Imperial spin-out acquired by Siemens Digital Industries

Process Systems Enterprise (PSE) will be integrated into the Process Automation Business Unit of Siemens Digital Industries.

The purchase of PSE was completed this week after being announced in September. The integration of both companies’ portfolio for the process industry will create a leader in digital design and intelligent digital operations.

PSE is the world’s leading supplier of Advanced Process Modelling Technology to process industries. Their gPROMS platform technology is a next-generation tool which can be used to model the entire digital process lifecycle, from Research and Development to Engineering Design, Operations, and Manufacturing.

Our combined portfolio will build on Siemens’ already strong position in digitalization to deliver unprecedented benefits to customers. Professor Costas Pantelides Managing Director, PSE

The technology was first created in 1989 by five academics in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. Professors Costas Pantelides, Nilay Shah, John Perkins, Stratos Pistikopoulos and Sandro Macchietto developed the technology using research they conducted in the Centre for Process Systems Engineering (CPSE).

Early testing of the software was achieved through CPSE consortium members and has received input from members of the Chemical Engineering throughout its 22-year history.

The company was founded in 1997 to commercialise the software, at a time when the creation of spin-out companies was fairly new at Imperial, and indeed in the department.

Since then PSE has grown to 170 employees, all of whom will be retained during the merger. The company will become part of the Process Automation Business Unit of Siemens Digital Industries. It will retain the PSE brand and the current managing team, including Managing Director Professor Costas Pantelides, who is also a current member of the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Professor Pantelides said: "We are delighted to become part of the Siemens organization. Our technology and know-how are highly complementary to Siemens’ products, and our combined portfolio will build on Siemens’ already strong position in digitalization to deliver unprecedented benefits to customers.”

Professor Nilay Shah, co-founder and current Head of Chemical Engineering, added: “PSE and its subsequent acquisition by Siemens is a fantastic example of turning theory into practice and aligns perfectly with our renewed emphasis on the translation of research.”

Read the full press release on the Process Systems Enterprise website.