Chemical Engineering Graduate "Best in the UK"

We are delighted to announce that Rhys Williams has won the AWE Award for the Best Chemical Engineering Student at the recent Science Engineering and Technology Awards (SET) - this makes him the best Chemical Engineering Graduate in the UK. 

Supported by British Industry, and Britain's leading scientific and technical institutions, the SET awards are multidisciplinary to reflect the wide range of degrees our universities have to offer.  The SET awards provide a showcase for educational excellence by publicly recognising the exceptional achievements of both students and universities. They are presented at a spectacular ceremony bringing together hundreds of technology students and academics, as well as senior figures from industry, government, science and the media. Rhys earned the award in relation to his third year research project: 'Supercritical Drying of Aerogels'. This is the fourth time that a Graduate from the Department has been shortlisted for the Best Chemical Engineering Student Award, but the first time we have won it. Previously Alan Pearson, Chia Tan, and Martin Leal have been shortlisted.

Rhys Williams was a student who studied for an MEng degree in Chemical Engineering. He graduated in June this year (2008) with a 1st class MEng (Hons) degree in Chemical Engineering. Rhys joined us having obtained 11 GCSEs, a GCSE AS level in Accountancy and GCSE A-levels in Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics. During his degree programme Rhys performed consistently well and he demonstrated excellent analytical skills. It is clear that Rhys likes challenging tasks and he is capable of working under pressure and meeting deadlines. He can work successfully both as an individual and as a team player which led to the award of the following prizes during his degree studies:

• BP Book Prize (1st year);
• BP Design Project Prize for Intermediate Design Project (3rd year);
• Unilever Product Design Prize (Final year)

Rhys conducted a third year research project which involved an investigation into the supercritical drying of aerogels. This project was part of a wider investigation into the incorporation of silica aerogel into optical fibre waveguides. Aerogel is materially compatible with silica fibres but has a very low refractive index; and it is hoped that the outcome will be a new class of photonic components. Aerogels are used as thermal insulators and could also form the basis of new biochemical, medical and environmental sensors, or signal processing devices for high-speed optical telecommunications. The results obtained by Rhys proved the concept and enabled a successful joint application to be made to EPSRC by the Departments of Physics and Chemical Engineering, resulting in a £559,389 research project which has started this year.

Rhys is still indirectly involved in this project as he has been giving advice to a post-graduate student in the Department of Physics. Rhys says " Involvement in this project has definitely been the highlight of my academic studies. This project has allowed me to work in an area of science and engineering not completely understood, presenting problems unlike those typically found in my studies. I feel privileged to have been given such an opportunity to work as part of a diverse group towards a common goal, which still continues to this day. Knowing that I played a part in the development, and continuing progression and success of this research makes this one of the most satisfying and rewarding challenges that I have undertaken."

In the 4th year of his course Rhys had a 12 month placement with AstraZeneca and received an A grade from both his industrial and academic supervisors. He worked on a number of topics including 7 months on the design of a process for the manufacture of a new drug. During this period he also participated in a business in engineering course run by the Dutch pharmaceutical company DSM, which involved 30 science and engineering students chosen from across Europe.

His commitment to his subject was shown by the fact he undertook a 3 month post in the Department after finishing his course to help with a project to refine the undergraduate teaching laboratories and develop new undergraduate experiments. Rhys is now working for Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd, where he is on their Graduate Training Scheme.

" Rhys Williams has an excellent academic record, demonstrated original research potential and has very good powers of expression. He is a credit to our Department and the University of Bath and I had no hesitation in providing the strongest support for his nomination for the SET Award.", said Dr Richard England, who supervised Rhys during his research project.