Professor Joan Cordiner FREng, FRSE, FIChemE, FAIChemE, CEng moved to academia in 2020 from a 30+ career in ICI, Astra Zeneca and Syngenta latterly as a Technology Manager and Global Risk Manager for Manufacturing. As a Global Engineering Management she was responsible for research and development for Active ingredients and Formulation and process safety engineering. She led the development of computer models for physical property prediction, computer aided molecular design, process modelling and managing major partnerships between Syngenta and some of the world’s top universities. Prof Cordiner chaired the 2021 report by the Royal Academy of Engineering for the Cabinet Office, working in collaboration with a select committee of the House of Lords on Improvements in the Processes for the National Security Risk Register. Joan’s groups concentrate on modelling (mechanistic and data driven) of complex processes integrating process safety, maintenance and optimisation across a wide variety of processes from mRNA vaccines, pharm and chemical processes and fusion energy.