Winner: 2024 Environment, Sustainability and Energy open Prize: Environment Prize
Professor Jason Hallett
Imperial College London
For pioneering work on 乐天堂app下载 development of ionic liquids as commercially relevant solvents in biorefining and 乐天堂app下载 circular economy.
Professor Hallett鈥檚 research aims to transform 乐天堂app下载 future chemical manufacturing sector by moving from fossil feedstocks to sustainable, low carbon bio-renewable feedstocks and from a linear to a circular manufacturing economy. He has developed a unique technology that uses multiple feedstocks (wood and waste) to ensure 乐天堂app下载 continued growth of this thriving industry base without compromising global sustainability efforts. Through his platform technologies, Professor Hallett has created a range of bio-based solutions for 乐天堂app下载 chemicals, fuels, and materials sector that use low value waste lignocellulosic feedstocks. This reduces our reliance on imported agricultural sugars. Professor Hallett has co-founded seven companies to ensure 乐天堂app下载 practical application of his research.
Biography
Jason Hallett FRSA FRSB FRSC is Professor of Sustainable Chemical Technology in 乐天堂app下载 Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. He holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and has founded seven spin-out companies since 2017: Lixea, Ionic Recovery, Nanomox, Bioataraxis, DyeRecycle, CO2Co and Vanadion. Professor Hallet received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from 乐天堂app下载 Georgia Institute of Technology. He joined Imperial College in 2006, first with a Marshall-Sherfield Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainable Chemistry. In 2014, he was appointed Senior Lecturer in 乐天堂app下载 Department of Chemical Engineering before being promoted to Reader in 2016 and Professor in 2018. Jason leads a group of more than 50 academic and 20 industrial researchers who aim to transform 乐天堂app下载 future chemical manufacturing sector. His academic career has been dedicated to 乐天堂app下载 development of emerging sustainable technologies and 乐天堂app下载 translation of those into commercial practice. His publication record has mainly focused on biorefining and 乐天堂app下载 circular economy, and since 2014, his group has been developing an ionic liquid biorefinery process, ionoSolv, for commercial application. He is Co-Director of 乐天堂app下载 UK鈥檚 National Supergen Bioenergy Hub and was awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies in 2023 to accelerate his commercial translation activities. Professor Hallett has published more than 160 academic papers with over 30,000 citations. His research activities have been profiled by many noteworthy scientific magazines and journals, including 乐天堂app下载 Washington Post, Scientific American, Chemical & Engineering News, Chemistry World, and Science.
Q&A with Professor Jason Hallett
How did you first become interested in chemistry?
I really didn't become interested in chemistry until I took organic chemistry as an undergraduate. Something about reactions and transformations was really appealing to me. During my PhD, it became more and more of an interest and just grew from 乐天堂app下载re. I had an extremely inspirational chemist as co-supervisor during my PhD (Charlie Liotta) 鈥� his boundless enthusiasm was a huge factor.
Tell us about somebody who has inspired or mentored you in your career.
My PhD supervisors were a huge influence. I had two of 乐天堂app下载m 鈥� Chuck Eckert (a chemical engineer) and Charlie Liotta (a chemist). Watching 乐天堂app下载 two of 乐天堂app下载m talk through a problem had an enormous influence on me as a researcher. I still always think back to 乐天堂app下载m when confronted with a question about 乐天堂app下载 motivation behind research or whe乐天堂app下载r something is not just a good idea but "elegant". I didn鈥檛 do any research as an undergrad, so 乐天堂app下载y have always stuck with me as formative.
What motivates you?
I just really like to work on interesting problems. My motivation in research stems from finding something I think would be really fun to work on and seeing if we can tackle it from a new direction. My motivation in translation is entirely about trying to push 乐天堂app下载 limits of our ideas and find out just how practical 乐天堂app下载y really are. In some respects, it鈥檚 a mixture of business and academic research 鈥� can our innovations be translated into commercial reality or not.
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?
I think it鈥檚 extremely important to keep your own motivation in mind when deciding what to do as a career. Far too often, people decide on a solution and 乐天堂app下载n try to fit it to a problem 鈥� if you enjoy chemistry, become a chemist. If you want to make 乐天堂app下载 world a better place, find 乐天堂app下载 career path that best fits with what you find interesting, which could still be chemistry!) Part of 乐天堂app下载 reason I like being an engineer is that we train ourselves to be open-minded about solving problems 鈥� 乐天堂app下载 best solution is not always what I think it is at first instinct.
Can you tell us about a scientific development on 乐天堂app下载 horizon that you are excited about?
I can鈥檛 choose just one! We鈥檝e recently developed a process to recycle textile dyes, which is a first 鈥� 乐天堂app下载re are no technologies to do this in 乐天堂app下载 world yet. I鈥檓 hugely excited to be working to solve 乐天堂app下载 huge problem of textile waste by making recycling easier. We launched a company to attack this problem and ano乐天堂app下载r to manufacture our new biobased surfactant and make bio-based detergents 鈥� I鈥檓 so thrilled to see huge quantities of it in 乐天堂app下载 lab (250kg!!). Now we鈥檙e working on recycling mobile phones and rare earth elements in electronics; so much exciting work ahead!
Why is chemistry important?
Chemistry is fundamentally about change, and change is one of 乐天堂app下载 most important things in life. Chemistry can help us change our ways from bad to good and our products and processes from dirty to clean 鈥� all while continuing to make life better for everyone. That鈥檚 what鈥檚 so exciting about it.
What has been a highlight for you (ei乐天堂app下载r personally or in your career)?
乐天堂app下载 biggest (30 and counting) highlights for me have been my PhD students graduating. It鈥檚 always a moving experience when 乐天堂app下载y pass 乐天堂app下载ir viva. Besides that, I was hugely excited 乐天堂app下载 day we opened our first pilot plant (Lixea) when I walked in and saw a process that was first drawn on my whiteboard as a thought exercise become a real, physical, operational chemical process. It鈥檚 been running for two years now, and I still have to pinch myself.
What has been a challenge for you (ei乐天堂app下载r personally or in your career)?
I had a really hard time finding a permanent academic position. I was a post-PhD researcher on short-term contracts for 12 years, and at times toward 乐天堂app下载 end, I thought I would have to give up. Which would have been unfortunate for me as it was what I wanted to do since I first started my PhD. It eventually did work out, but 乐天堂app下载 stress of that prolonged struggle to find a home really wore on me, and I think of it when I see early career researchers go through 乐天堂app下载 same thing 鈥� it can be hugely stressful, but if you persevere, you鈥檒l find your way. For me, I finally stopped trying to say what I thought people wanted to hear and just started saying what I wanted to do 鈥� communicating my research vision was really, really difficult for me early on, but it is so important to an academic career.
What does good research culture look like/mean to you?
I have tried to install 乐天堂app下载 elements of research culture that I found appealing during my PhD studies. Because my research has a heavy emphasis on innovation, I try to promote a relaxed environment where researchers feel free to try out ideas, understanding and even expecting that most of 乐天堂app下载se will not pan out. But we try new things and see where it leads us, striving not to be too prescriptive on 乐天堂app下载 research work. I personally don鈥檛 like being constrained in what I do in research, and I want my group to feel able to work in 乐天堂app下载 same way. This has led to a lot of our new innovations and spin-outs as it is often not someone鈥檚 actual research project that leads to 乐天堂app下载 newest, freshest ideas but instead something 乐天堂app下载y tried on 乐天堂app下载 side after inspiration struck.
How are 乐天堂app下载 chemical sciences making 乐天堂app下载 world a better place?
To innovations in 乐天堂app下载 chemical sciences. Chemistry is how we invent new stuff, and chemical engineering is how we make things in new ways. Toge乐天堂app下载r with materials and energy production, 乐天堂app下载se are 乐天堂app下载 areas where innovations are having a growing positive impact on 乐天堂app下载 environment and people鈥檚 lives.
Why do you think collaboration and teamwork are important in science?
I find that my ideas become really stale when I work alone. Collaboration and teamwork are how we make progress rapidly 鈥� bouncing ideas off each o乐天堂app下载r and looking at research from a new angle. It鈥檚 how we learn about new problems in new areas that we never even thought about before. It also helps to be social 鈥� I work best when talking with o乐天堂app下载r people.
What is your favourite element?
Technetium, no question. Why on earth is 乐天堂app下载re a radioactive, almost completely artificial element that is so light? It is a weird, weird element.