PROFESSOR RACHID YAZAMI
Plenary Speaker
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Professor Rachid Yazami, a native of Fez, Morocco, received his MS in electrochemistry and PhD in graphite intercalation compounds for lithium batteries at France’s Grenoble Institute of Technology, and then began his career at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), also in Grenoble, where he rose to research director. He has been a visiting associate in materials science and chemistry at Caltech, in collaboration with JPL/NASA, for 10 years, and in 2010 joined the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore as a visiting professor in materials science. His current research addresses lithium batteries and “beyond lithium” future battery technologies, including liquid anode alkali metal-air and fluoride-ion batteries together with ultra-fast charging technologies.
He has been a founder of CFX battery, Inc. (former Contour Energy Systems), a primary and rechargeable lithium and fluoride battery start-up in Azusa, California; director of energy storage programs at the Energy Research Institute (ERIAN/NTU); and principal investigator of battery research at the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) Center for Electromobility, jointly managed by NTU and the Technological University of Munich. In 2011 he founded KVI PTE, Ltd., a start-up in Singapore dedicated to battery life and safety enhancement for mobile electronics, large energy storage, and electric vehicle applications.
In 1979–1980 Yazami invented the lithium graphite anode, now used in commercial Li-ion batteries, an over $100 billion/year business. He is listed as inventor on more than 170 patents related to battery technology, including nano-Si- and nano-Ge-based anodes for ultra-fast charge lithium batteries, the lithium-carbon fluoride battery for space and medical applications, and liquid anodes. He has coauthored more than 250 papers on batteries and their materials and systems. He has received scientific awards from NASA, NATO, IBA, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, IEEE and the Charles Stark Draper Prize for engineering, among others.
DR. REZAL KHAIRI AHMAD
Keynote Speaker
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Dr. Rezal Khairi Ahmad is the Chief Executive Officer of NanoMalaysia Bhd. since June 2013. He possesses a PhD. in Nanotechnology, Electronic/Electrical Engineering from London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London and Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Tenaga Nasional University. He is an Adjunct Professor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Recently, Dr. Rezal has been designated as the Vice President of Asia Nano Forum for the term 2022-2024. Under his tenure, Dr. Rezal has successfully crafted the company structure and developed the business model and corporate positioning strategy relative to similar-minded government agencies and relevant industries. His current endeavours include Energy Storage, Renewables, Electric Vehicles, Hydrogen Economy and Biomass innovation.
PROFESSOR YURI GOGOTSI
Keynote Speaker
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Yury Gogotsi is Distinguished University Professor and Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University. He also serves as Director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute. His research group works on discovery, characterization, and processing of 2D carbides and nitrides (MXenes), nanostructured carbons, and other nanomaterials for energy, water and biomedical applications. He is recognized as Highly Cited Researcher in Materials Science and Chemistry, and Citations Laureate in Physics by Thomson-Reuters/Clarivate Analytics. He has received numerous awards for his research, including the MRS Medal, ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials, Gamow Prize, European Carbon Association Award, and S. Somiya Award from IUMRS. He has been elected a Fellow of the World Academy of Ceramics, the European Academy of Sciences, American Association for Advancement of Science, Materials Research Society, American Ceramic Society, the Electrochemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, and the International Society of Electrochemistry. He holds honorary doctorates from Universities in France and Ukraine.
PROFESSOR THIERRY BROUSSE
Keynote Speaker
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Dr. Thierry Brousse is a Full Professor of Materials Science at the University of Nantes. He received his Master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering (1987) and his PhD degree (1991) from University of Caen/Normandy after which he worked as an analytical/radio-analytical engineer in a company before joining the University of Nantes (1994) where he attained Full Professorship in 2005. He is currently a researcher at Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN) where his research interests focus on materials for electrochemical energy storage, with particular emphasis on innovative and/or modified materials for batteries, electrochemical capacitors, hybrid devices and microdevices. He became an ISE member in 2010 and is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Electrochemical Society (since 2012, Batteries and Energy Storage). He has mentored 25 PhD students and with his colleagues he has co-authored 9 book chapters, 170 peer-reviewed journal publications, 9 patents, and 60 invited and keynote lectures at International meetings. He has been the Vice Dean of Innovation for the University of Nantes for 7 years (2013-2020). He also initiated the very popular International Symposium on Enhanced Electrochemical Capacitors (ISEECAP) in 2009 in Nantes which has since taken place every two years in Europe with ISE sponsorship for the meeting as well as an award dedicated to young researchers. Each symposium has resulted in a special issue of Electrochimica Acta.
PROFESSOR VIJAYAMOHANAN K PILLAI
Keynote Speaker
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Prof. Vijayamohanan K Pillai is a leading Electrochemist from India, who after receiving his B.Sc. from Fatima Mata National College Kollam (1980), M.Sc. from the University College, Thiruvananthapuram (1982) and Ph.D from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore(1989), worked in many areas of electrochemistry for about two decades at the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. He has authored over 270 publications and 28 patents related to many innovations in both Electrochemistry and Materials Chemistry, while advising about 25 Ph.D. students in Materials Electrochemistry. His group has developed highly sensitive nanostructured electrocatalysts for Polymer Eelectrolyte Fuel Cells (PEMFC) and many two-dimensional electrocatalysts include graphene and phosphorene as quantum dots.
His research interests include Materials Electrochemistry, functionalization of carbon nanotubes/graphene nanoribbons and hybrid materials using many 2D systems for energy storage applications. His book on “Functional Materials: A Chemist’s Perspective” published by university Press is a good source for teaching many topics in Materials Chemistry. He has received many honors and awards like The MRSI Medal, Bangalore in 1996 and CRSI Bronze Medal in 2004. He is a Member of the Editorial Board of Bulletin of Materials Science from 2005 onwards, Electrocatalysis from 2012 and Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group) from 2015 and is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences since 2008 and the Indian National Science Academy (2018). He has also visited many foreign countries like US, Germany, France, UK, Finland, Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia for giving invited lectures and chairing conferences on many topics
PROFESSOR IBRAHIM DINCER
Keynote Speaker
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Ibrahim Dincer is a full professor of Mechanical Engineering at Ontario Tech. University. Renowned for his pioneering works in the area of sustainable energy technologies he has authored/co-authored many books and book chapters, along with many refereed journal and conference papers. Dr. Dincer has chaired many national and international conferences, symposia, workshops and technical meetings. Dr. Dincer has delivered many keynotes and invited lectures. Dr. Dincer is an active member of various international scientific organizations and societies, and serves as editor-in-chief, associate editor, regional editor, and editorial board member on various prestigious international journals. Dr. Dincer currently serves as President for Hydrogen Technologies Association in Turkey and Chair for Energy Working Group in Turkish Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Dincer is a recipient of several research, teaching and service awards, including the Premier's research excellence award in Ontario, Canada. During the past eight years he has been recognized by Thomson Reuters as one of the Most Influential Scientific Minds in Engineering and one of the most highly cited researchers. During the past 25 years Dr. Dincer’s research and activities have been diverse and primarily focussed on sustainable energy solutions, sustainable communities and cities, district energy systems, green buildings, renewable energy technologies, energy storage technologies, hydrogen energy technologies, and waste to energy technologies. His group has developed various novel technologies for commercialization. He is known for his engineering education related talks as a committed educator.
PROFESSOR DR MICHAEL NAGUIB
Keynote Speaker
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Michael Naguib is an assistant professor in the department of Physics and Engineering Physics at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Prior to joining Tulane in 2018, he was a Eugene Wigner Fellow (2014-2017) and Research Staff (2017-2018) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He received his M.S. and B.S. degrees in Metallurgical Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering in Cairo University, Egypt. After that, he earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University in 2014.
He is an inventor on the first patent on two-dimensional transition metals carbides and carbonitrides, so-called MXenes. He has published more than 55 papers (with more than 6900 citations) in international journals and presented many invited talks at number of international conferences and universities. He has received many awards, such as Kroto Award, Ross Coffin Purdy Award, MRS Gold Graduate Student Award, Graduate Excellence in Materials Science (GEMS) Award, and was listed as Drexel University Forty- Under-Forty. His research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of novel ceramics materials for electrochemical energy storage and energy conversion.
