UCL Shines at Forge Conference 2024

UCL made an outstanding impact at the Forge Conference 2024, securing major awards and showcasing innovative research across disciplines.

The event, organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, is a prestigious platform for technical professionals and researchers from academia and industry to share ideas, foster collaboration, and celebrate the critical role of technical expertise in advancing science. This year’s conference took place at Leeds University Cloth Hall on the 12th and 13th of November 2024. 

UCL Chemical Engineering led the accolades, with Dr Sayan Pal, Research Fellow, winning the coveted IChemE Innovation Prize for his pioneering research. 

In a notable initiative, Dr Han Wu and Isabel Goncalves Cattuzzo, received the Research Culture Seed Fund to establish the LLIDER Network at UCL. The network's debut included a technician networking quiz attended by 16 technicians from across UCL and Leeds University. 

The conference also featured impactful keynote speeches from Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens (UCL Chemical Engineering) and Dr Jeremy Karl Cockcroft, (UCL Chemistry). 

Beyond Chemical Engineering, UCL delegates excelled across disciplines. 
 

• Shi Shi (Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering) and Andrew Stewart (Chemistry) earned Best Technician Presentation Awards 
• Lana Rawlings (Chemistry) received the Best Flash Presentation Award. 

In total, 21 UCL participants, including academics, postdocs, PhD students, and technicians, attended the conference, with 13 delivering oral presentations. 

Key Contributions from Dr Han Wu

Dr Han Wu, an event officer and treasurer of the Royal Society of Chemistry Particle Characterisation Group, played a pivotal role in the conference's organisation. As a member of the event team, Dr Wu acted as both session chair and a judge for the awards. 

Dr Wu also introduced a significant new initiative: the Particle Characterisation Technique Workshop. This parallel symposium featured nine invited talks from industry leaders and was designed as a training course for technicians and students. It marked the first time such a workshop was held at the Forge Conference, which runs every three years. The workshop was highly successful and is set to become a regular feature of future Forge Conferences. 

Acknowledgements 

The event’s success was further supported by sponsorship from UCL TSDH, represented by Mike Brown, Director, and Isabel Goncalves Cattuzzo, Technical Skills Development Hub Manager. During the awards session, Mike Brown delivered an oral presentation congratulating the technicians on showcasing their work at Forge and celebrating the two award winners. Isabel Goncalves Cattuzzo also attended the conference. 

We congratulate our UCL colleagues for their remarkable achievements at the Forge Conference 2024. 

Links 

• Forge Conference 2024 
• Royal Society of Chemistry 
• Dr Sayan Pal’s UCL Profile 
• Dr Han Wu’s UCL Profile 
• Prof Marc-Olivier Coppens UCL Profile 
• Dr Jeremy Karl Cockcroft’s UCL Profile 
• Mrs Isabel Goncalves Cattuzzo’s UCL Profile 

Image credit

• Dr Han Wu

 

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