The IChemE Hutchison Medal is awarded for practical and wide-ranging,
philosophical, or thought-provoking published papers that have made notable
contributions to ignite discussions within the chemical engineering community.
In 2023, this medal was awarded to a Manchester team led by Dr. Dongda
Zhang (photo on left) and Professor Philip Martin for their publication (photo
below), "A two-step multivariate statistical learning approach for batch
process soft-sensing," published in Digital Chemical Engineering, Volume
1, December 2021 (100003). In this study, they proposed a two-step multivariate
statistical learning methodology tailored for soft-sensing in batch processes.
Soft-sensors serve as predictive tools for variables that may pose challenges
in direct measurement. These sensors can be constructed using either physical
models or data-driven models to compute the desired process variable based on
specific input variables. In collaboration with the Port Sunlight R&D team
at Unilever, they applied a two-step approach to reduce industrial data dimensionality
and design soft-sensors for personal care products manufacturing. Their
innovative use of established techniques leads to enhanced visualisation and
comprehension, offering fresh perspectives on the subject.
Congratulations to Dongda and Philip!