ABB has invested almost £1million and signed a 10-year agreement with Imperial College London to support a new carbon capture pilot plant teaching facility located at the university’s London campus. This investment will be supplemented by a series of sponsorships for Imperial’s chemical engineering undergraduates, signalling the company’s commitment to shaping the next generation of industrial engineers.
Using a combination of ABB’s instrumentation, drives, motors and process automation equipment, the control room provides students with hands-on experience of pilot-scale industrial plant operations. The pilot plant will be used in undergraduate teaching with the aim of equipping students with the practical skills needed for a career in industry.
The agreement between ABB and Imperial gives the university access to advanced control and instrumentation technology, as well as life cycle services and support for the installation. In return, ABB has access to the carbon capture pilot plant for its own use and will use the facility for customer demonstrations and training, staff learning, hands on experience for its apprentices and product testing and software evaluation.
“The pilot plant is a global showcase for the latest and best process control and instrumentation technology in use at one of the world’s leading engineering institutions,” said Martin Grady, general manager, Oil, Gas and Petrochemical – UK, ABB.
ABB is also providing four summer placements of eight to ten weeks per annum in its UK operations. In addition, a summer placement in Brisbane, Australia will be awarded to a student on the university’s exchange programme. One final year student will be selected from previous summer students to have their final year tuition fees paid by ABB.
The company’s involvement in the project is aimed at raising the awareness of the benefits of a career in control and instrumentation engineering. Imperial has named the centrepiece of the installation the ABB?control room.
