Conference Themes

Materials for AGRICULTURE

Topics will include:
• Dispersed systems and technologies for production, stabilization and utilization of complex dispersed systems in foods.
• Food component interactions, chemical, physical and thermodynamic properties.
• Physicochemical characterization of food materials and innovative use of material characteristics in food design, processing and nutrient delivery.
• Food rheology and physicochemical characterization for human digestion.
• Engineering properties of foods for food processing and materials science applications.
• Analytical tools for understanding foods in processing, storage and digestion.
• Food materials design and engineering for nutrient delivery.
• The physical biochemistry of the structure and function of foods and feeds (including ingredients and added processing aids).
• Applications of biotechnology, genetic modification and molecular biology, bioinformatics and ‘omics’ technology to plants, animals and microorganisms as they relate to, food production and processing, and fermentation technology.
• The study of microbiological treatments to food processing.
• New technology development in the engineering aspects with a focus on innovation for energy saving and lessening the carbon footprint.
• Affordable packaging technologies for ensuring safety of processed foods in the current trend of transportation hazards, climate changes and global movement of Food.
• Comparisons of sensory testing methods and data analysis techniques.
• Application of innovative sensory methods to processed foods and food commodities of widespread or international commercial importance.
• Application of new technology and impact on yields, quality and sustainability.
• New and improved processes that create or enhance value-added agricultural products.
• Improved water management practices
• Assessment of the impacts of management of agricultural production systems or individual management practices on:
o Emissions to air (e.g. nitrous oxide, ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide)
o Emissions to water (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus, pathogens)
o Soil health and quality (e.g. heavy metals)
• Development of mitigation practices to control any of the above.
• Assessment and modification of the footprint of production systems, e.g. water footprint, carbon footprint, life cycle assessment.
• Interactions of improved management practices for environmental protection and yield, quality, profitability of production systems.
• Environmental impacts of alternative farming systems on emissions, including organic farming.

WATER & ENVIRONMENT MONITORING

Topics include:
• Sustainable water treatment.
• Monitoring of inorganic/organic emerging contaminants in water
• In situ water quality monitoring using green materials
• Environmental engineering and sustainable development
• Waste water treatment, resource recovery and water reuse.
• Community-based water treatment.
• Membrane technologies for water and wastewater treatment (excluding desalination).
• Biological wastewater treatment processes and biofilm reactors.
• Nanotechnology-based water treatment.
• Industrial effluent treatment and resource recovery/recycle.
• Advanced oxidation processes.
• Electro-based water treatment.
• Coagulation, precipitation and flocculation processes.
• Fixed-bed adsorption processes.
• Renewable energy powered water processing.
• Development and application of novel materials for water processing.
• new and advanced materials for efficient electrochemical and photoelectrochemical splitting of water
• non-noble metal based electrocatalytic materials for efficient splitting of water in solar cell driven all solar monolithic, semi-monolithic or regular electrolyzers.

Materials for ENERGY

Topics will include:
• Emerging Dielectric Materials—Applications in Energy Transmission, Storage and Conversion
• Silicon for Photovoltaics
• Perovskites and hybrids for Photovoltaics
• Overcoming the Challenges with Metal Anodes for High-Energy Batteries
• Beyond Lithium-Ion Batteries—Materials, Architectures and Techniques
• Advancement of Lithium-Based High-Energy Density Batteries at Multiple Scales, Factoring in Safety
• Innovative Materials and Cell Design, Processing and Manufacturing Strategies for Solid-State Batteries
• Novel nanocapacitors and organic batteries
• Efficient H2 storage
• Energy-saving lighting (LED) and the reduction of power loss and joule heating
• Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management
• Developing in Situ and Operando Methodology for Observation of Energy Conversion, Storage and Transport Processes in Materials and Devices.

Materials for MINING AND MANUFACTURING

Topics will include:
• Novel processing methods such as additive manufacturing, friction welding, severe plastic deformation, phase transformations.
• Advanced materials including metals, alloys, intermetallics, composites, ceramics, polymers, biomaterials and bioinspired materials
• Advanced characterization, analysis, and modelling of material behaviour
• Carbon Based Materials
• Casting
• Coating
• Composite Materials
• Corrosion
• Materials Processing and Handling
• Metal Processing
• Metallurgical Fundamentals and Techniques
• Mineral Processing
• Nanotechnology, Mining, Metallurgical and Material Engineering
• Solidification
• Surface Phenomena

BIOMATERIALS & MATERIALS FOR HEALTH

Topics will include:
• Bioinspired Materials
• Hydrogel Technology for Humans and Machines
• Materials and Mechanics Challenges in Haptics for Human–Machine Interfaces
• Degradable and Self-Healing Electronic Materials for Biological Interfaces
• Brain-Inspired Information Processing—From Novel Material Concepts for Neuromorphic Computing to Sensing, Manipulation and Local Processing of Biological Signals
• Biofabrication for Emulating Biological Tissues
• Biomaterials for Studying and Controlling the Immune System
• Regenerative Engineering and Synthetic Biology
• Bioelectronic Materials for Neural Interfaces— Stimulation, Sensing, Power and Packaging
• Advanced Neural Interfacing Materials, Devices and Microsystems
• Flexible, Wearable bioelectronics and Textiles
• Biofilms and Nanobiomaterials
• Biologically inspired triggers to design polymeric carriers, focusing on applications in the field of therapeutic delivery

NANOMATERIALS, QUANTUM MATERIALS, PHOTONICS MATERIALS & NANOTECHNOLOGIES

Topics will include:
• Nanophotonics—Emerging Hybrid Platforms, Materials and Functions.
• Advanced Linear/Nonlinear, Tunable and Quantum Materials for Metasurfaces, Metamaterials and Plasmonics,
• Graphene and Related Nanostructures, 2D Nanomaterials,
• Telecommunication Devices,
• Luminescent Nanoparticles.
• Material Systems for Manipulating and Controlling Magnetic Skyrmions
• Emerging Materials for Quantum Information Technologies.
• Spin Dynamics in Materials for Quantum Sensing, Optoelectronics and Spintronics.

COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS SCIENCES

Topics will include:
• obtaining new or enhanced insights into material behaviour, properties and phenomena,
• predicting structure-property relationships for new materials in conjunction with data informatics,
• novel capabilities of computational tools, technical software and shareware, or cyberinfrastructures.

EDUCATION AND NETWORKING IN MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Topics include:
• Education, curriculum development, web-based and distance learning
• International research and teaching collaborations, schools and networks
• Innovation and entrepreneurship collaboration and networks