On May 28, 2024, Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens from University College London was invited to visit the College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, and gave a wonderful lecture entitled “A Nature-inspired Chemical Engineering (NICE) Approach to Accelerate Innovation for Sustainable Development” in the Multifunctional Hall on the first floor of the Conference Center of East Campus. The lecture was hosted by Professor Cheng Daojian, Dean of the School of Chemical Engineering.
In his presentation, Prof. Marc-Olivier Coppens describes how the Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering (NICE) approach employs natural mechanisms to solve challenging chemical engineering problems. He pointed out that addressing the major challenges of sustainable development needs to be achieved through transformative approaches. He presented various examples of applying the nature-inspired chemical engineering (NICE) approach to solve chemical engineering problems. For example, how to learn from nature, the operation of trees, lungs and vascular networks to increase scalability and improve efficiency. Application of nature-inspired solutions (NIS) to redesign fuel cells, porous catalyst particles, membrane separation, and functional materials for biomedical applications, etc. The Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering (NICE) approach reveals fundamental insights into the physics of multiphase systems and opens up new ideas for creative problem solving by our faculty and students.
After the report, Prof. Marc-Olivier COPPENS patiently answered the questions about nature-inspired chemical engineering raised by teachers and students of the college. After the lecture, Prof. Marc-Olivier COPPENS visited the State Key Laboratory of Organic and Inorganic Composites, and Prof. Luo Yong from Institute of Science and Technology Development of Beijing University of Chemical Technology introduced the construction of the laboratory and the achievements in supergravity technology and other aspects in recent years.
Biography of Professor Marc-Olivier COPPENS:
Marc-Olivier COPPENS is the Ramsay Memorial Professor at University College London. After 8 years as Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, he has been Associate Dean of the School of Engineering (Interdisciplinarity, Innovation) at University College London since 2021. He is also Head of the Center for Nature-Inspired Engineering (UCL CNIE), which was established in 2013 with funding from an Engineering and Science Research Centre (EPSRC) 'Frontier Engineering' award.
Prof. Marc-Olivier COPPENS pioneered Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering (NICE) and developed a systematic nature-inspired solution methodology for sustainable development. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) (UK), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) (UK), a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of Saxony (Germany), a Seeking Professor at Zhejiang University (China), and a member of the Scientific Council of IFP Energies nouvelles (France). He is a member of several advisory and editorial boards, including Editor-in-Chief of Chemical Engineering & Processing: Process Intensification, Editor-in-Chief of RSC Molecular Systems Design & Engineering, and Advisory Board of IOP Sustainability Science & Technology. Sustainability Science & Technology.