The SAFT team at Imperial College London

Major research into Molecular Systems Engineering

A key focus of our work here is to provide tools for industry

Prof. George Jackson

The SAFT team at Imperial College London is part of the 27-strong Molecular Systems Engineering group.

The group is funded by a wide range of industrial and government sources, including a £3.6m grant from the UK Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The key researchers involved are Prof. George Jackson, Professor of Chemical Physics, Dr Amparo Galindo, Reader in Physical Chemistry, and Dr Claire Adjiman, Reader in Chemical Engineering, all in the Chemical Engineering Department.

Prof. George Jackson

Dr Amparo Galindo

Dr Claire Adjiman

Prof. Jackson says "a key focus of our work here is to provide tools for industry. This has involved overcoming many challenges related to speed of execution and robustness".

As well as developing the SAFT theory and software, the team works closely with partners from industry to determine parameters for specific systems of interest, continually adding to the database of parameters.

Molecular Systems Engineering

Molecular Systems Engineeringis a new discipline concerned with the design of molecules and materials with desirable properties. By bridging the multiple scales between molecules and processes, it allows molecular decisions to be considered as an integral part of the overall task of designing and optimising processes and products.

The MSE group arose from a long-standing and highly successful collaboration involving world-leading research in molecular modelling, advanced thermodynamics, and process systems engineering. It currently comprises 6 lead investigators, 7 postdocs and 14 PhD students, and is the largest integrated activity of this breadth in this research area anywhere in the world.

In the past five years, the lead investigators have published over 175 refereed publications and 22 books/edited books/book chapters. The group's activities attracted around £10m in funding, a third of which is directly from industry. In 2007 the group was awarded a £3.6m EPSRC grant to tackle fundamental problems in molecular-based product and process design.

The MSE group has strong collaborations with industry in several sectors, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, energy, oil and gas, specialty chemicals, and personal care. Recent collaborators include ABB, Akzo Nobel (formerly ICI), AstraZeneca, BASF, BCURA, BMS, Borealis, BP, Britest, CIBA, E.On, Ineos, P&G, Rhodia, Shell, Schlumberger and Syngenta.

In October 2009, the MSE group won a Research Excellence Award of £150,000 from Imperial College, in recognition of its pioneering research activities.