Organizing Committee

Yunqi Liu

Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences China

Yunqi Liu was graduated from Nanjing University in 1975, received a doctorate from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan in 1991. Presently, he is a Professor at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), an Academician of CAS, and a Member of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). His current research interests include design and synthesis of molecular materials, including p-conjugated small molecules, polymers, and graphene, fabrication of related devices, including field-effect transistors and molecular electronics, and investigation of their electronic properties.

Kevin OBrien

Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC)

Kevin OBrien is the Director of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center and the Illinois State Water Survey. He joined ISTC in December 2013. Previously, Dr. OBrien served as president of Energy Commercialization, LLC, in the San Francisco Bay Area.A technology expert and project manager with more than 20 years of experience, OBrien was selected after an intensive nationwide search. He has managed multi-million-dollar programs related to renewable and sustainable technologies and practices in the U.S. and abroad. His international project experience includes Europe, Middle East, and Asia. Among his professional awards are R&D; Magazine’s R&D; 100 award and a Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Technology Transfer.

Ramani Narayan

Michigan State University US

Dr. Ramani Narayan, Ph.D., is Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science at Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI where he has 90 publications in leading journals to his credit, 18 patents, edited three books and one expert dossier in the area of bio-based polymeric materials. His research area encompasses engineering and design of sustainable, biobased products, biodegradable plastics and polymers, reactive extrusion polymerization and processing, studies in polymer biodegradation and composting. Dr. Narayan has major research programs with industry and serves as consultant for several companies. He is on the Board of Directors at ASTM International - a premier international standards setting organization. Dr. Narayan also chairs the committee on Environmentally Degradable Plastics and Biobased Products and the Terminology committee. He is also the technical expert for the United States on Plastics - specifically for Terminology and Biodegradable plastics. Dr. Narayan has been a Director at Northern Technologies International Corp. since November 17, 2004. Dr. Narayan also chairs the scientific committee of Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), North America. He has testified before U.S. congressional hearings on the biodegradable and biobased plastics issues.

Changchun Wang

Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Changchun Wang has completed his PhD from polymer chemistry and physics in Fudan University, Shanghai, China. He spent one and a half years at Eastern Michigan University as visiting scientist.

Yuning Li

University of Waterloo, Canada

Professor Yuning Li received his PhD degree from Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Japan. He worked at National Research Council Canada (NRC), Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC), and Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) at The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore before he joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Canada, in 2010.

Changyou Gao

Zhejiang University, China

Changyou Gao graduated from Department of Chemistry, Jilin University to get his Bachelor degree (1990), Master degree (1993) and Ph.D of Polymer Chemistry and Physics (1996). From 1996 to 1998, he worked in Department of Polymer Science and Engineering of Zhejiang University as a postdoctor fellowship. He was appointed as a full professor of Materials Science of Zhejiang University in 2001, and a Cheung Kong Scholar of Ministry of Education of China in 2007. He was honored as one of the top 10 distinguished postdoctors of Zhejiang province in 2003, and 151 scholar (first level) of Zhejiang province in 2006. He is a committee member of Chinese Materials Research Society, Biomaterials Division, and Chinese Society of Biomedical Engineering, Biomaterials Division and Tissue Engineering Division. He is now an editor of Science Bulletin of China, Science in China Series B: Chemistry, Journal of Zhejiang University, Tissue Engineering and Reconstruction Surgery, Journal of Nanoscience Letters and Colloids

Said Al-Hallaj

University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

Professor Said Al-Hallaj is co-founded AllCell Technologies LLC in 2001 and serves as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Al-Hallaj possesses 20 years of experience in renewable energy research and development (with a focus on thermal management and electrochemical engineering of lithium-ion batteries). He is an adjunct professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

Vakhtang Barbakadze

Tbilisi State Medical University I.Kutateladze Institute of Pharmacochemistry, Georgia

Vakhtang Barbakadze has his expertise in isolation and structure elucidation of a new series of plant polyethers, which are endowed with pharmacological properties as anti-cancer agents. In 1978 and 1999 he has completed his Ph.D and D.Sci. He is the head of laboratory of plant biopolymers and chemical modification of natural compounds at the Tbilisi State Medical University Institute of Pharmacochemistry. 1996 and 2002 he has been a visiting scientist at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, by University Scholarship and The Netherlands organization for scientific research Scholarship Scientific Program, respectively. He has published more than 100 papers in reputed journals.

Hanna Dodiuk Kenig

Shenkar College of Engineering and Design Israel

Prof. Dodiuk was the president of the Israeli Polymer & Plastics Society during 1998-2000 and was nominated as honorary fellow in 2013.Prof. Dodiuk is author of 130 scientific publications, approximately 20 patents, and delivered over 160 lectures in international conferences. She has edited two books, is a member of the editorial staff of various professional newsletters and associations in her field and is advising to a large number of Israeli and international companies. In 2017, Dodiuk became a member of the Council for Higher Education in Israel.

Ramdhane Dhib

Ryerson University, Canada

Ramdhane Dhib is the professor of Ryerson University. He completed is Phd from Sherbrooke University and he was awarded by NSERC DC Grant Competition in the year 2013. He is the member of the Technical Committee, CSChE was held in 2018 Toronto and served as Conference Chair 9th ICTEA Abu-Dhabi, UAE March 24-26, 2016.

Anjanapura V. Raghu

JAIN Deemed-to-be University, India.

Dr. A. V. Raghu completed his in Polymer Chemistry,Center of Excellence in Polymer Science from Karnatak University. Working as a professor in Department of Basic Science. He is awarded with Jain University Research Award 2017 and ARUNAI International Research Foundation (AIRF) Faculty Award 2017 in Department of Chemistry.

Alexander L. Kalamkarov

Dalhousie University, Canada

Dr. Alexander L. Kalamkarov is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada since 1993, and Director of Smart Materials Centre since 1995. He was awarded PhD degree from the Moscow Lomonosov State University in 1979 and the Doctor of Sciences (Habilitation) from the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1990. His academic career spans over 40 years in Research and University teaching. He has taught in the Universities in the USA, England, France, Australia, Japan, Brazil and visited numerous Universities and Research Institutes around the world. Prof. Kalamkarov is awarded the CANCAM Gold Medal for the “outstanding contribution in the area of Applied Mechanics” in 2011. He is awarded the Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 2002; the Fellow of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) in 2001; and the Fellow of the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) in 2007. Prof. Kalamkarov is a Member of numerous prestigious International Editorial and Advisory boards and the International Conference Organizing Committees in the area of advanced composite materials and smart structures.

Odda Ruiz de Ballesteros

University of Naples Federico II Italy

Odda Ruiz de Ballesteros is Professor of Industrial Chemistry of the University of Naples Federico II. She graduated with honors in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Naples Federico II in 1993 and received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the same University in 1996. In 1997 she won a competition for a scholarship at the University of Naples. abroad and from March 1997 to October 1997 he attended the workshops of the Institut Charles Sadron of Strasbourg (France) under the supervision of dr. Bernard Lotz. During this period he learned the main techniques of optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and electronic diffraction, useful for the study of the structure and morphology of the materials. From 1998 to 2000 he received a two-year scholarship for postdoctoral training activities for the "Polimeri Science and Technology" cultural area at the University of Salerno.

Xu-Ming Xie

Tsinghua University, China

Professor Xu-Ming XIE graduated with B. Eng from Shinshu University, Japan in 1985. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Dept. of Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan in 1987 and 1990, respectively. From 1990 to 1992, he worked as a research scientist at Kawasaki Plastics Laboratory, Showa Denko, Ltd. (Japan). He has worked at Tsinghua University since 1992, and has been a full professor since 1999.

Mohamed El-Newehy

King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Prof. El-Newehy is currently Professor at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt. He was a visiting professor at Donghua University, Shanghai, China and at Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, South Korea. He was a Postdoctoral at Yamagata University, Yonezawa, Japan, from December 1, 2008 to February 28, 2009, and a Postdoctoral (ICS-UNIDO Fellow), BIOLAB, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, from June 1, 2008 to November 30, 2008. Moreover, he was a research scholar at the Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, and at the Department of Chemistry, Colleague of Humanities & Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA, from May 22, 2002 to May 22, 2004, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. In addition, He is a Member of American Chemical Society, Saudi Chemical Society and Egyptian Society of Polymer Science and Technology. He has more than 120 publications with over of 3000 citations (h-index 28). He is a reviewer of scientific journals. He has received Tanta University and King Saud University Research Awards. Also, he has received Distinguished Research Award "7thposition", 2010 (1431-1432 H), King Saud University, Saudi Arabia (31 January 2011) and his name was enrolled in Rector's List for Distinguished Research and Inventors". He received King Saud University Award for Scientific Excellence; Research Quality Award: Science and Engineering 1436 H (2015 G), For Academic Year 1435/1436 H (2014/2015 G) King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, 1/8/1436 H (19/5/2015 G).

Bin-Huei Chen

Fu Jen University Taiwan

Bing-Huei Chen,food scientist, received his Ph.D. degree in Food Science & Technology, Texas A & M University, USA in 1988. His postgraduate career includes working at Fu Jen University, Taipei, Taiwan as Associate Professor from 1988–1994, Professor from 1994–2000, Distinguished Chair Professor from 2004–present, Chair of Department of Nutrition and Food Science from 1994-2000, Director of Graduate Institute of Medicine from 2006–2009, and Dean of College of Human Ecology from 2012–2015. He specializes in Lipid Chemistry, Pigment Chemistry, Instrumental Analysis, Food Toxicology, Functional Food Development and Biological Activity Determination as well as Nanotechnology. Until now he has published 182 research articles in internationally renowned journals and authored 11 book chapters in edited books published by International Publishers. He has received numerous awards including the prestigious outstanding research award by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan. He was honored with Distinguished Professor by Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China in 2015. Most importantly, Prof. Chen has developed a nano-product “Lycopene Chylomicron”, which has completed a phase III clinical trial in both Taiwan and USA in 2017 and demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of patients with prostatauxe syndrome. He also serves as Editor-in-Chief of 2 journals “Recent Patents on Food, Nutrition and Agriculture” and “International Journal of Current Toxins Research” and Associate Editor of 2 journals “Journal of Food & Drug Analysis” and “Asian Science Bulletin”. In addition, he serves on the editorial board of 96 journals.

Majid Ghassemi

K. N. Toosi University of Technology Tehran, Iran

Majid Ghassemi is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering Department at the K. N. Toosi University of Technology; one of the most prestige’s technical university in Tehran, Iran. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research at the University of Birmingham. He teaches graduate and under graduate courses and conduct research in the area of heat transfer and its application in bio and micro sensors, drug delivery, fuel cells, microchannels and alternative energy. He has over 20 years of academic and industrial experience and served as the President of the K. N. Toosi University of Technology from 2010 through 2013. Professor Ghassemi has also served in several public and private boards and panels and supervised several undergraduate, masters and PhD students, published several books and many journal and conference papers. He is currently an Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Prevention and Treatment and Managing Editor of the American Journal of Mechanical Engineering (AJME) as well as Editorial Board member for many international journals. He also serves as member in several international conferences. Professor Ghassemi received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University in 1993.

Guoqian Chen

Peking University China

Guoqian Chen is a Professor, Laboratory of Systems Ecology and Sustainability Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China completed his education from Huazhong Institute of Technology, Wuhan, China. He is a recipient of the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers Award and among the Thomson Reuters China Citation Laureates. He is an editorial board for dozens of international journals. He has more than 100 international publications in reputed prestigious journals.