The Fascinating World of Process Engineering

The renowned “Mini Symposium on Process Engineering” brought together enthusiastic researchers at the MCI in Innsbruck

Twenty years ago, the “Mini Symposium on Process Engineering” was launched at TU Wien. The aim was to create a platform for exchange and networking, primarily for young doctoral students at Austrian universities, where they could present their own work to an expert audience while still working on their dissertations. All process engineering degree programs are represented at this now very impressive event—from Graz University of Technology, Vienna University of Technology, BOKU, JKU Linz, and Montanuniversität Leoben to MCI, where the symposium was held in 2025 for the second time.

It is difficult to describe exactly what process engineering is in a single sentence. In fact, it is applied chemistry—put simply, process engineering deals with the development and optimization of technical processes in which substances (gases, liquids, solids) are changed through mechanical, thermal, chemical, or biological transformations. The fields of process engineering are as diverse as the useful products it produces. But there is much more to it than that: at the interface between technology, natural science, and society, this highly innovative engineering discipline can provide us with answers to our key global challenges – such as climate protection, resource conservation, healthcare, and food security.

Due to its fascinating versatility, there was no uniform answer to the term “process engineering” among the symposium participants: depending on the university, faculty, and research area, each person has a slightly different approach—and the submissions to the conference were correspondingly diverse. However, a common thread was evident from the outset, running through five major topics, the latest research approaches and results of which were presented and discussed in the respective sessions. For the young researchers, however, it was not just about presenting results, but also about receiving feedback, learning about new perspectives, and experiencing themselves as part of an active scientific community.

The first day began with the topics “Energy & Process Engineering” and “Renewables,” which primarily presented research results from the fields of process optimization and renewable energy sources. The second day introduced participants to the highly innovative world of hydrogen and its future role in industry with the morning session “Hydrogen and its Applications.” The event continued with the environmental topics “Circular Economy & Recycling” and “Environmental,” in which issues of efficient resource use and technical environmental protection were discussed.

The first sessions of each day were opened by keynote speakers from Tyrolean industry, who gave impressive accounts of what really happens “out there” in industrial practice. The presentation by industry specialist Tiroler Rohre showed the opportunities available to large energy consumers through the use of AI energy management tools, while the young Austrian GreenTech company Syncraft – a spin-off of MCI and a leader in innovative renewable energy and green carbon production – contributed a keynote speech on the carbonization of biomass as a case of “modern alchemy.” A presentation on a best-practice example of sustainable hydrogen production in Tyrol as a cooperation between the companies TINEXT and INNIO opened the second day of the conference.

Finally, during laboratory tours, participants were able to see for themselves the amazing possibilities offered by MCI in terms of plant design and construction as well as process simulation, where findings from basic research are put into practice.