Queen Mary’s Chemical Engineering Society attended at the annual Frank Morton 2026 event for the first time on Monday 16th February.

The event saw 20 student ChemEng societies from universities across the UK and Ireland battle it out across twelve sports. Held at University of Nottingham, organisers said that this was the biggest Frank Morton attendance since before Covid, with around 850 students in attendance.

Society president, third year student Ida Mathilda Lenz Gorner said " Everyone had a really great time! We did quite well in our games and won the majority of the matches we played."

The group from Queen Mary consisted of eight students – a smaller group than representing other universities and did exceptionally well considering. They plan to return next year with more students.

The Frank Morton Sports Day was first held in 1961 – organised by Professor of Chemical Engineering Frank Morton who wanted to use his love of sport to bring together students from the two universities that he taught at – Birmingham and Manchester. It continues to be held every year in his memory and has since grown to include all Chemical Engineering departments in the UK, held at a different university each time – it was even once held in Singapore.

One of the other students attending said “going to Frank Morton was an incredible experience that really bridged relationships with industry professionals and other universities across the UK. It was the perfect opportunity to network, make new friends and see old ones. It was great to connect with students from other universities, share experiences and win some games! We took part in badminton, basketball, laser tag and table tennis, so quite a fun mix of sports! We won seven out of the eleven games we participated in. It was just an overall amazing time to get to play some sports, represent our university and meet lots of people. Also seeing everyone's competition to have the worst chemical engineering pun on their shirt had me in stiches the whole day!

And another said “Between the games, the laughs, and the connections, the whole day was so much fun. It was the perfect blend of sport, community, and chemical engineering fun! I really hope Queen Mary continues to participate in following years so that more students can experience Frank Morton!"