A team from Cemex Rugby Plant recently welcomed a group of visitors from the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) for a behind-the-scenes tour, designed to give insight into the inner workings of a Cement Plant and the important contribution chemical engineers make in its operations.

The visit was arranged exclusively as a background tour to support IChemE colleagues and a reporter in better understanding:

• How a Cement Plant operates, and
• The critical role chemical engineers play in ensuring efficient, safe, and sustainable processes within the facility.

We were pleased to host representatives from IChemE, including Sam Baker, Reporter, The Chemical Engineer magazine; Shoaib Kiyani, Learned Society Officer; Shivani Thangaraj, Learned Society Intern and Duncan Lugton, Head of Policy and Impact. From Cemex the Rugby Plant team provided expert insights and led the tour. The team included Mike Andrews, Quality & Raw Materials Manager UK, Cement Operations; Dafina Marku, Operations Coordinator, UK Cement Operations and David Pius, Process & Continuous Improvement Engineer, UK Cement Operations.

The visit served as a valuable opportunity to showcase the scale and complexity of our operations and highlight the multidisciplinary expertise required, particularly in chemical engineering, to maintain high standards of performance, innovation, and sustainability in cement production.

A big thank you to the team at Rugby Plant for their time, knowledge and hospitality in making the tour a success.