iPRD Industrial Showcase: AI and Enabling Technologies for Advanced Chemical Manufacturing

Date: Wednesday 21 October 2026
Location: Nexus, Discovery Way, Leeds, LS2 3AA
Cost: Please see below for more information
Download: Outlook, iCal

The iPRD Industrial Showcase: AI and Enabling Technologies for Advanced Chemical Manufacturing will be held on Wednesday 21 October at the University of Leeds.

About the event

The Institute of Process Research and Development invites you to join us at the University of Leeds for a one-day meeting highlighting progress and opportunities in the manufacture of complex chemical products. The day will feature talks from both academia and industry highlighting how the combination of data-driven and AI-led approaches with innovative technologies for reactors, monitoring and downstream processing can transform chemical processing. There will also be an interactive Showcase Exhibition of technologies developed in the iPRD, and the opportunity to tour our unique facilities in the company of iPRD experts. Join us on the 21st October to find out more about how iPRD can help in developing solutions to problems in advanced chemical manufacturing.

Confirmed speakers:

Professor Donna Blackmond, Scripps Research Institute
Professor Rich Bourne, University of Leeds
Dr Beatriz Dominguez, Johnson Matthey
Mr Steve Fussell, Asymchem
Professor Becky Greenaway, Imperial College London
Dr Ricardo Labes, Syngenta
Dr Gilian Thomas, University of Leeds

Programme

9.15	Arrival and registration
	Session 1: Chair – Professor Steve Marsden (iPRD)
10.00	Introduction to the Institute of Process Research and Development (iPRD) Professor Tom Chamberlain, iPRD, University of Leeds
10.10	Professor Rich Bourne, iPRD, University of Leeds “When Chemistry Fights Back: Self-Optimising Laboratories for Dynamic Catalysts, Category-Aware Optimisation and Autonomous Library Synthesis”
10.50	Dr Beatriz Dominguez, Johnson Matthey “The Cost of Catalysis: What it means and how to bring it down through Innovation”
11.10	Break
	Session 2: Chair – Dr Adam Clayton (iPRD)
11.40	Mr Steve Fussell, Asymchem “Unlocking Chemical Space: Data-Driven Process Design for Faster, Greener Pharmaceutical Manufacturing”
12.00	Professor Becky Greenaway, Imperial College London “Hybrid Workflows Combining Automation and Machine Learning Approaches for Synthesis, Characterisation, and Property Screening”
12.40	Professor Nik Kapur, iPRD, University of Leeds “Sharing the iPRD Toolkit: Developing Technologies for Photochemistry, Continuous Processing, Separation, and Process Safety”
13.00	Lunch, exhibition, poster viewing and tours
	Session 3: Chair – Professor Bao Nguyen (iPRD)
14.30	Dr Gilian Thomas, University of Leeds “Bridging Academia and Industry: Online Reaction Monitoring to Enhance Process Understanding”
14.50	Dr Ricardo Labes, Syngenta “Enabling Technologies From Flask to Field”
15.10	Professor Donna Blackmond, Scripps Research “Bringing Kinetics into Data Science Approaches to Catalytic Reactions”
15.50	Closing remarks
16.00	Event close

Registration

Please register your place by clicking on the online store link below:

Online Store

Registrations are accepted on the understanding that the meeting programme is given in good faith but may have to be re-scheduled or the presenters changed for reasons outside the committee’s control. The University of Leeds reserves the right to cancel or postpone the meeting, in which case fees will be refunded in full.

If a delegate is unable to attend the meeting for any reason they may substitute someone else from the same institute/organisation. In the event of a presenting author having to cancel their attendance we ask that a named co-author attends and presents in their place. In these circumstances the delegate/author should contact cpd@engineeringing.leeds.ac.uk as soon as possible.

Where the delegate is unable to attend and is not in a position to transfer their place to another person then the following refund arrangements apply:
• Registrations cancelled within seven days of booking: a full refund is payable unless the symposium starts within the next seven days, in which case the full fee is payable and no refunds will be made
• Registrations cancelled more than 30 days before the event will be refunded 80% of the registration fees
• Registrations cancelled less than 30 but more than 15 days before the event will be refunded 50% of the registration fees
• Registrations cancelled less than 15 days before the event will not be eligible for a refund

Relevant meeting materials for registered participants who are for whatever reason unable to attend will be sent by email. This will only be done once. Should you have to withdraw please ensure we have your correct email on file.

In the event of cancellation, the University will not be held liable for or refund any incurred travel or accommodation expenses.

Our privacy notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal information when you make contact with us or use one of our services: https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/privacy

More information

If you have any questions, please get in touch with cpd@engineering.leeds.ac.uk