IChemE Fellow (FIChemE) guidance for applicants

Fellows are typically individuals who are operating at senior, strategic, or system-shaping levels. They exercise responsibility and accountability for significant decisions, risks, resources, or people, and their influence typically extends beyond a single project and may extend beyond a single employer, or operate at significant scale within a large or complex organisation. In many cases, their work has shaped organisations, sectors, professional practice, or public policy.

Assessors will consider your application through four lenses:

1. the responsibility you hold
2. the actions you have personally led or lead
3. the outcomes you have achieved
4. sustained impact ie one that is beyond a single initiative.

Assessors will primarily focus on your personal role. They will look for evidence of responsibility, accountability, and consequence. They will consider the scale and scope of your decisions, the outcomes achieved, and the extent to which you demonstrated leadership, judgement, and influence. Job titles alone are not sufficient. You must demonstrate that you have operated at Fellow level, regardless of sector, whether in industry, academia, consultancy, public service, or entrepreneurship. There is no formal academic requirement, and there is no automatic progression route based purely on seniority or years of service.

Your application will be reviewed by two IChemE Fellows acting as Professional Reviewers (PRs). They will assess your written evidence against Fellow-level expectations, consider your CV and referee statements, and determine whether clarification or an interview is required.

Professional Reviewers may request brief clarifications via IChemE if minor points require confirmation. Where clarification is needed to confirm key facts, reviewers will normally request this before deciding that an application does not proceed to interview.

An interview is not automatically required for Fellow applications and is used selectively. If, after reviewing the written evidence and any clarifications, you meet the requirements for Fellow then an interview is not required. However, if it appears that Fellow-level criteria are not yet met, the application may not proceed to interview. Interviews are not used to introduce new examples or substantially expand an application; they are used to clarify or confirm evidence already provided.

Length of service alone is not a determining factor. Decisions are based on demonstrated level of responsibility, influence, and impact. Final decisions are confirmed by an IChemE panel following the RRs’ recommendation.

The Fellow route does not grant Chartered Chemical Engineer status, Professional Process Safety Engineer, or Engineering Council CEng registration. If you already hold these, they are unaffected.

All Fellows are expected to undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in line with IChemE policy.

Contribution to the profession (mandatory)

This question is central to the Fellow application and is required of all applicants. It addresses your contribution to the chemical and process engineering profession itself. While this may extend beyond your employer, it can also arise through influential engagement that has shaped professional standards, policy, education, regulation, technical governance, or professional practice related to the profession. Your contribution should demonstrate leadership and measurable impact on the direction, standing, or application of the profession within or outside of your employer(s).

An application should describe/demonstrate that you have operated with responsibility for shaping how chemical or process engineering is practised.

This may include:

• leadership within professional institutions, regulatory bodies, advisory panels, accreditation systems, or standards-setting organisations
• being senior authority within a large, or multinational organisation where you have been or are responsible for engineering standards, governance frameworks, competence systems, safety expectations, or technical policy applied across multiple sites, regions, or business units
• holding a demonstrably senior positions on strategic boards and/or committees at relevant organisations (which could include IChemE, academia, commercial enterprises, or not-for-profit organisations), where your decisions have significant influence on the art, science, or application of chemical and process engineering or related disciplines.

Contribution may occur at international, national, sectoral, or organisational level. Particularly, the level of influence, the scale of implementation, and the consequences of your decisions. Attendance or committee membership is insufficient; assessors are looking for active leadership, intellectual input, resolution of complex professional issues, and delivery of tangible outcomes.

A strong application will clearly describe your role, responsibilities, and decision-making authority. It should explain what changed as a result of your involvement ‒ for example:

• new or revised standards (internal or external)
• organisation-wide engineering governance frameworks
• accreditation or competence reforms
• strengthened safety or risk management practices
• expanded professional capability across regions or business units
• improved public, regulatory, or stakeholder confidence.

Where relevant, you should indicate scale, such as the geographic scope of your influence, the size of the engineering population managed or influenced, the scale of budgets or activities that you are responsible for, regulatory environments impacted.

Contribution to the profession may also include sustained leadership within IChemE networks, development of professional reviewers or assessors, support for accreditation and quality assurance processes, or senior-level mentoring where this demonstrably strengthens professional capability beyond your immediate employer, team or organisation. While mentoring, internal leadership, or organisational service may form part of your contribution, applications are unlikely to be successful if they rely solely on routine mentoring or internal activities without evidence of wider professional influence, external reach or significant consequence.

Assessors will ultimately consider whether your contribution reflects stewardship of the profession; that is, whether you have helped shape its standards, integrity, and future direction. This stewardship may be exercised externally through professional institutions and public bodies, or internally through senior leadership of engineering practice, operations, or major programmes where engineering judgement shapes standards, safety, capability, or professional practice. The emphasis remains on sustained influence, recognised authority, and outcomes that extend beyond routine operational responsibilities, consistent with Fellow-level standing.

You must choose two categories that best demonstrate your Fellow-level contributions. Depth and impact are more important than breadth. In all categories, assessors will look for clear evidence of your personal responsibility, the decisions you made, the outcomes achieved, and the lasting influence of your work.

• A.Technological innovation and achievement
• B. Strategic leadership
• C. Contributions to original research
• D. Reputation
• E. Entrepreneurship
• F. Responsibility
• G. Enterprise
• H. Academic achievements to teaching, learning and development

A. Technological innovation and achievement

At Fellow level, technological innovation must extend beyond technical competence or incremental improvement. Assessors expect to see that you personally led or drove significant technological advancement and were accountable not only for technical development, but for translating ideas into implementation, deployment, or sustained operational or commercial use.

Innovation at this level typically involves strategic technical direction, cross-functional leadership, and the management of technical, commercial, and organisational risk. You should demonstrate that you exercised authority in shaping the innovation; for example, defining technical vision, securing investment, approving design principles, resolving complex technical trade-offs, determining deployment strategy and delivering measurable outcomes.

Strong applications describe responsibility for major innovation programmes, platforms, or portfolios rather than isolated technical contributions. This may include bringing products or services to market, leading the development of new processes, products, digital systems, or engineering methodologies that were subsequently adopted at scale. Evidence might include patents, high-impact publications, externally recognised technical awards, measurable improvements in safety, sustainability, efficiency, or reliability, or successful commercialisation and market adoption.

Assessors will be looking for sustained and material impact. This could include roll-out across multiple sites or regions, integration into corporate standards or design practice, influence on industry guidance, or adoption by external organisations. It is important to demonstrate not only that the innovation worked technically, but that it delivered enduring value.

A strong application should clearly distinguish your personal leadership and accountability. It should explain the scale of implementation, the complexity of the environment in which the innovation was delivered, and the consequences of the decisions you made. The focus should remain on demonstrable technical or professional impact and influence, rather than technical novelty alone.

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B. Strategic leadership

This category concerns direction-setting, long-term positioning, and consequential decision-making at organisational, sectoral, or system level. Fellows operating in this domain shape strategy rather than simply deliver it. They influence how resources are allocated, how risk is managed, and how engineering capability supports sustainable performance over time.

Strategic leadership may be exercised in industry, academia, public service, regulatory environments, not-for-profit organisations, consultancies, start-ups, or other complex enterprises. Strategic leadership at Fellow level typically involves authority to define priorities, approve major investments, and balance competing commercial, technical, safety, regulatory, and societal considerations. You should demonstrate that you have exercised judgement in situations where decisions carried significant financial, safety, reputational, or regulatory consequences.

Evidence often includes executive or board-level roles, accountability for major capital programmes or transformation initiatives, leadership of large or complex business units, or oversight of governance frameworks and assurance systems. It may also include leading organisational restructuring, setting technical or operational standards across multiple sites or regions, or influencing sector-wide strategy through industry or regulatory engagement.

Assessors will look for clear evidence that you were personally accountable for shaping direction, not merely
implementing decisions made by others. This may include defining strategic objectives, securing approval for investment portfolios, leading responses to crises or major incidents, embedding cultural or governance change, or representing your organisation in high-level discussions with regulators, government bodies, or international partners.

A strong application should explain the context and scale of the organisation or system involved, the complexity of the challenges faced, and the trade-offs you were required to navigate. It should make clear what depended on your judgement and how your leadership led to measurable or enduring change.

Routine operational management, even at senior level, will not normally be sufficient unless it demonstrably involved strategic consequence, organisation-wide impact, and sustained influence beyond day-to-day delivery.

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C. Contributions to original research

Research contributions at Fellow level must demonstrate sustained leadership, originality, and influence within the discipline. Participation in research activity alone, or routine project supervision, is not sufficient. Assessors expect evidence that you have shaped research direction, secured and led significant programmes of work, and contributed meaningfully to advancing knowledge in chemical or process engineering or closely related scientific, technological, or interdisciplinary domains.

You should demonstrate personal responsibility for defining research agendas, obtaining competitive funding, leading multidisciplinary teams, and ensuring delivery of high-quality outputs. Fellow-level research leadership often includes acting as Principal Investigator or Programme Lead on externally funded projects, establishing new research themes or centres of expertise, or building sustained collaborations between academia, industry, and government.

Strong evidence may include influential publications as lead or corresponding author, widely cited work, invited keynote lectures, editorial board appointments, doctoral supervision to completion, or leadership roles in national or international research initiatives. Recognition through competitive funding, awards, visiting professorships, or appointments to funding panels or advisory boards may also indicate standing and influence.

Assessors will look beyond publication volume to consider impact and reach. A strong application should describe how your research has advanced theoretical understanding, enabled the implementation of new methodologies or technologies, informed standards or policy, or influenced industrial practice. Where relevant, you should demonstrate translation into application; for example, through technology transfer, industry adoption, contribution to design guidance, or collaboration with commercial partners.

Your response should clearly distinguish your intellectual leadership from that of collaborators or research teams. It should describe the scale of programmes led, the complexity of the research challenges addressed, and the broader significance of the outcomes. The emphasis should be on sustained contribution and recognised authority within the research community, consistent with Fellow-level expectations.

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D. Reputation

Reputation at Fellow level reflects sustained peer recognition, which may extend beyond your immediate employer or be demonstrated through recognised responsibility across a large or complex organisation. You should be recognised as an authority, advisor, or leader in your specialist field, with influence that operates at sectoral, national, or international level.
Assessors will look for evidence that your expertise is actively sought by others because of your professional standing and judgement. This may be demonstrated through honours, awards, or fellowships conferred by respected professional or technical bodies. It may also include appointments to advisory groups, regulatory panels, standards committees, public inquiries, or government taskforces where your independent expertise informs policy, regulation, or professional practice.

Non-executive directorships, trustee roles, or other governance appointments can also provide evidence of reputation, particularly where you are relied upon to provide technical oversight, independent challenge, or strategic guidance. Similarly, acting as an expert witness, independent reviewer, or inquiry panel member may demonstrate trust in your objectivity, credibility, and authority in high-consequence contexts. Honorary academic appointments, visiting professorships, keynote invitations, and participation in high-level industry or international forums may further illustrate professional recognition. However, the emphasis should not be on listing invitations or memberships, but on explaining why you were invited and what influence you exercised as a result.

A strong response should make clear how your reputation has translated into impact. This may include shaping national guidance, influencing regulatory interpretation, contributing to sector-wide reform, resolving complex disputes, or advancing professional standards. The focus should remain on recognised authority, independence of judgement, and influence beyond organisational boundaries, consistent with Fellow-level standing.

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E. Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship at Fellow level involves more than founding or participating in a business venture. It must demonstrate sustained leadership of engineering- or science-based enterprises where you have exercised real commercial accountability, strategic direction, and professional responsibility grounded in chemical, process, or related scientific practice.
Most commonly, this will involve leadership of businesses delivering engineering, technical, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, consultancy, or technology-based services to traditional engineering companies. Senior leadership of enterprises in adjacent sectors, for example technology-enabled services, technical investment activities, venture development, or other innovation-led organisations, may also be relevant where the enterprise is materially grounded in engineering or scientific practice. In such cases, applicants must clearly demonstrate that their professional authority, technical judgement, and standing as a chemical or process engineering professional directly shape the enterprise’s strategy, governance, or risk-based decision-making.

Assessors will expect to see that your entrepreneurial leadership reflects Fellow-level responsibility, independence of judgement, and sustained impact, with clear evidence of commercial accountability and professional integrity. Strong applications may describe founding or growing engineering consultancies, technology companies, manufacturing ventures, or specialist business units within larger organisations. Evidence may include securing external investment, building multidisciplinary professional teams, developing proprietary technologies or methodologies, expanding into new markets or regions, and achieving sustained revenue growth or profitability. Leading spin-outs, joint ventures, or commercialisation of research may also be relevant where there is clear personal accountability and impact.

Assessors will look beyond start-up activity or short-term commercial success. A strong application should demonstrate long-term sustainability, resilience, and influence. This may include embedding governance frameworks aligned with professional standards, creating employment opportunities for engineers, contributing to sector capability, or delivering societal benefits such as improved safety, sustainability, or industrial performance.

Your application should clearly distinguish your personal leadership and accountability from that of partners, investors, or co-founders. It should explain the scale of the enterprise, the risks you assumed, the strategic decisions you made, and the consequences of those decisions. The emphasis should remain on sustained enterprise leadership that reflects Fellow-level authority, judgement, and professional responsibility.

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F. Responsibility

This category focuses on scale, accountability, and consequence. At Fellow level, responsibility typically extends beyond technical oversight to include executive or senior-level accountability for major programmes, substantial financial and non-financial resources, complex organisational structures, or high-consequence operational and safety risks. Responsibility may arise in industrial, academic, governmental, regulatory, advisory, or other complex professional contexts where decisions carry significant consequence.

Assessors will look for clear evidence that you hold decision-making authority where outcomes carry significant implications for safety, environmental protection, regulatory compliance, financial performance, or organisational reputation. This may include accountability for large capital portfolios, asset integrity and reliability across multiple sites, compliance with major regulatory regimes, or governance of safety-critical systems and processes.

Responsibility at this level often involves leadership of large professional teams or multidisciplinary functions, with authority to set standards, approve deviations, allocate resources, and prioritise competing demands. It may also include oversight of assurance frameworks, audit processes, risk review boards, or escalation mechanisms to executive or board level.

A strong application will demonstrate that you were not simply managing activity but were accountable for the consequences of your decisions. You should explain what depended on your judgement, the scale of resources or risks involved, and the potential impact had decisions been incorrect or delayed. Where relevant, you should describe how you balanced commercial pressures with long-term safety, sustainability, and regulatory expectations.

The emphasis should remain on the breadth and scale of the responsibility you hold, the authority you exercise, and the sustained impact of your leadership. Routine line management or project delivery, without wider organisational consequence, will not normally meet Fellow-level expectations unless the scale and accountability were demonstrably significant.

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G. Enterprise

Enterprise reflects senior-level advisory or professional influence exercised across multiple organisations, sectors, or geographies. It is particularly relevant to consultants, independent advisors, senior specialists whose professional authority most likely extends beyond a single employing organisation.

At Fellow level, enterprise is characterised by independence of judgement, breadth of influence, and responsibility for advice or decisions carrying significant technical, commercial, regulatory, or reputational consequences. Assessors will expect evidence that you were trusted to operate at executive or board level, often in complex or high-risk environments where balanced professional judgement was critical.

Strong applications typically describe leading high-value or strategically important assignments, defining scope and technical direction, and providing independent challenge to senior leadership teams. This may include advising on major capital investments, asset life-extension, risk management frameworks, safety governance, mergers or acquisitions, regulatory engagement, or transformation programmes. Influence across multiple clients, sectors, or international jurisdictions may further demonstrate reach and standing.

You should clearly show that your role extended beyond technical advice into strategic influence. This includes situations where your advice shaped business direction, altered investment decisions, strengthened governance arrangements, or informed regulatory or public policy outcomes. Repeat commissions or long-term advisory relationships may provide evidence of sustained trust and credibility.

A strong response will explain the scale and complexity of the assignments undertaken, the level at which you were operating, and the consequences associated with your recommendations. The emphasis should remain on professional authority, independence, and demonstrable impact across organisational boundaries, consistent with Fellow-level expectations.

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H. Academic achievements to teaching, learning and development

This category recognises sustained academic leadership and distinguished contribution to higher education, professional formation, and the development of future engineers, researchers, and academic capability. It is intended for applicants who hold or have held senior academic appointments, or who can demonstrate equivalent standing through exceptional influence in teaching, learning, curriculum leadership, and scholarly development.

At Fellow level, assessors will expect evidence that your contribution extends well beyond competent teaching or normal academic duties. You should demonstrate recognised authority, strategic influence, and sustained impact on educational quality, academic standards, student outcomes, staff development, or the direction of teaching and learning within chemical engineering or closely related disciplines.

Strong applications may include leadership of degree programmes, departments, schools, research training environments, or institution-wide educational initiatives. This may involve designing or transforming curricula to reflect emerging technologies, sustainability, safety, digitalisation, industrial needs, or advances in chemical engineering practice. It may also include introducing innovative pedagogies such as technology-enhanced learning, flipped classrooms, experiential learning, interdisciplinary delivery, or inclusive teaching models adopted more widely.

Assessors will also value evidence of developing people and academic capability. This may include sustained mentoring of doctoral researchers, postdoctoral staff, lecturers, and early-career academics; supervision to successful completion; supporting promotion and career progression; or creating high-performing academic teams and research cultures.

Professional standing and wider influence may be demonstrated through external examining, accreditation leadership, editorial board service, conference leadership, invitations to deliver keynote educational lectures, membership of learned society committees, industry advisory board leadership, visiting professorships, teaching fellowships, or prestigious educational and academic honours.

A strong response should explain your personal leadership and decision-making authority. It should make clear what changed because of your contribution, for example:

• major curriculum reform or creation of new programmes
• significantly improved student outcomes, progression, satisfaction, or employability
• wider adoption of teaching innovations across departments or institutions
• strengthened doctoral and researcher development pipelines
• successful academic partnerships with industry, regulators, or international institutions
• enhanced institutional reputation for teaching excellence
• sustained influence on educational standards within the discipline.

You should distinguish your own leadership from routine academic service or participation in committees. The emphasis should remain on recognised academic authority, strategic contribution, and measurable impact.

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Across all categories, strong applications focus on what you personally do, decided, or are accountable for. They clearly distinguish your role from that of teams or organisations and demonstrate responsibility, judgement, and sustained influence.

Applications should show long-term impact rather than isolated achievements and should avoid generic descriptions or task-based lists. Activities that would normally be expected of a professionally registered or senior Chartered-level engineer, such as routine management or mentoring, will not normally be sufficient.

You remain responsible for the originality and accuracy of your submission, including where AI tools are used for drafting or editing.

You must nominate two referees who can credibly attest to your Fellow-level standing.

1. The first should be a current IChemE Fellow member and they should also be Chartered Engineer (CEng) with the Engineering Council.
2. The second should be either:

• • a member of the IChemE qualified as in (1) above
  • a professionally registered individual who is qualified to attest to your competence. This referee does not need to be an IChemE member but must hold a professional registration that is accepted by IChemE* or
  • a competent professional engineer; these will be reviewed for suitability on a case-by-case basis by the Membership and Qualifications Committee or its delegated authority.

*CEng with Engineering Council, CSci with Science Council, CEnv with Society for the Environment, CPEng with Engineers Australia or Engineering New Zealand, CEng MIEI with EI, Ir with Board of Engineers Malaysia, IntPE with International Professional Engineers Agreement.

Your CV should be current, concise (no more than two pages long), and aligned with your contribution statements. It should focus on senior roles, responsibilities, and measurable  achievements.

The CV must make clear your personal involvement and accountability in each significant role. A simple list of projects, contracts, or organisational activities may not be very helpful. Where projects or programmes are listed, you must clearly indicate your specific role (for example, Sponsor, Programme Director, Technical Authority, Principal Investigator, Board Member, Founder, etc) and distinguish your contribution from that of the wider team or organisation.

For senior leadership roles, it is helpful to include indicators of scale, such as organisational size, revenue, capital value, geographic reach, regulatory environment, or size of professional teams led.

You may omit personal information you do not wish reviewers to see.

An application fee and an annual membership subscription apply. Fee levels vary by country group. New members pay both the application fee and the membership subscription. If your application is unsuccessful, the membership subscription will be refunded; the application fee is non-refundable. Current rates are available via IChemE’s annual subscription information.

If you require support with your application, contact the applications support team at applications@icheme.org.

IChemE has a formal appeals process for membership decisions. Details can be provided on request via the same email address.