PLENARY SPEAKERS

PROF. NEAL CHUNG TAI-SHUNG
NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (NTUST), TAIWAN

Prof. Neal Tai-Shung Chung is a Jade Mountain Chair professor at Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST). Before joining NTUST, he was a Provost’s Chair Professor at the ChBE dept of National University of Singapore in 2011-2021. His research focuses on polymeric membranes for clean water, clear energy and pharmaceutic separation. He became a Fellow in the Academy of Engineering Singapore in 2012. He received the Underwood Medal from IChemE (Institute of Chemical Engineers, UK) for exceptional research in separations and Singapore President’s Technology Award in 2015. He was ranked as No. 6th in Chemical Engineering worldwide by “the top 2% scientists in the world” published by Stanford University in both 2022 and 2023.

PROFESSOR DR. TAKESHI MATSUURA
UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA, CANADA

Professor Matsuura was born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1936. he received his b.sc. (1961) and m.sc. (1963) degrees from the department of applied chemistry at the faculty of engineering, university of tokyo. he went to germany to pursue his doctoral studies at the Institute of Chemical Technology of the Technical University of Berlin and received doktor-ingenieur in 1965.

After working at the Department of Synthetic Chemistry of University of Tokyo as a staff assistant and at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of California as a postdoctoral research associate, he joined the national research council of canada in 1969. He came to the University of Ottawa in 1992 as a professor and the Chairholder Of British (Consumers) Gas/ Nserc Industrial Research Chair. Currently, he is professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Director of the Industrial Membrane Research Institute (IMRI).

PROF. SANG YONG NAM
GYEONGSANG NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, SOUTH KOREA

Prof. Sang Yong Nam is a leading expert in membrane technology, advanced materials, and separation processes. His research focuses on the development of high-performance membranes for water purification, gas separation, and biomedical applications, with an emphasis on sustainable and energy-efficient solutions. He has made significant contributions to polymeric membranes, nanocomposite materials, and surface modifications to enhance membrane performance and durability. As a faculty member at Gyeongsang National University, South Korea, Prof. Nam continues to drive innovation in membrane science, mentor future researchers, and collaborate on global projects aimed at addressing critical challenges in water treatment, energy, and environmental sustainability.

PROF. MOHAMED KHAYET
UNIVERSITY COMPLUTENSE OF MADRID, SPAIN

Prof. Mohamed Khayet is director of the University Complutense of Madrid (UCM) Research Group “Membranes and Renewable Energies (MER)”, Full Professor (Applied Physics Area) at the Faculty of Physical Sciences (UCM) (Department of Structure of Matter, Thermal Physics and Electronics). He got his Ph.D. (1997) in Physics from the UCM. Since then, he realized various research stays in various international institutions (Industrial Membrane Research Institute in Ottawa, Canada; Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology in Warsaw, Poland; Centre for Clean Water Technologies at the University of Nottingham in UK; Singapore Membrane Technology Centre, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Yale University in New Haven, USA; University of California Berkeley in USA, etc.). Among other grants, he got the Fulbright Grant (2019, Yale University, USA).

He is an expert in the field of membrane science, nanotechnology, renewable energies and water treatment. He has coordinated various national and international projects funded by different institutions (European Union, Middle East Desalination Research Centre, Spanish Ministries; Companies such as Abengoa, etc.) and participated in other projects in collaboration with different national and international institutions (over 40). He published over 200 papers in international journals, filed various Patents and published 5 books in the field of membrane science and technology. He also published various chapters in books. Among other recognitions, he received the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) in 2012. He edited various special issues in international journals such as Desalination, J. Membrane Science and Research, Polymers and Membranes. He was Editor of the international Journal “Desalination” from January 2018 until December 2022. Previously he served as associated editor of “Desalination” during the year 2017, “Water and Desalination Research Journal” and “Journal of Applied Water Science”. Currently, he is Associate Editor of Frontiers in Membrane Science and Technology (Membrane Formation and Structure), Section Editor-in-Chief of Separations (Materials in Separation Science) and member of the Editorial Board of various other journals such as “Journal of Applied Membrane Science & Technology”, “Membrane Water Treatment”, “Membranes”, “Polymers”, “Applied Sciences”, “Journal of Materials Science and Nanotechnology”, “Journal of Membrane Science and Research”, “Nano Research & Applications”, “Nanotechnology in Science and Engineering”. “Journal of Nanotechnology and Smart Materials”, “Applied Water Science”, etc. He presented more than 100 oral communications and 70 posters in national and international congresses/workshops and invited presentations in international universities and research centres. He supervised various PhD. Thesis some of them received the UCM extraordinary doctorate award. He also supervised numerous research studies of visiting professors, pre-doctoral and post-doctoral researchers as well as academic studies (final master´s thesis).