Professor Joan Cordiner (she/her)
FREng, FRSE, FIChemE, FAIChE, CEng
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Head of School
Professor of Process Engineering and External Engagement
Full contact details
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
D58
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
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I joined the department in 2020 as a Professor of engineering and external engagement before taking on the Head of Department role for the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in 2021. Prior to that, I had a distinguished career at Syngenta which spanned several global and senior management positions. My career has given me a wealth of experience in leadership, Active Ingredient process design, complex process modelling, physical property prediction, Formulation Engineering, Process Safety leadership, Global Business Risk management and building relationships between academia and industry.
In our group we look to drive continual improvement in both process efficiency and process safety by employing cutting edge modelling technologies to gain an in-depth understanding of the physical processes and properties at play in the real world.
As Industry evolves, our approach to tackling engineering problems must evolve too. New and innovative solutions are required to counter the multitude of new problems arising as a result of the digital era. Problems being tackled by this group include:
- Knowledge informed Machine Learning predictive maintenance and root cause analysis
- Modelling mRNA production and formulation
- Scale up and decision making for novel processes for energy provision
- Process safety and resilience
- hydrogen safety for new and emerging processes
- resilience metrics
- national security risk registers
- Physical property prediction
- Process resilience models for early-stage design
In our group we are passionate about driving real change and strive to stay on the cutting edge by working on the interface between academia and industry.
Our spin-out company Kausalyze aims to help process manufacturers move from reactive firefighting to proactive foresight. We do this by combining domain expertise with AI to help them understand the true causes of process changes, enabling informed decisions that prevent costly downtime before it happens.
External to the university, I am a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Vice President (learned Society) and Fellow of IChemE, A Fellow of the AIChE, and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. I am a Chartered Engineer and have served the profession in a range of different committees and panels including the Royal Academy Policy committee, the Audit and Risk committee, previously the membership, several grant and award committees, chairing several working groups for National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC) reports.
Previously, I have taken on advisory positions including: the Chairman of CAPEC Advisory Group (DTU Denmark), Chairman of FSSG IChemE, Directors of Britest, SIS, WBT and Industry Representative for the UK Distillation and Absorption ECHMA.
- Research interests
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My research is predominantly focused on developing novel modelling techniques, including both mechanistic, kinetic and data-driven models, for a range of purposes including:
Predictive Maintenance and root cause analysis
- Using knowledge informed machine learning
- This has been spun-out in our company Kausalyze
Prediction and modelling of complex physical properties and processes
- mRNA vaccine production and scale-up,
- Prediction of stable formulation design
- Decision making modelling for selection of decarbonisation strategies for industry
- Pptimising energy and carbon credit purchasing
- Scale up and technoeconomic costing
- Particle processes, including fluidization and crystallisation
Physical Property and Process/ Product Prediction
- Optimising steel raw materials wrt to price of ingredients
- Formulation/product design and prediction
- Polymer encapsulation
Process Safety and resilience
- Hydrogen and Net Zero Systems modelling and process safety.
- Resilience and national security risk register
Systems thinking
- Materials demand for net zero, https://nepc.raeng.org.uk/critical-materials
Key research interests
- Process and Property Prediction active ingredients, formulations and new energy systems
- Process Safety
- Hydrogen processes and safety
- Process modelling- mechanistic with data driven
- Process and maintenance fault and root cause prediction
- Design making optimisation of net zero energy for sites, energy and carbon contracts
- Risk and resilience
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Incorporating Resilience into HAZOP to Enhance Process Safety in Industrial Facilities. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 105630-105630.
- Modelling, simulation, thermodynamic and economic performance analysis of steam and CO2 as diluents in thermal cracking furnace for ethylene manufacturing. Fuel, 381, 133656-133656.
- Knowledge-enhanced data-driven modeling of wastewater treatment processes for energy consumption prediction. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 108982-108982.
- An experimental and modeling approach to study tangential flow filtration performance for mRNA drug substance purification. Biotechnology Journal, 19(11). View this article in WRRO
- Mitigating risks in hydrogen-powered transportation: A comprehensive risk assessment for hydrogen refuelling stations, vehicles, and garages. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 91, 1025-1044.
- A Review of the Technological Aspects and Process Optimization of Bioethanol Production From Corn Stover Biomass: Pretreatment Process, Hydrolysis, Fermentation, Purification Process, and Future Perspective. Environmental Quality Management, 34(2).
- Knowledge-Enhanced Spatiotemporal Analysis for Anomaly Detection in Process Manufacturing. Computers in Industry, 161, 104111-104111.
- A NOVEL FRAMEWORK FOR QUANTITATIVE RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT IN COMPLEX ENGINEERING SYSTEMS DURING EARLY AND LATE DESIGN STAGES. Process Safety and Environmental Protection.
- Modelling, simulation, exergy and economic analyses of thermal cracking of propane using CO2 and steam as diluents, 691-696.
- Development of an industrially applicable model for the qualitative resilience assessment of process systems at the early design stage. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 105199-105199.
- Gold recovery from synthetic mine tailings leachate using chelating ion exchange resins with thiosulfate-thiourea lixiviant. Resources, Conservation & Recycling Advances, 200182-200182.
- Development of a machine learning framework to determine optimal alloy composition based on steel hardenability prediction. Digital Chemical Engineering, 100118-100118.
- Integrating machine learning techniques into optimal maintenance scheduling. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 107958-107958.
- Towards Automated HAZOPs. Computer Aided Chemical Engineering, 50.
- Data visualization for Industry 4.0: A stepping-stone toward a digital future, bridging the gap between academia and industry. Patterns, 2(5), 100266.
- Accounting for interface behaviour in multi-stage aqueous two-phase extraction. Chemical Engineering Science. View this article in WRRO
- A modern approach to solvent selection. Chemical Engineering, 113(3), 30-43.
- Pure component properties from group contribution: Hydrogen-bond basicity, hydrogen-bond acidity, Hildebrand solubility parameter, macroscopic surface tension, dipole moment, refractive index and dielectric constant. Fluid Phase Equilibria, 231(1), 27-37.
- Challenges for the PSE community in formulations, 125-140.
- Synthesis, design and operational modelling of batch processes: An integrated approach, 245-250.
- Integrated synthesis, design and modelling of batch operations, 990-995.
- Optimal solvent design for batch separation based on economic performance. AIChE Journal, 49(12), 3095-3109.
- CAMD for Solvent Selection in Industry – II, 229-246.
- Use of prediction and modelling in early evaluation of process options, 27-40.
- Mass spectrometry-based mRNA sequence mapping via complementary RNase digests and bespoke visualisation tools. The Analyst.
- Topological Characterization of Metal–Organic Frameworks: A Perspective. Chemistry of Materials.
- Fuelling the Future with Safe Hydrogen Transportation Through Natural Gas Pipelines: A Quantitative Risk Assessment Approach. Transactions of the Indian National Academy of Engineering.
- Safety considerations for hydrometallurgical metal recovery from lithium‐ion batteries. Process Safety Progress.
- Gas adsorption and framework flexibility of CALF-20 explored via experiments and simulations. Nature Communications, 15(1), 3898.
- Bioprocessing 4.0: a pragmatic review and future perspectives. Digital Discovery.
- Augmented Reality for Enhanced Visualization of MOF Adsorbents. Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.
- DigiMOF: A Database of Metal–Organic Framework Synthesis Information Generated via Text Mining. Chemistry of Materials.
- Active Subsets as a Tool for Structural Characterisation and Selection of Metal-Organic Frameworks. Chemical Engineering Research and Design.
Chapters
- Computational Molecular Dynamics in Emerging Biological Fields, Computer Aided Chemical Engineering (pp. 445-450). Elsevier
- Reverse HAZOP: Enhancing Safety Improvements through Natural Language Processing and Text Mining, Computer Aided Chemical Engineering (pp. 2725-2730). Elsevier
- Towards Sustainable WWTP Operations: Forecasting Energy Consumption with Explainable Disentangled Graph Convolutional Networks, Computer Aided Chemical Engineering (pp. 2719-2724). Elsevier
- Wiz 4.0: A Novel Data Visualisation and Analytics Dashboard for a Graphical Approach to Industry 4.0, Computer Aided Chemical Engineering (pp. 1747-1752). Elsevier
Conference proceedings papers
- Decision Making For Industrial Decarbonization. AIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings, Vol. 2023-November
- Multiple-output Gaussian Process based Global Sensitivity Analysis for the cost-performance of electric vehicle in the United Kingdom (pp 1433-1438)
- From Expert Judgment at the Early Design Stage to Quantitative Resilience Curves Using Fuzzy AHP and Dynamic Bayesian Networks. Proceeding of the 33rd European Safety and Reliability Conference, 3 September 2023 - 7 September 2023.
- Drop-on-demand micropatterning of novel amphiphilic peptide I3K on regenerated silk fibroin substrates to guide and promote adhesion and proliferation of neuronal cells. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 29(13-14)
- Drop-on-demand micropatterning of novel amphiphilic peptide I3K on regenerated silk fibroin substrates to guide and promote adhesion and proliferation of neuronal cells. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART A, Vol. 29(13-14)
- Cost optimization of steel alloying elements with machine learning based Jominy hardness profile prediction. AIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings, Vol. 2022-November
- INVESTIGATING MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES FOR EFFECTIVE PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE IN INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS. AIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings, Vol. 2022-November
- Development of a Resilience Model for the Analysis of Process Systems at the Early Design Stage. Institution of Chemical Engineers Symposium Series, Vol. 2022-October(169)
- Challenges for the PSE community in formulations. Computers & Chemical Engineering, Vol. 29(1) (pp 83-92)
- Generation and use of local models for the prediction of product behaviour and formulation design. Aiche Symposium Series, 11 November 2003.
- Design Considerations for Hardware Based Acceleration of Molecular Dynamics. Systems and Control Transactions, Vol. 4 (pp 418-422), 6 July 2025 - 9 July 2025.
- Predictive Maintenance in the Digital Era. Computer Aided Chemical Engineering
- Predictive Maintenance in the Digital Era. Computer Aided Chemical Engineering
- Towards Automated HAZOPs. Proceedings of the 31st European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering
Preprints
- Multiple Gaussian process models based global sensitivity analysis and efficient optimization of in vitro mRNA transcription process, arXiv.
- Gold Recovery from Simulant Mine Tailings Using Chelating Ion Exchange Resins with Thiosulfate-Thiourea Lixiviant, SSRN Electronic Journal.
- Incorporating Resilience into HAZOP to Enhance Process Safety in Industrial Facilities. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 105630-105630.
- Grants
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Grants as an Industrial Collaborator
Current:
20/12/2021 173553 Digitised, small-scale and high-throughput process for distributed RNA production for therapy and pandemic preparedness WELLCOME LEAP INC
20/05/2022 172093 Sustainable microwave manufacturing ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (EPSRC)
Past:
- EP/R008027/1 From Kinetic Theory to Hydrodynamics: re-imagining two fluid models of particle laden flows
- EP/N034066/1 A new Multi-Scale Paradigm for Particulate Flow- both with Prof R Ocone
- European 6th Framework grants & Danish Grants with CAPEC consortia and Prof R Gani and Prof SB Jørgensen
- EPSRC Grant with Prof CS Adjiman, Prof A Galindo, Prof G Jackson SAFT approach for surfactants
- EPSRC Grant with Prof CS Adjiman Solvent selection to improve reaction rates 2002-2005
- GR/T17595/01 Demonstration of the commercial potential of advanced molecular thermodynamics software Prof CS Adjiman, Prof C Pantelides, Prof G Jackson Prof A Galindo
- GR/L63020/01 Batch Route Innovation Technology Evaluation and Selection Techniques (BRITEST) also DTI Funding
- Case Award with Prof CS Adjiman as a new academic
- EPSRC Changing the Culture: To report for the EPSRC on the Strategy and Structure of Chemical Engineering Research in the USA July 1999 C Axon, Prof Howell, JL Cordiner et al.
- Teaching activities
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- Design Project
- Research Projects
- Mass Transfer
- Process Safety
- Human Factors
- Process safety and design of hydrogen and ammonia processes
- Property prediction
- Problem solving
- Lean manufacturing
- Employability
- Professional activities and memberships
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Memberships and Honorary Positions
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 2020
- Honorary Professor School of Science and Engineering Heriot Watt University 2019.
- Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering 2017.
- Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers 2002, Member 1994, Chartered Engineer 1994.
- Senior Member of American Institute of Chemical Engineers 2004.
- Visiting Senior Lecturer UMIST (Now University of Manchester) 1998-2001.
Major Academic and Advisory Activities
2019-2020 Royal Academy of Engineering Membership Panel- Chemical and Biological Engineering
2019- AIChE Policy Committee.
2017- Industrial Advisory Board of Chemical Engineering at Heriot Watt University.
2015- Collaborative Research with Prof R Ocone Heriot Watt University in Fluidization Modelling.
2002-2019 Visiting Lectures, Seminars and Keynote Presentations at Major Conferences.
2004-2008 Syngenta Liaison and recruitment lead for UVa, NC State, Virginia Tech and Auburn.
2002-2004 Chairman Advisory Board CAPEC Research Consortium Danish Technical University (DTU).
2000-2004 Board Member and technical lead for Britest Ltd (academic, industrial consortium).
2002-2003 External Examiner for PhD thesis defense M Eden DTU (Now Chair of Auburn University).
2002-2004 UK Industrial Rep on EFCE Distillation, Absorption and Extraction Working Party.
2001-2004 Chairman of Fluid Separation Processes Group of IChemE.
2003-2008 High Shear Mixing Consortia University of Maryland.
2001-2003 Accreditation Committee of IChemE.
1999-2002 Advisory Board Chemical Engineering Bath University.
1998-2004 and 2016-2018 PSE Consortium Member Imperial College.
1998-2002 Board Member CAPEC Research Consortium at DTU.
1997-2004 Co Supervisor of PhD Students at Imperial College and Danish Technical University DTU.
1992-2003 Non-executive Director/Trustee of two international charities (WBT/SIL in UK).
1990-1998 Consortia Distillation Design Prof M Malone & Prof M Doherty UMass at Amhurst & UCSB.
1991-1999 ICI/ Zeneca Industry Liaison and recruitment lead with Heriot Watt & Edinburgh Universities
- External activities
Invited Seminars
- Heriot Watt University- Global Priorities and Chemical Engineering Answers. 2017
- University of Virginia -Use of predictive methods in the early evaluation of Process Options. 2008
- Imperial College -Challenges in Formulations. 2003
- CAPEC Consortia DTU - Physical Property, phase equilibria prediction for VLLE and SLE and gaps. 2002
- Edinburgh University- 1999
External Reports
- Changing the Culture: A report to the EPSRC on the Strategy and Structure of Chemical Engineering Research in the USA July 1999 C Axon, Prof Howell, JL Cordiner et al
- CAPE-21 Computer Aided Process Engineering Tools & Techniques for the 21st Century Discussion Paper Properties of Materials and Mixtures Joan Cordiner et al.
External Courses and Conference Organization/Chairing
- 7th World Congress of Chemical Engineering Technical panel & international scientific committee
- AICHE National Fall Meetings chairing various sessions.
- PSE 2004 International Scientific committee
- Distillation and Absorption 2006 Technical panel & international scientific committee
- A one-day training course organized by the Fluid Separation Processes Subject Group Distillation Training Course UMIST, Manchester 17 September 2002- Chairman of organizing Committee
- Escape 11 Kolding Denmark May 2001- Session Chair and Keynote speaker
- FSPG Symposium: Sustainable Process Selection 5th April 2000 University College London – Chairman and organizer
- FSPG Symposium on Batch, extractive and reactive distillation Nov 1996, Huddersfield- Chairman and Organizer
- Poster competition judging PSE 2004, D&A 2006, Escape 11, Process Systems Engineering 2019 - Puerto Vallarta, and various consortia meetings.