Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens given distinguished chair at leading Chinese University

Marc-Olivier Coppens, Ramsay Memorial Professor and UCL Head of Chemical Engineering has been appointed Qiushi Chair Professor of Zhejiang University for the next three years.

Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens, Ramsay Memorial Professor and head of Department, UCL Chemical Engineering has been appointed to the Qiushi chair at Zhejiang University. This distinguished honorary position, awarded for three years, has been given in recognition of his continued contributions in the field of Chemical Engineering.

Zhejiang University is one of the top-ranked universities in China and home to China’s oldest Chemical Engineering Department which dates back to 1927. Zhejiang university is located in Hangzhou, a cultural and technological hub close to Shanghai where the G20 meeting was held last year and home to one of only four chemical engineering State Key Laboratories.

As an outward looking Department and University, more extensive contacts started to develop after a visit by a delegation from Zhejiang to UCL in 2013. Further discussions took place between chemical engineering academics of Zhejiang and UCL at the AIChE Annual Meeting in USA, and lectures by Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens in China.

The endowment of the Qiushi Chair to a UCL Professor will create opportunities for closer collaboration between two world leading research and educational powerhouses. It will also further enhance the reputation of UCL with Chinese students and academics.

Nigel Titchener-Hooker, Dean of UCL Engineering, said:

" "Marc-Olivier has a vision that resonates at a global scale. This has been clearly recognised by the conferment of this prestigious chair. It’s a very exciting development and we look forward to establishing yet closer ties through this.”