New Prestigious Award For Process Design Innovation

Phil Black - PII Editor 03/11/2016

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Britest Limited, the internationally recognised leading exponent of whole process design for the process industries, recently inaugurated a new prestigious award for innovation at its annual Members’ Day showcase event.

The first John Borland Award for Innovation was presented to Newcastle University-based Engineering Doctorate student Kirsty MacLachlan, and her project supervisors Professor Jarka Glassey and Dr. Charles Gordon, for their work on applying Britest tools to Bioprocessing.

In making their recommendation, Britest’s Scientific Advisory Board considered the application of Britest thinking in new domains, looking for a project that, “tries to attack the most difficult and uncertain problem, and has the most chance of opening up new thinking in a new space.”

The recipients have taken existing Britest process understanding tools and developed and extended their use in gaining insight in a range of bioprocesses.

The results of their work have great potential not only in developing better understanding and improved control of bioprocesses, but also to extend the Britest approach into other manufacturing processes.

Britest CEO Gareth Jenkins said, “We are very pleased to be able to commemorate John Borland’s contribution to the creation of Britest with this new award for innovation. This bioprocessing work not only signals a breakthrough in helping Britest members understand the complex dynamics of bioprocesses but also demonstrates the potential of Britest to deliver positive results in process areas beyond our traditional chemical and pharma roots.”

John Borland, who passed away earlier this year, was a pioneering figure in establishing the Britest tools and approach to process understanding. He was the inspirational driving force behind the collaboration from which the current Britest Limited not-for-profit membership-owned business arose, and a distinguished and successful chemical engineer and senior manager in ICI and Zeneca for over thirty years.

Charles Gordon and Jarka Glassey received the John Borland Award from Britest Chairman Brian Murphy, whilst Britest Technical Director Mark Talford (accompanied by John Carroll of the Centre for Process Innovation) presented Kirsty McLachlan with her award a few days later as she started work in a new role at the CPI-hosted National Biologics Manufacturing Centre.