For over 120 years, Chemical Engineering magazine has highlighted state-of-the-art technologies and prioritized practical engineering expertise to help advance the chemical process industries (CPI). In holding with this storied tradition, the Chemical Engineering team is proud to announce the new CE Process Impact Awards. These awards will honor industrial achievement and innovation across all vertical segments of the CPI, highlighting key pillars of modern chemical engineering, including decarbonization, digitalization and facility modernization. The awards will recognize projects that have exhibited innovation in chemical processing and excellence in project execution.
The nomination deadline is August 31, 2026. More information about the nominations process will be posted soon. Honorees will be announced in an upcoming issue of Chemical Engineering.
Award categories
Breakthrough Technology Award. This award spotlights the cutting edge of innovation in the CPI, including novel, first-of-a-kind (FOAK) process technologies and products, significant milestones in research and development and recently commercialized processes.
Climate and Environmental Impact Award. This award honors pioneering environmental initiatives that are helping companies to achieve ambitious sustainability targets. This could include reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions, improvements in energy use, waste management or raw-material sourcing, or other approaches to lowering environmental impact. Eligible projects must have been initiated after June 1, 2025.
AI Deployment Innovation Award. Digital transformation momentum in the CPI has been intensified with the rapid proliferation of industrial artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This award category honors progressive AI use cases that have delivered tangible value to CPI organizations. Projects can comprise ongoing activities or completed proof-of-concept projects that were initiated after June 1, 2025.
Plant Modernization Impact Award. CPI facilities are built to last decades, but continued investment in operational upgrades, capacity expansions, equipment retrofits and other production or safety enhancements bring wide-ranging benefits to legacy assets. This award category honors the most significant and impactful plant upgrade projects that have entered operation since June 1, 2025.
New Plant of the Year Award. The flagship award of the CE Process Impact Awards, this honor merges all the pillars of the other categories to celebrate the diverse engineering teamwork and collaboration required to start up a modern chemical plant. The award will highlight new plants that have truly taken advantage of cutting-edge technologies and innovative process approaches to meet user demands. Plants should have completed startup and commissioning activities since June 1, 2025.
Nominations are now being accepted for the CE Process Impact Awards. ■
Mary Page Bailey and Scott Jenkins, senior editors