Presidential Blog: Strengthening ties

Presidential Blog: Strengthening ties

24th April 2025

The latest thoughts and updates from IChemE President Mark Apsey MBE.

One of the best parts of this role is the opportunity to connect with passionate people across the profession, and this past month has been a great example of that.

We hosted a bilateral meeting in London with Engineers Ireland. Their Director General Damien Owens and President Laura Burke joined me and Yvonne Baker for a productive discussion. We agreed to collaborate more closely to promote engineering skills, run joint events and share successful initiatives. We showcased our DiscoverChemEng campaign, the impact of IChemE’s Young Engineers Awards for Innovation and Sustainability (YEAIS), and the positive response to our digital volunteer badges.

Damien, in return, shared some brilliant ideas from their side – including a formal conferring ceremony for chartered and fellow members, which struck a chord with us. And yes – he had us all smiling describing their involvement showcasing engineering at the National Ploughing Championships in Ireland. Only in engineering could tractors, space exploration and CPD make perfect sense in the same conversation.

Collaboration continued with a roundtable hosted jointly with IMechE, focused on the urgent need to reskill the UK’s engineering workforce. With 80% of the 2035 workforce already in jobs today, this isn’t a future problem – it’s a right-now one. It was energising to see organisations coming together to tackle this head-on. A summary of the discussion will be available soon.

Our visibility with UK Government is also growing. You’ll have seen Duncan Lugton’s update in this month’s Policy Corner column about our letters to 650 MPs – making sure chemical engineering’s voice is heard loud and clear.

Nominations for IChemE volunteer vacancies have now closed – thank you to all who stepped forward. You’ll be able to vote on candidates shortly.

All in all, it’s been a month of meaningful collaboration and steady progress – building influence, sharing what works, and strengthening chemical engineering’s place at the table.

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