Menelaus Medal Awarded for Research Excellence

The Learned Society of Wales have awarded the Menelaus medal for excellence in the field of engineering and technology to Professor Graham Hutchings FRS

The medal, presented at a special ceremony in Cardiff, recognise the legacy of Welsh achievement and celebrate exceptional researchers with a connection to the country.  The Menelaus medal is awarded for excellence in any field of engineering and technology to a researcher with connections to Wales.

Director of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute and current holder of Regius Professor, Professor Hutchings is one of the world’s most preeminent authorities in the field of catalysis and has pioneered new methods of producing the widely-used polymer, PVC, using a novel catalyst containing gold.

Professor Hutchings said: “It is a great honour to be awarded the LSW Menelaus Medal. My work in the field of catalysis has been largely aimed at designing new technologies in collaboration with industry. Recently our work enabled gold to be used a new catalyst to replace a highly polluting mercury catalyst in vinyl chloride manufacture which I hope will really see benefits for society as a whole”.