each) O47 - Lucie Hlubinková - Effect of shear, cooling rate and composition on crystallisation of solid fabric enhancer O48 - Zhentao Wu - From Membranes to Transport-Integrated Porous Beads: Redesigning Diffusion in Chemical Engineering Materials O49 - Evelyn Tait - Plant protein textures through freeze structuring O50 - Hiya Deshpande - UK-India consortium for Bio-based chemicals and sustainable innovation: A case study O51 - Sam Hare - DEM Simulations of the dry mixing of NMC 622 lithium-ion battery cathodes O52 - George Truc - Bespoke High-resolution 3D particle tracking for a 21L Stirred Tank O53 - Aled Williams - Power and Flow Analysis of a High Throughput Testing System for the Formulation of Lamellar Gel Networks Session Chair - Richard Greenwood |
Lecture Theatre 2 (102) |
|
10:15 - 12:00 |
AI & Data Driven Studies (15 minutes each) O54 - Ali Tarik Karagoz - When Data Augmentation Improves Metrics but Not Design Quality: Insights from AI-assisted Process Design O55 - Daniel Rhymer - Optimisation of the Granular Section of a Twin-Screw Extruder for Sustainable Plastic Processing O56 - Arun Pankajakshan - Gaussian Processes and Active Learning for Drug Particle Size Characterization in Continuous Flow Antisolvent Crystallization O57 - Abdullah Al Rammah - Limitations of Classical Force Fields for CO₂ Adsorption in MOFs: Toward Quantum Accuracy at DAC-Relevant Pressures O58 - Xianfeng Jian - Automated Flow Platform for Kinetic Model Identification O59 - Mehryar Jafari - From Infrared Spectra to Gas Transport: Group-Aware Machine Learning for Polymer Membranes O60 - Yihang Fang - Systematic Data Generation through automated HTE Acrylamide Coupling Synthesis for future ML reaction optimisation Chair - Dan Rhymer |
Room 211/212 |
| 12:00 - 14:00 | Lunch with Hot Refreshments | Atrium |
| 12:00 -13:00 | EPSRC Network Plus 4D Health Tech | Room 202 |
| 12:00 - 13:00 |
Poster Presentations
|
Rooms 118/119 |
| 12:00 - 13:00 | Poster Presentations
|
Rooms M208/M209 |
| 13:00 - 14:00 |
Poster Presentations
|
Rooms 118/119 |
| 13:00 - 14:00 |
Poster Presentations
|
Rooms M208/M209 |
| 13:00 - 14:00 | Food & Drink Networking (IChemE) | Room 202 |
| 14:00 - 15:30 | Energy & Net Zero & LCA (15 minutes each) O61 - Ashraf Hauwa Nyako - Hot Microbubble Gas Stripping for In Situ Butanol Recovery from continuous Fermentation O62 - Liqiu Liu - Chloride-Induced Morphology Control of Pt Coatings on Titanium Porous Transport Layers for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysers O63 - Zhenxi Li - Do national policies reflect country archetypes in petrochemical decarbonization? A cross-country analysis O64 - Xiaoling Ma - Highly Dispersed Ru Clusters Supported on CeO2 Nano-islands Enabling Efficient and Stable H2-SCR of NOx O65 - Niko Hilmi - ZIF-7/Polyetherimide Mixed Matrix Membranes for Hydrogen Purification O66- Marwah Shnaiter - Gas diffusion layers based on recycled carbon fibre for PEM fuel cells and electrolysers Session Chair - Lisa Sun | Lecture Theatre 1 (LG18) |
| 14:00 - 15:30 | Formulation Engineering, Sustainable Manufacture & Materials (15 minutes each) O67 - Cara Anderton - Tailoring hydrocolloid-based fluid gels for fat replacement: the role of sucrose in agar systems O68 - Preshti Ram - Effect of sour gas on the CO2 capture performance of a prototypical zeolite O69 - Eleonora De Giorgi - Optimising PAT for Continuous Powder Formulation Quality Monitoring Using the Feed Frame Simulator O70 - Jiayan Zhou - The preparation of novel aerogels with paper pulp and calcium phosphate O71 - Khizra Abdul Wadood - Utilising Powder Characterisation and Data-Driven Models to Predict Dispersion and Dissolution in Drug Product Development O72 - Dan Baiocco - Sustainable dual-shell chitosan-silica microcapsules for potential personal care applications Session Chair - Mark Simmons | Lecture Theatre 2 (102) |
| 14:00 - 15:30 | Special Session: Chemical Recycling of Polymers (15 minutes each) O73 - Stefano Iannello - Experimental investigation of a cold multistage fluidized bed system for waste chemical recycling O74 - Kyle Batchelor - Thermo-responsive Catalysts for PET Glycolysis: High-Throughput Design Towards Circular Recycling. O75 - Xing Liu - An integrated process modelling and sustainability assessment framework for chemical recycling towards a circular economy O76 - Yuya Watanabe - Dual Acid-Base Catalysis toward Chemical Sorting of Mixed Poly(ethylene terephthalate) and Poly(vinyl chloride) O77 - Dingchang Yang - Electrochemical Membrane Processes for Closed-Loop Recycling and Upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) O78 - River Gowans - Evaluating Zinc Catalysts for Resin-Fibre Dual Recovery in Solvolytic Recycling of CFRP Session Chair - Joe Wood | Room 211/212 |
| 15:30 - 15:45 | Closing Ceremony | Lecture Theatre 1 (LG18) |
As part of the organisation of this conference, The University of Birmingham's Event Management Team is collecting income via registration fees and sponsorships on behalf of the University of Birmingham's School of Chemical Engineering.