Thursday October 8th: Cleaning up the Mersey Basin: Where have we come from, where are we going? – Diane Kitcher, United Utilities
In 1985, the Mersey Estuary was the
most polluted estuary in the UK, receiving up to 60% of the mainland
pollution generated by industry and the 5 million population. Come and
hear about the transformation brought about since then, and the continuing
improvement efforts needed by UU and others to meet long-term Water
Quality targets.
Thursday November 12th: Industrial symbiosis: Where there's muck... – Ewan Macdonald, National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP)
Industrial symbiosis is good for all
of us – it’s about maximising the value of scarce resources through
innovation in recycling, material recovery, product development and
energy recovery. NISP is a national programme set up to help industry
exploit opportunities for collaboration to reduce waste and thus enhance
a sustainable business model.
Thursday January 14th: Degradation of Plastics in Museums – Colin Williamson (MD, Smile Plastics)
People often think of plastics as cheap and disposable, but some types have now been with us for well over 100 years, and some objects made from them are now, perhaps unexpectedly, highly valued. How do we preserve such objects, well beyond the horizon envisaged by their creators?
Thursday February 11th: Stories from My Life in Science: Developing Products and Business in chemical and allied industries – Chris Pickles (General Manager, Ceram Surface and Materials Analysis)
This talk will draw on the speaker’s
>35 years’ experience of working in industrial R&D
and related business functions. During this period the rôle of industrial
R&D has changed dramatically. He will offer first hand perspectives
on this evolution from his own career in the consumer goods, chemicals
and automotive industries, as well as in government science and technology
transfer/ spin-out.
Thursday March 11th: The Large Hadron Collider – Sandy Donnachie (Manchester University)
The world’s largest and highest-energy
particle accelerator was built to do four major experiments addressing
answer key questions concerning the nature of matter. Come and hear
what these are, why we need this huge apparatus, and the very latest
results and progress.
All lectures begin at 7:30 pm in the
Catalyst Science Discovery Centre, Mersey Road, Widnes WA8 0DF. Refreshments
are provided. All are welcome: attendance is free to Friends of Catalyst,
and open to others for a small charge of £2 to help cover costs.
Bill Sanderson
Programme Secretary
Version 2nd July 2009