Plenary Speakers
Blake A Simmons
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
USA
Will update soon.
Richard Spontak
North Carolina State University
USA
Richard J. Spontak was a research scientist with Procter & Gamble before he joined the NCSU faculty in 1992. Spontak has over 104 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and his work has been featured on the cover of Microsc. Res. Tech. and Langmuir. Spontak conducts studies to improve the current understanding of microstructural polymer systems, which are of scientific interest as self-assembling polymers and commercial value as adhesives, (bio)compatibilizing agents, nanotemplates, and membranes. His group’s efforts are at the cutting edge of block copolymer research: e.g., they have obtained the first 3D images of the bicontinuous gyroid (Ia3d) and sponge (L3) morphologies. They characterize polymers with electronspectroscopic microscopy, and dispersions/gels with freeze-fracture replication and cryo-TEM techniques. Use of these tools has expedited the study of block copolymers and their blends/gels, and has helped to elucidate novel polymer gelation mechanisms, PDLC composition/morphology relationships, and interpolymer complexation. Other areas of interest include polymer alloying through mechanical attrition, transmission electron microtemography, and modification of polymer solutions via salting-in.
Dimitris Argyropoulos
North Carolina State University
USA
Dr. Dimitris S. Argyropoulos is a Professor and Finland Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. The work of his group focuses on the organic chemistry of wood components and the development of new chemistry for transforming the carbon present in our trees toward producing valuable chemicals, materials and energy. Dr. Argyropoulos received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from McGill University in Montreal, Canada where he also served as a PAPRICAN professor with the Chemistry department. His teaching is primarily related to wood chemistry, biomaterial characterization, carbohydrate, lignin and polymer chemistry. Dr. Argyropoulos is a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Chemistry. In addition to being a member to a number of professional societies (ACS, TAPPI, PAPTAC), Dr. Argyropoulos serves the editorial boards of five scientific journals as well the board of the International Lignin Institute and a number of International Scientific committees. He has also served as the Division Chair, and Secretary of the Cellulose and Renewable Materials of the American Chemical Society. Recent research in his group emerges from a significant finding that wood can be dissolved in Ionic Liquids, allowing for the creation of a variety of novel processing platforms for producing new materials, chemicals and energy. In addition, his group develops new methods based on organic chemistry, NMR spectroscopy and catalysis to modulate, direct and understand the transformations of wood biopolymers during industrial transformations such pulping, bleaching and bio-processing.
Shizhang Qiao
The University of Adelaide
Australia
Dr Qiao joined the School of Chemical Engineering of the University of Adelaide (UoA) in March 2012 as a professor (the inaugural Chair of Nanotechnology). He is the founding Director of Centre for Materials in Energy and Catalysis (CMEC). His research expertise is in nonmaterials for new energy technologies (electro catalysis, photo catalysis, batteries, and fuel cell). He has co-authored more than 435 papers in refereed journals, including Nature, Nature Energy, Nature Chemistry, Nature Materials, Nature Catalysis, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Angew Chem Int Ed, J. Am. Chem. Soc, Advanced Materials (over 58,200 citations, h-index: 125, Web of Sci). He has filed four patents on novel nonmaterial and attracted more than 13 million dollars in research grants from industrial partners and Australian Research Council (ARC). In recognition of his achievements in research, he was honored with inaugural UoA Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research (2019), an Australian Star of Research (Lifetime Achievers Leaderboard, by "The Australian" 2019), prestigious ARC Australian Laureate Fellow (2017), ExxonMobil Award (2016), ARC Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award (DORA, 2013), Emerging Researcher Award (2013, ENFL Division of the American Chemical Society) and UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award (2008). He has also been awarded an ARC ARF Fellowship, an ARC APD Fellowship and an inaugural UQ Mid-Career Research Fellowship. Dr Qiao is currently an Honorary Professor at The University of Queensland. He is an Associate Editor of Journal of Materials Chemistry A, a Fellow of Institution of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE), Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI). Dr Qiao is a Thomson Reuters/Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher in two categories of Chemistry and Materials Science. ResearcherID: A-6057-2010 ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4568-8422 Group page: https://chemeng.adelaide.edu.au/qiao/
Christo Boyadjiev
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Bulgaria
Education and degrees: 1. Education (1954 – 1960) - Higher Institute of Chemical Technology (Sofia, Bulgaria); 2. PhD (1968) – USSR, Moscow Institute of Chemical Mechanical Engineering; 3. Doctor of Technical Sciences (1978), Higher Institute of Chemical Technology (Sofia, Bulgaria). Specializations: 1963, USSR, Moscow, Supervisor-Prof. V.G. Levich, 4 months; 1968, USSR, Novosibirsk, Supervisor-Prof. M.G. Slinko, 4 month. Awards: Bulgarian Order of Cyril and Methodius (first class); Russian Federation Order of Mihailo Lomonosow (National Committee for Public Prizes). International activity: Editor-in-Chief of the “Transactions of Academenergo” (Scientific journal of the Russian Academy of Science); Chairman of the Scientific Council of the International Scientific Centre for Power and Chemical Engineering Problems (http://www.int-sci-center.bas.bg). Scientific publications: Monographies 9 (www.iche.bas.bg/Books_BG.htm). Scientific papers – 220: http://www.iche.bas.bg/WWW_IChE_EN/LABORATORY _IChE/Process_Systems_Engineering_Laboratory/ STAFF_Laboratory/CV_Christo_Boyadjiev/List%20of%20publications.pdf PUBLICATIONS SCINTIFIC PAPERS – 225: 86% published in international journals (135 published in impact factor journals), 64 - independent publications, 15 translated in the International Chemical Engineering (English translations of the best in the chemical engineering). MONOGRAPHIES – 9: www.iche.bas.bg/Books_BG.htm BOOK REALISATIONS (until 2018): 1. Chr. Boyadjiev, “Theoretical Chemical Engineering. Modeling and simulation”, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2010, 594 pp. - 13700 chapter downloads. 2. Chr. Boyadjiev, M. Doichinova, B. Boyadjiev, P. Popova-Krumova, “Modeling of Column Apparatus Processes”, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2016, 313 pp. - 4032 chapter downloads. 3. Chr. Boyadjiev, M. Doichinova, B. Boyadjiev, P. Popova-Krumova, “Modeling of Column Apparatus Processes” (Second edition), Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2018, 456 pp. - 1557 chapter downloads. CITATIONS (until 2019): Book – 219; Papers – 429.
Keynote Speakers
Lifeng Liu
International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory
Portugal
Lifeng Liu (Researcher ID: A-2522-2012, Orcid ID: 0000-0003-2732-7399) received his Bachelor degree in Applied Physics from Beijing Jiaotong University (2001), and both his Master (2004) and PhD (2007) degrees in Condensed Matter Physics from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He joined Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in 2007, first working as a postdoctoral researcher and then as a staff scientist, under the supervision of the late Prof. Ulrich Goesele. He started his independent research career in 2008 and became a Group Leader in 2009. In 2011, he moved to the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) and set up a research group there, where his research now focuses on the development of new materials for use in electrochemical energy conversion and storage devLifeng Liu (Researcher ID: A-2522-2012, Orcid ID: 0000-0003-2732-7399) received his Bachelor degree in Applied Physics from Beijing Jiaotong University (2001), and both his Master (2004) and PhD (2007) degrees in Condensed Matter Physics from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He joined Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in 2007, first working as a postdoctoral researcher and then as a staff scientist, under the supervision of the late Prof. Ulrich Goesele. He started his independent research career in 2008 and became a Group Leader in 2009. In 2011, he moved to the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) and set up a research group there, where his research now focuses on the development of new materials for use in electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices including (photo)electrochemical water splitting, rechargeable batteries and supercapacitorsices including (photo)electrochemical water splitting, rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors
Sivakumar Manickam
University of Nottingham Malaysia
Malaysia
Professor Sivakumar Manickam is a Chemical Engineer specializing Process Engineering of Nanomaterials especially Nanopharmaceuticals. He is working in the area of Ultrasound and Hydrodynamic Cavitation since 1997. He has graduated from UDCT, Mumbai, India. Presently he is working with University of Nottingham, Malaysia campus and his research group concentrates on the process development of cavitation based reactors towards technologically important nanomaterials. He is also heading the Manufacturing and Industrial Processes Research Division and is the Coordinator of the Centre for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (CENTAM). He was also the recipient of the prestigious JSPS fellowship from the Goernment of Japan. He has published ~150 peer reviewed journal and conference papers. He is the Fellow of Higher Education Academy (UK) and member of Institute of Nanotechnology (IoN).
Minhua Shao
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hong Kong
Minhua Shao is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at HKUST. He is also the Director of the HKUST Collaborative Innovation Center, Associate Director of the HKUST Energy Institute, and Director of the Sustainable Energy Engineering Program. He earned BS and MS degrees in chemistry from Xiamen University, and a PhD degree in materials science and engineering from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 2006. Dr. Shao joined UTC Power in 2007 to lead the development of advanced catalysts fuel cells. He was promoted to UTC Technical Fellow in 2012. In 2013, he joined Ford Motor Company to conduct research on lithium-ion batteries. He then joined HKUST in 2014. He is Vice Chair of Division 5 (Electrochemical Process Engineering and Technology) of the International Society of Electrochemistry (2019- ), and Treasurer of the Energy Technology Division of The Electrochemical Society (2019- ). He has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles, 1 edited book and filed over 30 international patent applications (16 issued). He has also received a number of awards, including the Teaching Excellence Appreciation Award of School of Engineering at HKUST (2017), Supramaniam Srinivasan Young Investigator Award from the ECS Energy Technology Division (2014). He is an Associate Editor of Journal of the Electrochemical Society and one of the founding members of Young Academy of Science of Hong Kong.
Invited Speakers
Alina Adriana Minea
Technical University Gheorghe Asachi Iasi
Romania
Alina Adriana Minea is full professor at Technical University Gheorghe Asachi from Iasi, Romania and Director of Council for Doctoral Studies (similar to Vice Rector) and has published over 140 articles (60 of which are in international peer-reviewed journals) and authored or co-authored 17 books (several are published in Taylor and Francis or Elsevier), most of them in the field of heat transfer. Her research interests include heat transfer in industrial equipment, based on modifying heat chamber geometry and improving energy consumption, as well as nanofluids as heat transfer enhancement technique. She currently serves as a member of the regional editorial board of journal Thermal Sciences, as Associate Editor for Journal of |Thermal Science (Springer) International Journal of Thermophysics (Springer) and Alexandria Journal (Elsevier), as Editor for Journal of thermal science and engineering progress (Elsevier), as Editor-in Chief for IREHEAT journal and as guest editor in chief for many special issues hosted by Springer and MDPI – Journal of Nanomaterials. In 2013 and 2016 she received the prize for Best Reviewer from Applied Energy, Elsevier and in 2016 and 2019 the Best Researcher from Technical University Gh. Asachi from Iasi. Her major current projects are Nanouptake and NanoCONVEX COST actions and "NanoRound". Her current work is based on numerical and experimental studies in developing new heat transfer fluids based on water, EG, ionic liquids, and PEG.
Navinchandra G Shimpi
University of Mumbai
India
Prof.(Dr.) Navinchandra Gopal Shimpi is working as a Professor in the Department of Chemistry, University of Mumbai, Mumbai since 2014. Prof. Shimpi has published more than 100 papers in journal of repute with high impact factor with six patents in his credit. He has delivered more the 80 talks as invited speaker/Resource Person. He has in his credit two important books published by Elsevier and other publisher.
Sangbum Park
Michigan State University
USA
Sangbum received B.S. in Animal Biotechnology and Ph.D. in Stem Cell Biology at the Seoul National University in South Korea. He completed his postdoctoral training with Dr. Valentina Greco in the Department of Genetics at Yale University. Sangbum is currently an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University (2020 - ). Dr. Park focuses on understanding the principles of regeneration in the wound context that rebuild tissue de novo after injury. Duringhis postdoctoral training, Dr. Park established a live cell imaging approach to study tissue repair in vivo and applied this new technology to determine how distinct cells of different fates coordinate their behaviors to promote re-epithelialization after injury. His ongoing research is investigating how crosstalk between epithelial cells and co-existing niche components, such as tissue-resident immune cells, contribute to effective homeostasis and wound repair. Dr. Park has been the recipient of many fellowships and awards including the 2014 James Hudson Brown – Alexander Brown Coxe Postdoctoral Fellowship, the 2015 State of Connecticut Regenerative Medicine Research Fund (RMRF) seed grant award, the 2017 New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) – Druckenmiller Fellowship and the 2019 International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Merit Award.