Matt Green
Pathway to
success
Graduate chemical engineer
at Atkins
2012–present
Graduate chemical engineer,
Atkins, Bristol, UK
2010–2011
Industrial placement,
Prysmian Cables and
Systems, Eastleigh, UK
Chemistry doesn’t stop until you reach
the final product. Daniel Johnson talks
to Matt Green about life as a chemical engineer
It was only by chance that Matt ventured down the
path to becoming a chemical engineer. A big fan of
chemistry at school, he had planned to continue his
studies at university, and was already attending open
days around the country. However, following a visit
to the University of Surrey, and with some time to
spare, serendipity intervened. ‘I had to fill a day and
we needed a second option, so I went to the chemical
engineering presentation.’
stored safely and using the minimum of space, and Matt
came up with improvements to the system. ‘I designed
a process, now used at a decommissioned power
station, which safely collects water from a drum of waste
material [decreasing its mass and volume].’ The water is
heated and driven out as vapour, then safely collected.
Radioactive metallic dust is scrubbed from the air by
filters for safe release to the atmosphere.’
That was all the inspiration Matt needed. ‘The work
seemed so hands on, people in hard hats on rigs and
things like that. The practical aspect of chemistry really
grabbed my imagination.’ He changed his application
to chemical engineering, and was accepted onto a
master’s degree at the University of Bath.
Matt’s current project is a response to problems
exposed by the Fukushima disaster in 2011. The
earthquake and tsunami waves knocked out power at
the Fukushima plant, disabling the nuclear reactors’
coolant pumps and sending them into meltdown. Matt
and his colleagues are working on contingency plans to
avert such a disaster in the UK. ‘After the earthquake,
EDF Energy [operator of all operating UK nuclear power
stations but one] decided that if anything were to
happen in the UK, we had to be able to react efficiently,
learning from what happened in Japan. The idea is that
a team can come in with self-sufficient cooling systems
that are compatible with the plant. We use big diesel V8
engines to power our equipment, creating units that can
safely deliver the [coolant] water we need at the right
pressure. It’s enterprising and always changing, so you
have to be really creative. No one has done a project of
this sort before.’
Let’s make this work
While at university, Matt landed a fourth year placement
at Prysmian Cables & Systems, a manufacturer of
telecommunications cables. He was struck by the
pragmatism needed to be a chemical engineer: ‘I
worked on the process of making large scale fibre-optic
cables. We started out with pellets of high-density
poly(ethene) (HDPE), before plastic-extruding them
onto optical fibres. There are 1000 different cable types,
and new types designed every week, which requires
a lot of imagination. Chemists’ input stops a long way
upstream, then the chemical engineers have to take the
materials and say: “Right, let’s make this work [as an
economically viable process]”.’
2005–2007
A-levels in chemistry, geology
and mathematics at Sedbergh
School, Cumbria, UK
Planning for the worst…
The world's first nuclear
reactor was constructed in
a disused rackets court.
Nuclear reactions are
controlled by ‘control rods’,
and in the first reactor the
safety measure for the
control rods failing to
operate was a man with an
axe ready to cut the ropes
that suspend them. This is
said to have led to the term
SCRAM (Safety Cut Rope
Axe Man), which is still
used today, although
SCRAM systems are now
fully automated!
…but hoping for the best
Since keeping the lights on with sustainable energy
sources is one of the biggest challenges we face over
the next few decades, it’s certainly going to be an
exciting time for young chemical engineers.
© shutterstock
Like many of his classmates, Matt had a graduate job
nailed down before finishing his course. The day before
his graduation, he began work as a chemical engineer
at Atkins, one of the world's leading design, engineering
and project management consultancies. He works in
the company’s energy business, specialising in nuclear
power generation.
2007–2012
Master’s degree in chemical
engineering, University of
Bath, UK
Radioactive packing
His first project was a small one by company standards,
but had a taste of the influential decisions a chemical
engineer has to make. Radioactive waste has to be
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September 2013 | The Mole | 9