Qatar will this month become the first Arab country to host a regional research conference of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society.
The conference, devoted to chemistry and chemical engineering in the MENA region, will be held at the Ritz-Carlton, Doha, from March 10 to 12 and represents only the second ACS conference to be held outside of the US.
Being held under the patronage of Dr. Ibrahim al-Naimi, Undersecretary of Qatar’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the conference is presented by the ACS Qatar Chapter and chaired by Dr. Hassan S Bazzi, Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq) Associate Dean for Research and Advancement and ACS Qatar Chapter chairman.
“This is a major event for Qatar and gives us the opportunity to demonstrate the country’s capabilities in the staging of international meetings to the highest standards expected of prestigious global organizations. It also re-emphasizes Qatar’s leading role in the development of the international chemistry and chemical engineering fields, and our ability and commitment to attracting, retaining and nurturing global talent within the sector,” Dr al-Naimi said.
The conference has attracted a high-profile and influential speaker platform headlined by its plenary speaker Sir Fraser Stoddart, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 2016 and a chemistry professor at Northwestern University in the United States.
More than 30 keynotes, invited and accredited speakers from North America, Europe, the subcontinent, Middle East and Far East will address audiences on the latest advances and challenges impacting the Mena region’s chemical and chemical engineering sectors.
“We strongly believe that this conference will advance the Mena region’s culture of research and development, engineering advances, and educational outreach. Such progress will run parallel to the industrial, economic, and educational development in Qatar,” Bazzi said.
Luis Echegoyen, ACS president, and the Robert A Welch Professor of Chemistry at the University of Texas in El Paso will make the trip from the US as an invited speaker for the highly anticipated conference.
“I look forward to meeting and sharing ideas with the international community of chemists and chemical engineers in Qatar and across the MENA region,” Echegoyen said.
The conference program consists of eight dedicated sessions devoted to a range of issues.
These include Advanced Functional Materials and Nanomaterials; Computational and Theoretical Results; Preparing Students for a STEM Career; Process Safety Engineering; Advanced Chemical Process and Product Design for a Better World; Chemical Engineering Sciences and Fundamentals; Catalysis and Polymers; and a final poster session on general chemistry and chemical engineering topics.
“This will be an outstanding conference that will be a platform to discuss the latest Mena research in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering, to promote the role of the Mena countries in industrial leadership, and to highlight advances in science and engineering education across the Mena communities. Beyond the value of this conference to Mena-based scholars, our meeting will be an opportunity to exchange ideas and for discussions with distinguished scientists and engineers coming from all over the world,” Bazzi said.
The conference has attracted a powerful portfolio of sponsors and partners, including Qatar Foundation, Qatar Fertiliser Company Ltd(Qafco), Qatar Airways, Shell, ConocoPhillips Qatar, Total Qatar, and Qatar University.
Conference registration is available online at: www.acs.qa
