Welcome to the course

The world faces unprecedented sustainability challenges, and innovative solutions are required to protect the current and future generations.

Chemical engineers are leading the way in providing answers to key issues such as climate change and effective healthcare on a global scale.

In this video, Dr Nicole Hondow from the University of Leeds welcomes you to the course and introduces the topics you will explore over the next two weeks.

In Week 1, you will be introduced to what chemical engineering is and how chemical engineers are tackling climate change to deliver a sustainable future.

In Week 2, you will focus on the development and future of healthcare products, and how digital design will lead to the development of personalised medicines, with a focus on vaccines. At the end of the week, you will discover the importance of chemical engineering in every-day life and hear from chemical engineers who will discuss their career path and experiences.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) are intended to be a blueprint for global development, aimed at ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring peace and prosperity for all people by the year 2030.

This course highlights the following goals:

• Goal 2: Zero hunger
• Goal 3: Good health and well-being
• Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
• Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
• Goal 13: Climate action.

Course map

This course map provides a quick overview of the two weeks ahead.

Learning for general interest

If you have a general interest in this topic, you can work through just the core learning activities, which should take around two hours per week. You will have the opportunity to check your understanding and spend some time joining the discussions. It is important that you don’t feel pressured to complete all the elements of the course; your learning journey is individual, and you should decide what elements are relevant to your learning needs.

Who will support your learning?

Your educators on this course are from the University of Leeds. Your Lead Educator is Dr Nicole Hondow, Associate Professor in the School of Chemical and Process Engineering and Director of Student Education. The other educators are Dr Keeran Ward and Dr David Harbottle. Keeran is a Lecturer in the School of Chemical and Process Engineering. David is an Associate Professor in the School of Chemical and Process Engineering and Head of Programme for Chemical Engineering.

You’ll also meet Professor Richard Bourne and Professor Kevin Roberts. Richard is a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair who works in the field of digital manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. Kevin is the Brotherton Professor of Chemical Engineering at Leeds and leads the Centre for Doctoral Training in Complex Particulate Products and Processes.

Have your say:

You can use the Comments section to tell us more about yourself, where you are from, and why you have chosen to join this course. You can also choose to follow other learners.

Just one of the exciting elements of learning online is the support from other learners. If you have time, please respond to comments from other learners and support them with their learning. Use the Comments section on each step, and the discussions, to ask the educators and your fellow learner’s questions. Developing a collaborative learning environment will lead to a successful and enjoyable course.

Glossary of terms

As you complete the course, you may come across terms and references that require further explanation. To help with this, there is a Glossary that you can view and refer to at any point in the course.

If you come across any terminology during the course that is not included in the Glossary, please use the Comments section to ask fellow learners and the educators.

Next steps

When you are ready to move on, select Mark as Complete. You can monitor your progress through the course by selecting Progress at the top of the page. This will show you the steps you have completed and will provide your score for the end of course test.