Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London

Projects are useful because they force you to think like a process engineer: define a system boundary, make assumptions, calculate, test the result, and explain what is missing. You do not need expensive equipment; a transparent spreadsheet model can be stronger than a polished but unexplained outcome.

How to present a project:

1. Why you did it
2. What the project is
3. How you did it
4. What went wrong
5. What you did about it
6. What you learned

• Compare low-carbon hydrogen production routes: Build a short evidence-based comparison of electrolysis, methane reforming with carbon capture, and biomass-derived routes. Include energy inputs, carbon intensity, process conditions, separation steps and safety considerations.
• Model a separation process: Use a simple spreadsheet or Python model to compare distillation, membrane separation or adsorption for a binary mixture. Focus on mass balance, purity targets, energy demand and the trade-off between capital and operating complexity.
• Reaction engineering from published data: Use safe published kinetic data to estimate reaction order, rate constants and conversion in a batch or plug-flow reactor model. Explain assumptions and limitations rather than presenting the calculation as a complete industrial design.

Other supercurricular work should support the same core profile: quantitative chemistry, engineering judgement, process safety and industrial context. Keep evidence of what you actually did, not just what you consumed.

• Process-calculation notebook: Keep a notebook of mass balances, energy balances, reaction-rate calculations and dimensional-analysis problems. Admissions readers value evidence of quantitative thinking beyond memorised chemistry.
• Industrial case studies: Read about ammonia, water treatment, battery materials, carbon capture, polymers or pharmaceuticals, then explain the process steps and constraints in your own words.
• Safety and ethics: Study well-documented process-safety incidents and identify how design, control systems, human factors and regulation interact. Avoid sensationalism; focus on engineering lessons.
• Simulation and data: Use spreadsheets, Python or accessible process simulators to test assumptions. Simple, transparent models are more useful for admissions than unexplained black-box outputs.
• Chemistry, maths and physics problem solving: Practise challenging quantitative problems in physical chemistry, mechanics, thermodynamics and calculus. Chemical Engineering at Imperial is strongly mathematical.
• Reflective reading: Read one introductory chemical-engineering text and one broader sustainability or industrial systems text, then connect them to a specific process or problem in the personal statement.

These activities are support, not substitute. They work best when they sharpen your reasoning for the course itself.

Competitions are not required. What they do well is stretch problem solving, accuracy under pressure and the habit of explaining unfamiliar science carefully.

1. RSC UK Chemistry Olympiad — Advanced chemistry problem solving, including unfamiliar applications of physical, organic and inorganic chemistry. Practise past papers, review physical chemistry carefully and write clear working for multi-step calculations.
2. Cambridge Chemistry Challenge (C3L6) — Year 12 chemistry problem solving, chemical reasoning and extension beyond the standard A-level syllabus. Work through past C3L6-style questions and focus on explaining unfamiliar chemistry rather than memorising mark schemes.
3. UK Senior Mathematical Challenge — Mathematical fluency, logic and problem solving under time pressure. Use UKMT past papers, review algebra and geometry shortcuts, and practise moving quickly without over-calculating.
4. BPhO Senior Physics Challenge — Physics reasoning and quantitative problem solving suitable for students preparing for physical-science or engineering degrees. Practise multi-step mechanics, electricity, waves and thermal physics questions, writing units and assumptions clearly.
5. Nuffield Research Placements — Research maturity, independence and applied STEM investigation rather than a single exam performance. Prepare by reading around a proposed scientific or engineering area, then keep a careful research log and reflect on uncertainty, method and results.

None are required; one or two done well beats five half-attempted.