Chemical Technology September 2016

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South Africans succeeding
The Institution of Chemical
Engineers (IChemE) recently
announced the finalists for
the IChemE Global Awards 2016.
Over 120 entries from 26 coun-
tries have made it to the final
stages of the Awards. Of the total
of 500 entries to the competition,
three South Africans have made
the finals: TerraServ, H1 Hold-
ings and Vuselela Energy, and
Michelle Low, PhD, a lecturer and
researcher at the University of the
Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
The winners of each of the 16
categories and the overall winner for
outstanding chemical engineering
project will be revealed on the 3rd of
November 2016, inManchester, UK.
These awards are significant
for a number of reasons. First and
foremost, the UK Institution of
Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is
an internationally respected mem-
bership organisation for chemical
engineers having 44 000 mem-
bers worldwide. It is also the only
organisation which awards the in-
ternationally-recognised Chartered
Chemical Engineer qualification.
The IChemE Global Awards cel-
ebrate excellence, innovation and
achievement in the chemical, pro-
cess and biochemical industries.
Successful organisations in the final
stage include: Amec Foster Wheeler,
BP, Chevron, Emerson, Johnson
Matthey, National Nuclear Labora-
tory, and Shell, to name but a few.
Firstly, in the category for ‘Out-
standing Chemical Engineering In-
novation for Resource-Poor People’,
aimed at technologies and products
developed to impact the lives of
those less fortunate, local company,
TerraServ (Pty) Ltd is a finalist. In the
June issue of ‘Chemical Technol-
ogy’ we published an article about
this start-up company that makes
value-added consumer products
from food waste. Willie Coetzee and
Neels Welgemoed, have developed,
piloted and perfected a process to
produce natural, safe, renewable
and environmentally friendly, bio-
ethanol-based products from sugary
food waste. In addition, the company
also processes starches and other
foodstuffs, to produce products
such as hand sanitisers, cleaners,
bio-fuels and stationery items.
Secondly, H1 Holdings and
Vuselela Energy have together
been selected as a finalist for the
‘Sustainable Technology’ Award,
the sole finalist from Africa in this
category. The historic abundance
and low cost of power in South Africa
for decades provided no incentive to
develop clean energy sources, nor
indeed to recycle energy in any form.
It is now common knowledge that
energy supplies worldwide are un-
der severe pressure and require re-
invention. Vuselela was conceived to
originate and develop clean energy
projects based on capturing and
utilising waste heat sources and
then gearing these projects through
incentives available under a number
of clean energy initiatives.
Thirdly, in the ‘Young Researcher’
Award sponsored by ExxonMobil,
one of SAIChE’s very own council
members, Michelle Low, has been
nominated as a finalist, along with
students from institutions such
as the University of Oxford, the
University of Manchester and the
University of Waikato, New Zealand.
All three finalist nominations
of South African entries serve as
testimony to the fact that South
African engineers have what it
takes to compete on a global level.
Congratulations are in order for all
our fine engineers and may they
go from strength to strength in the
years ahead.
Consulting editor:
Carl Schonborn, PrEng
Design & layout:
Colin Mazibuko
Circulation:
Karen Smith
Publisher:
Karen Grant
Deputy Publisher:
Wilhelm du Plessis
Printed by:
Tandym Print - Cape Town