Eva Sorensen is a British

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

. She is the first woman to lead the Department of Chemical Engineering at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. She was awarded the

Institution of Chemical Engineers The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a global professional engineering institution with 30,000 members in 114 countries. It was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter in 1957. The Institution has offices in Rugby, Warwickshire, ...

(IChemE)'s Frank Morton Medal for promoting best practice in chemical engineering education. Sorensen was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

2023 Birthday Honours The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part ...

for services to education and chemical engineering. She is a fellow of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

, the European Society for Engineering Education and the

American Institute of Chemical Engineers The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as professionals independent of chemists and mechanical engineers. Curr ...

Life

Sorensen is a British chemical engineer. She has worked at University College London since 1996. She has a degree in chemical engineering from the

Norwegian University of Science and Technology The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Norway and the largest in terms of enrollment. The university's headquarters is located in Trondheim (city), Trondheim, with region ...

, graduating in 1989, after which she earned a PhD from the same institution in 1994. She conducted postdoctoral research at the Centre for Process Systems Engineering (CPSE) at Imperial College London. Sorensen was appointed in 2020 as interim head of the Department of Chemical Engineering while Marc-Olivier Coppens was on a year sabbatical. She is the first woman to lead the department in its one hundred year history. In 2018 Sorensen was honoured by the Institution of Chemical Engineers with the Frank Morton Medal for promoting best practice in chemical engineering education. The citation read "Medal awarded to Professor Eva Sorensen for being a key driver for innovation in teaching and learning, inside and outside her own institution. She was noted by the committee to have worked tirelessly over several decades to promulgate best practice in chemical engineering education." Also in 2018 she was elected a Fellow of the European Society for Engineering Education. Sorensen was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to education and chemical engineering. In 2024 she was elected a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering The same year she was also elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Life

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