Voices of Leadership - Greg Lewin

Looking back over WCEC’s first 25 years, what do you consider its most important contribution to the global chemical engineering community?

WCEC’s most important contribution has been bringing the global chemical engineering community together and giving it a global perspective and voice.

It has helped establish chemical engineering as a boundaryless profession - united by science, shared challenges and a responsibility to society, while recognising that different countries and regions may require different solutions.

WCEC has demonstrated that global cooperation does not require global uniformity. We can agree on the science, the challenges and the direction of travel, while respecting differences in resources, infrastructure, economies and stages of development.

Importantly, WCEC has also strengthened the profession’s collective contribution to major societal challenges including energy, water, food, health, climate and sustainability.

Its greatest legacy is therefore the growing reality of one global profession - diverse in its circumstancesand solutions, but united in purpose and increasingly able to speak with a global voice.

During your presidency of WCEC, what was your main ambition for the Council, and how do you see that legacy today?

My principal ambition was to make WCEC much more than an organisation coordinating the World Congress. I wanted it to become a genuine global voice for chemical engineering, bringing together our major institutions and focusing our collective expertise on society’s great challenges - energy, water, food, health, sustainability and resource efficiency.

I saw chemical engineering as a “boundaryless profession”: global challenges do not respect national, institutional or disciplinary boundaries, and neither should our profession. WCEC could connect science, industry and society and demonstrate what chemical engineers collectively contribute.

I believe that legacy remains strong today. WCEC increasingly represents one international profession rather than simply a collection of national organisations, promoting collaboration across boundaries and applying sound science to practical, sustainable solutions. That ambition is as relevant today as it was during my presidency.

From your own experience with WCEC, is there a particular moment, achievement or initiative that you remember with special significance - and why?

For me, one of the most significant developments was a change in how WCEC approached major global challenges. Rather than seeking absolute statements prescribing a single solution, we increasingly recognised that different countries and regions require different pathways.

Developed, emerging and developing economies have very different resources, infrastructure, economic capacity and starting points. What mattered was direction rather than prescription.

We could agree on the challenge, the underlying science and the outcomes we sought, while recognising different scientifically valid approaches. The essential test was whether each country or region was moving strategically and tactically in the right direction towards the longer-term objective.

I regarded this as an important maturation of WCEC: providing a common scientific framework within which different solutions could reflect different circumstances. A boundaryless profession does not require uniformity - it requires agreement on the challenge, the science and the direction of travel, while allowing credible pathways to get there.

What is the unique value of WCEC - what can a global Council achieve that individual societies or regional federations cannot achieve on their own?

For me, WCEC’s most important contribution has been bringing the global chemical engineering community together and giving it a global perspective and voice. It has helped transform the concept of chemical engineering as a boundaryless profession into a practical reality - one profession confronting shared global challenges while recognising the very different circumstances in which chemical engineers work.

Importantly, global cooperation does not require global uniformity. We can agree on the science, the challenges and the direction of travel, while recognising that appropriate solutions will differ between countries and regions according to their resources, infrastructure, economies and stages of development.

WCEC has also strengthened our profession’s collective contribution to fundamental societal challenges including energy, water, food, health, climate and sustainability. Its greatest legacy is therefore one increasingly connected global profession - diverse in its circumstances and solutions, but united by science, shared challenges and a responsibility to society.

Looking ahead to the next 25 years, where do you think WCEC can make the greatest difference for chemical engineering and for society?

I believe WCEC’s greatest opportunity over the next 25 years is to turn the enormous capability of chemical engineering into a coordinated global force for solving society’s most difficult challenges. Climate, energy, water, food security, health and sustainable resource use transcend national boundaries, while circularity, biotechnology, advanced materials, digitalisation and AI are rapidly transforming both the challenges and their solutions.

Chemical engineers are uniquely equipped to contribute because we understand complex systems and how to translate science into practical solutions at scale.

WCEC can identify key global priorities, mobilise expertise across industry, academia and its member organisations, and take a collective chemical engineering voice to governments, international organisations and society. It must also help prepare the next generation for a rapidly changing profession.

Success would mean converting our collective knowledge into action that makes society more sustainable, prosperous and resilient - fulfilling the potential of chemical engineering as a truly boundaryless profession.

Finally, in one sentence, what message would you like to share with the global chemical engineering community as WCEC celebrates its 25th anniversary?

As WCEC celebrates 25 years, my message is simple: chemical engineering is a boundaryless profession, and by working together across nations, disciplines and differing circumstances - guided by sound science and a shared responsibility to society - we can turn the great global challenges of our time into practical pathways towards a more sustainable and prosperous world.