LeslieBolton. Photo: Christian Ove Carlsson

BP: Bringing inspiration back to colleagues

BP was a founding member of the CERE (at that time “IVC-SEP”) industry Consortium. Over the years the company’s involvement has fluctuated – as for most member companies – but never vanished. Most recently, the interest of BP has mainly been the CHIGP, which is the longest standing Joint Industry Project at CERE, initiated in 2004.

Les Bolton works in BP’s Group Research, which covers both upstream and downstream applications. He is a chemical engineer with interests covering both a range of processes and the science and technology which underpins them.

“I have broad interests, so I guess you could say I am a something of a polymath. The wide scope of my role is perfect for me. Global organizations like BP often have quite separate upstream and downstream divisions – for very good reasons – but much of the underlying science does not recognize these boundaries, and is applicable in many places,” says Les Bolton.

“Although the interests of CERE do lean somewhat towards upstream applications, I also take inspiration regarding downstream.  That makes this the kind of conference where not only can I pick up knowledge for my own work, but I see material that I know will be of great interest to many of my colleagues”.