Speakers

Lidietta Giorno served as The Director of the Institute from May 2009 till February 2019. She is an expert in membrane science and membrane bioengineering, focusing on biohybrid, bioinspired, nanostructured membranes, biocatalytic membranes and membrane reactors, membrane emulsification, downstream (bio)processing, integrated membrane processes, water treatment, and membrane biorefinery. She was awarded The International Awards "Guido Dorso" for Research in 2011 and the Sapio Red Carpet Award in 2016. She has served on the European Membrane Society Council as the President of the EMS Council and has been Honorary Member of the EMS since 2014 and the editor of the Membrane News - the EMS Newsletter since 2002. Lidietta Giorno is co-author of over 300 peer-reviewed papers, various books, and the Encyclopedia on Membranes (Springer). She is Editor of the Journal of Membrane Science since January 2020.

Abaynesh Y. Gebreyohannes is a Senior Membrane Scientist at Osmoses, working on the development and scale-up of membranes and modules. She obtained her PhD at the University of Calabria, Italy, KU Leuven, Belgium and University of Paul Sabatier, Toulouse III, France, (Erasmus Mundus Doctorate in Membrane Engineering - EUDIME). She uniquely combines fundamental research in membrane science to process engineering, including large-scale membrane fabrication, their characterization, industrial module preparation, process integration and performance evaluation for broad scope liquid and gas separation. She has more than 35 papers, several book chapters and 1 patent. She is recipient of the prestigious Excellence in Membrane Engineering award by EFCE, Best Exploitation of Research-Technology & Knowledge Transfer by KU Leuven, EMJD by EU, FWO Research Grant etc. She is Executive committee for AMSIC and Chair for AMSIC4 and active member of EMS and WA-MS. Outside the laboratory, Abaynesh finds joy in spending quality time with her children, showcasing her culinary skills in the kitchen, conquering mountains, and contributing to community development through volunteering. She is particularly passionate about building wet-labs and providing hands-on training initiatives in various parts of Africa, making a positive impact beyond the realms of her scientific endeavors.

Ivo Vankelecom studied Bioscience Engineering at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium, where he graduated in 1990. In 1994, he obtained his PhD in Applied Biological Sciences from the Department of Interphase Chemistry on "Inorganic Porous Fillers in Organic Polymer Membranes". He subsequently worked at KU Leuven as postdoc on membrane catalysis. During this period, he spent 6 months at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beersheva, Israel) in 1999 and at Imperial College (London, England) in 2001. He is specialized in membrane development for solvent filtrations, RO and NF, gas separations, pervaporation, membrane bioreactors, flow batteries among others. He published more than 399 research articles, ranked among the worldwide top-100 most influential researchers in the field of chemical engineering. His main projects are: Membrane preparation and characterization, Flow battery, Organic Solvent Nanofiltration for Catalyst Recovery, Upscaling Stable Supports, Development of conjugated polymers for gas separation membranes, Solvent resistant polymeric membranes, Polyelectrolyte multilayer membranes, Pervaporation membranes and CO2 recovery from flue gas and biogas.

Suzana Nunes is the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs at KAUST, where she is a Professor of Chemical and Environmental Science and Engineering. She has a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Campinas, Brazil, was a Humboldt postdoc Fellow in polymer physical chemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg University, visiting scientist at the Max-Planck for Polymer Science in Mainz (Germany) and Tokyo Institute of Technology and led research on membranes for renewable energy at Helmholtz Association in Germany. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, and of the Sao Paulo Academy of Science, Brazil. She is the laureate of the 2023 L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science International Award for Africa and the Arab States recognized for her achievements in chemistry. She is an Associate Editor of ACS Applied Polymer Materials and a member of the Journal of Membrane Science board. Her lab is dedicated to the development and characterization of new polymeric materials, their translation into membranes for liquid, gas, and vapor separations. She targets sustainable separations that would enable less energy-intensive processes in the chemical, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical industries.

Sara Chergaoui is a researcher in membrane science and engineering. Upon the completion of her Bachelor's at Al Akhawayn University in Morocco, she joined the Erasmus Mundus Master in Membrane Engineering in Autumn 2018. A program that allowed her to gain fundamentals on membranes and research, and to learn about different cultures. Each semester took place in a different country around Europe: France, Czech Republic, Portugal and Belgium. Enjoying academia, research and traveling, Sara carried on with doctoral studies as of October 2020 where she investigated the role of membrane contactors in controlling antisolvent crystallization at UCLouvain in Belgium under the supervision of prof. Patricia Luis and prof. Damien P. Debecker. During her doctoral studies, Sara got to conduct research as well in CNR-ITM in Italy with Dr. Elena Tocci, at the university Duisburg-Essen with prof. Mathias Ulbricht in Germany, and at MIT with prof. Allan Myerson in the USA.

Hakim is an experienced professional in the water industry with a Ph.D. in membranes. With over eight years at Dow Chemical Company, he rose to become a Senior Technical Representative, overseeing operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He is also launching an entrepreneurial venture called Aquadviser and hosts the "Smart Water Solutions" podcast, engaging with water industry and academic experts.

Prof Soraya Malinga is currently an Associate Professor and co-Director for the Joint Research Center for Water, Environmental Science and Technology. Her research interest involves finding sustainable solutions by using membrane technology to solve problems relating to water quality. This approach involves applying the principles of nanoscience and nanotechnology to develop materials using membrane technology for drinking and wastewater treatment. She has graduated 25 postgraduate students at PhD, MSc, Honours and B-Tech level. She is currently supervising and co-supervising 12 student at PhD and MSc level. She has received recognition for outstanding contribution to building South Africa’s scientific and research knowledge base under the distinguished young women scientist awards issued by the South African Women in Science Awards in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology (2018) and as a finalist at the NSTF awards (2023). Prof Malinga makes herself visible through publications, attending both national and international conferences and serving on several committees either as a reviewer for grants; publications or conference attendance, International collaborations (France, Tunisia, Mali and India), Industrial partnerships (ESKOM) and scientific boards (AMSIC).

Dr Abdoulaye Doucouré holds a PhD in Materials Chemistry from the University of Montpellier (France) and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Chemical Engineering department of the University of Minnesota (USA). He joined ITA International (Virginia, USA) as Senior Research Scientist in 2023, a private company specialized in delivering security, data analytics and environmental testing services with a global outreach. His work focuses on developing nano-enabled tools for addressing health risk exposures associated with engineered materials and micropollutants. He has previously supported the R&D department of Hollingsworth & Vose (HV) for 11 years, and the R&D department of Pall Corporation (New York) for 11 years. Abdoulaye’s technical expertise encompasses nonwoven media fabrication processes, lamination/thin film deposition, irradiating treatment of polymeric membranes, and several testing protocols applied to air filtration and solid-liquid separation. He is the inventor of 19 internationally patented technologies supporting trademarked filtration products, has written around 50 technical articles. He is a guest editor for Frontiers in Membrane Science and Technology and was a committee member of the Filtration group for the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics industry between 2012 and 2019 – i.e., INDA, USA. Abdoulaye is an Associate Member of Donyatek, located in Bamako, a company which he co-founded in 2018, and that is devoted to establishing clean water capabilities for cities, factories, and communities in Mali. He is the current Executive Member and Director for Academia-industry Relations and Professional Development of the African Membrane Society (AMSIC), a non-profit organization, which he co-founded in 2014, and that seeks to grow resilient membrane filtration and sustainable energy capacities across Africa. DISTINCTIONS & CERTIFICATIONS PAST 2010 •MEET AFRICA/ INCO grant awarded to DONYATEK (www.donyatek.org) – 2022 •Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification from North Carolina State University – 2014 •Hollingsworth & Vose Presidential Award (Technology Department) – 2014

Dr. Ramato Ashu Tufa is currently a researcher at the University of Calabria (Italy), exploring novel membrane methods for the extraction of critical raw materials from seawater. Formerly, he was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Co-fund postdoc fellow at the Technical University of Denmark (Denmark), and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual postdoc fellow at the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (Czech Republic). He received his Erasmus Mundus joint PhD degree from the University of Calabria (Italy), the University of Twente (The Netherlands) and the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (Czech Republic) in 2016, within the program “Erasmus Mundus doctorate in Membrane Engineering”. His main research interests lie in the development of membrane material and processes for clean water and energy, including Membrane distillation/Crystallization, (Reverse) Electrodialysis and water/CO2 electrolysis.

Rita’s current research is focused on the treatment of groundwater. Specifically, the removal of iron, manganese, fluoride, and nitrate from groundwater using novel nanofiltration membranes. She is AMSIC Co-Director of New Talent and Leadership Committee, and a member of the Ghana Institution of Engineering. Some of her publications are: 1. Tabi, R. N., Agyemang, F. O., Mensah-Darkwa, K., Arthur, E. K., Gikunoo, E., & Momade, F. (2021). Zeolite synthesis and its application in water defluorination. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 261, 124229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2021.124229 2. “A Review on Spiral Wound Membrane Modules for Groundwater Treatment”, under review by Frontiers in Membrane Science and Technology. Manuscript ID: 1343651 3. “Appraisal of groundwater quality and hydrochemistry in three regions of Ghana: Implication for drinking purposes”, under review by Groundwater for Sustainable Development. Manuscript Number: GSD-D-24-00028

Dr. Ranil Wickramasinghe has published over 200 peer reviewed journal articles, several book chapters and is co-editor of books on responsive membrane and materials, hollow fiber contactors and a membrane handbook. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and is president of the World Association of Membrane Societies (WA-MS). He is executive editor of Separation Science and Technology. His research focuses on synthetic membrane-based separation processes for purification of pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals, treatment and reuse of water and for the production of biofuels. Prof Wickramasinghe obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Melbourne in Chemical Engineering. He obtained his PhD from the University of Minnesota, also in Chemical Engineering. He worked for 5 years in the biotechnology/biomedical industry in the Boston area. Professor Wickramasinghe is the Center Director of the Membrane Science, Engineering and Technology (MAST) Center, a NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center.

Mathias Ulbricht is since 2001 a Full Professor for Chemical Technology in the Department of Chemistry at University Duisburg-Essen, Germany. He had studied Chemistry at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, and received his doctoral degree in 1987. He had worked at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, USA, from 1992 to 1993. He had received his “Habilitation” from Humboldt University in 1997. From 1997 to 1999 he had worked at GKSS Research Centre in Teltow, Germany. In 1999 he had founded ELIPSA Inc. in Berlin and was CEO of this private company until 2003. He is one of the Editors of “Journal of Membrane Science”. Until now, 80 doctoral and over 125 master students have successfully graduated under his supervision. He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers, 16 book chapters, and he has 20 granted patents. His research is in the field of functional polymeric and nanohybrid materials and is focused on synthetic membranes and membrane-based technologies for water purification, bioseparation and energy conversion.

In a distinguished academic career, Esayas Alemayehu obtained a Ph.D. degree (Dr.-Ing) with highest distinction, magna cum laude, in Environmental Engineering from Rostock University, Germany in 10th Nov, 2010, following a MSc degree in Sanitary Engineering & M.Eng. in Water Supply from IHE, The Netherlands in 16th April 2003. Currently he is a Full Professor, Senior Researcher, and Practicing Engineer at Jimma University in the field of Water and Environmental Engineering. He has also serving as Adjunct Professor of ACEWM at Addis Ababa University. Prof., Dr.-Ing Alemayehu published extensively during the course of academic carriers including 180 scientific papers pertinent to his field of work. Furthermore, Professor Alemayehu is the inspirational scientific leader of the Academic, Research, and Community services wings’ of Jimma University. He is a visionary leader who firmly believes in transparent shared governance and who fully embraces cultural diversity.

Heidi Richards is an associate professor in Environmental Analytical Chemistry in the School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand. Her research focuses on developing membrane-based solutions for the monitoring and remediation of a range of pollutants found in environmental and wastewaters. These pollutants include both organic and inorganic compounds. One of the projects she is currently working on is the development and optimization of polysulfone-based polymer inclusion membranes, for use in passive sampling devices to pre-concentrate and detect various organic compounds in water. She is also involved in a DANIDA funded project on the use of membrane distillation for treatment of high saline wastewaters. She has published 25 peer-reviewed

João G. Crespo, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the School of Science and Technology – NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal. Dean of ITQB NOVA. Former Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation and former Coordinator of NOVA Doctoral School. Former Vice-President of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese National Science Foundation). Honorary member of the European Membrane Society. Member of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering. Member of the editorial board of “Journal of Membrane Science”, “Journal of Biotechnology”, “Desalination and Water Treatment” and “Membranes”. Editor of 2 books, 23 book chapters and 380 publications referred in Scopus. Founder of the spin-off company “Zeyton Nutraceuticals”.

Cristiana Boi is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Bologna, Italy and an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, USA. Her research interests are in downstream processing in biotechnology with a focus on membranes and chromatographic processes for highly selective separations. In particular, she is interested in the preparation, modification and characterization of functional materials for bio-separations, biomedical applications, water purification and the production of biopharmaceuticals. She has been the President of the European Membrane Society for 2017 and 2018, the Funding Secretary of the World Association of Membrane Societies for 2017-2020, and is the current Chair of Area 2G, Bioseparations, of AIChE.

Noreddine Ghaffour is a Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). He has over 28 years of experience in the field of drinking water treatment technologies and has specialized in the area of membrane and thermal desalination processes. Over the years, he has made major contributions becoming a globally recognized expert in desalination technologies and its related fields. He obtained his PhD from Montpellier University, France, in 1995. He is the author of over 500 journal and conference publications, several patents, and chapters in textbooks. He is a frequent keynote speaker in international conferences, seminars, and workshops. He is Editor of Desalination journal and Solar Compass journal. He also has experience in scaling-up innovative desalination processes and start-ups.

Dr. Eric M. V. Hoek is a professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a faculty scientist in the Energy Storage & Distributed Resources Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Hoek’s research explores the union of membrane technologies, nanomaterials and electrochemistry for water, energy and environmental applications. He has published over 160 peer-reviewed journal articles, filed over 30 U.S. patents, co-authored books on Sustainable Desalination and Water Reuse, and Oil & Gas Produced Water Management. He is also co-Editor-in-Chief of The Encyclopedia of Membrane Science & Technology, former Associate Editor of the Elsevier journal Desalination and was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Nature journal npj Clean Water. Dr Hoek has also co-founded a number of successful technology companies (e.g., NanoH2O, PolyCera Membranes, IntelliFlux Controls, Active Membranes, SpecifX Lithium) and serves as an adviser to several large and small technology companies, investment funds and non-profits.

Gaetan Blandin is senior researcher, post-doctoral La Caixa Junior Leader Fellow at Lequia (University of Girona, Spain) since October 2021. He graduated in 1999 in chemical engineering from University of Nantes (France) and later completed his Joint PhD in chemical engineering at the University of New South Wales (Australia) and Ghent University (Belgium) in 2015. He has been working as researcher in private and public sector for more than 20 years. His research is dedicated to water processes associated with membrane technologies within the context of circular economy dealing for several applications (desalination, water reuse, nutrients recovery) and topics (process validation and control, fouling and cleaning, module design /process modelling and optimisation, fundamentals of mass transfer). He is currently leading several projects Forward factory (combining desalination and water reuse), ConcentrA (Volatile fatty acids concentration for bioplastics production) and Osmo4Lives (membrane recycling). He is also involved in cooperation and education projects to promote the use of membranes to future water professionals.

Dr. Ludovic (ludo) DUMEE joined Khalifa University (Abu Dhabi, UAE) as an Assistant Professor in 2020. His team is focused on the development of advanced separation materials stemming from the properties of nanoscale structures tackling environmental challenges towards desalination, resource recovery and valorisation. He investigates routes to generate efficient separation membranes and catalysts from 1D and 2D nanomaterials towards the design of isoporous membranes for ultra-selective separation of cells, proteins, ions and pollutants. He is actively engaged on the development of cost-effective alternative water production strategies in the MENA region leading activities on atmospheric water generation and desalination brine valorisation. He graduated his PhD in 2012 from Victoria University (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia).

Dr. Asim Khan is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia, and COMSATS University, Pakistan. He earned his Master's degree from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and his PhD from KU Leuven, Belgium. Dr. Khan specializes in Separation Processes and founded the Membrane Systems Research Group at COMSATS, where he advanced high-throughput experimentation in membrane-based carbon capture. His research primarily targets industrial liquid and gaseous separations through mixed matrix and thin film composite membranes. With over 100 publications in membrane technology, Dr. Khan has also supervised numerous PhD and Masters students. He serves as an editorial board member for 'Separation and Purification Technology', 'Carbon Capture Science & Technology', and as subject editor for the Separation Processes section of 'Chemical Engineering Research & Design'. An esteemed member of the global scientific community, he ranks among the top 2% of scientists recognized by Elsevier, and is a Fellow of the International Association for Carbon Capture and a founding Board Member of the Pakistan Membrane Society.

Dr. Kibrom A. Gebru received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India in 2017. He received his BSc in Chemical Engineering from Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Ethiopia in 2008 and Master of Technology in Chemical Engineering from Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Ethiopia in 2012. He has co-authored one book and published several research outputs in reputable peer-reviewed international journals. As an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, at Adigrat University, Ethiopia, he handled sponsored and consultancy projects, supervised graduate, and undergraduate students, and served in administration positions such as Director of Business Enterprise and Interim Director of the Deliverology unit. Dr. Gebru is a Senior Post-doctoral Researcher at the Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany. He has gained extensive expertise in membrane separation, adsorption technology, and adsorber or functional membranes for water purification applications. He has extensive experience in electrospinning techniques for novel material preparation for water, medicine, and energy applications. Dr. Gebru is a board member and Co-Director of New Talent and Leadership in the African Membrane Society. He is also a member of the Organizing Committee of the AMSIC-4 (4th Congress of the African Membrane Society).

I am Dr. Maryam Khadim MBACKE, Chemical engineer, doctor in process and environmental engineering and Professor at Amadou Mahtar Mbow University in Diamniadio. My research activities focus on water treatment using electrochemical methods and membrane processes. I work on polymers of lignocellulosic origin with a view to their use for the design of membranes. Aware of the challenges linked to access to drinking water and consequently to treatment infrastructures in developing countries, I joined AMSIC in 2021 with the aim of contributing to greater involvement of women in research and development of membrane technologies. Driven by this same ambition, I am a full member of the Committee for Chemical Research Applied to Global Needs (CHEMRAWN) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). I attach great importance to the promotion of women in the scientific community. Thus, since January 2024, I have been the president of the association of women for the promotion of science and technology (AFSTech/Senegal).

Full professor of Chemical Engineering and Pilot Plant, Engineering and Renewable Energy Research Institute since 2020, supervisor of flat sheet/spiral wound membrane group in The National research Centre- Cairo- Egypt. The main representative/ general secretary of The Egyptian Society for Membrane Technology and its application (ESMT). She has participated in many international cooperation projects as PI with India, Poland, Germany and Italy. She worked in the field of process development for different chemical engineering plants and so the application of optimized research in field RO membranes and wastewater treatment/ desalination systems using polymeric membranes. She has more than 90 international publication articles in peer reviewed , ISI journals in membrane fabrication, water desalination and other areas of research. She has more than 10 M.Sc and PhD students ongoing and many others are finished. She applied for many patents and have 3 granted ones.

Efrem Curcio received his PhD in Chemical Engineering and Materials in 2005 at the University of Calabria, Italy. (Co)author of >150 papers on peer-reviewed international journals. Recipient of the European Membrane Society Award 2004 for the best published paper in Membrane Science and Engineering. Participation or coordination of several international research projects (inter alia: MISTI/MIT; VII EU Framework Programme MEDINA, DEMCAMER, BIOART, REAPOWER; Horizon 2020 AMECRYS, REMIND, SEA4VALUE; Eranet-Med EXTRASEA; Horizon EU EXBRINER, MEASURED, MEMCAT etc.). About 25 years of experience in the development of advanced membrane processes, with pioneering contributions in the field of Integrated Membrane Systems for seawater desalination and water treatment, (Photothermal) Membrane Distillation Crystallization for mineral recovery from brines, membrane bio-separation systems for the purification of proteins and mAbs, membrane systems for bioartificial organs and regenerative medicine. He is CEO of the spin-off company Seligenda Membrane Technologies Srl.

Professor Nigus Gabbiye Habtu is an active and experienced faculty with more than 20 years teaching and research experience in the area of chemical and process intensification for renewable energy and environmental engineering applications. He is specialized in chemical and environmental engineering focussed on intensification of renewable energy, wastewater and water treatment, thermal and catalytic reactors, process optimizations and waste valorisation. Professor Nigus Gabbiye Habtu has obtained his BSc in Chemical Engineering from Bahir Dar University in 2001, MSc in Process Engineering from Addis Ababa University in 2004, and PhD in Chemical, Environmental and Process Engineering from Rovira I Virgili University, Tarragona, Spain in 2011. He is an author and co-authored for over 90+ refereed publications in high impact international journals, 50 book chapters/Scopus indexed conference proceedings. Prof. Nigus has also delivered over 30 keynote/invited/guest lecturers nationally/internationally and is one of the productive researchers with a Scopus H-index of 25/ i10 - 50 (citation over 1600). His research areas focus on process intensification including wastewater treatment technology and Waste to energy conversion processes.

Prof. Ahmed S. G. Khalil is the founder and group leader of ESTG. Prof. Khalil received his PhD in Physics and Materials Science in 2008 from Max Planck Institute in Germany. He received his B. Sc and M. Sc. in Physics from Cairo University in 1999 and 2003, respectively. Prof. Khalil was a postdoctoral associate (2008-2010) at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany and a visiting scientist at IBM Research labs in Zurich, Switzerland (2010-2011) and the University of California Berkley, USA (2013). Prof. Khalil’s research interests focus on the development of functional nanostructures and membranes for various applications in water purification, wastewater treatment, water desalination, and energy storage. Over the last 8 years, Prof. Khalil has succeeded to attract more than Euro 8 Million from national and international funding organizations for his research and teaching activities. These activities have been done in close collaboration with more than 60 academic and industrial partners. Since 2016, Prof. Khalil is an elected member of the Arab German Academy of Science and Humanities (AGYA) in Germany.

Loredana DE BARTOLO (http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3774-9114) is Research Director at ITM-CNR. She received her PhD in Chemical Technologies and New Materials from University of Calabria and a postdoc research fellowship by the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation at LIBAO (Hannover, Germany). Her research experiences include membrane science and engineering, bioartificial membrane systems including membrane bioreactors applied to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. She is a scientist responsible of several European, national, and international projects. She is involved in several international committees and in the editorial board of prestigious scientific journals (e.g., ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Frontiers in Material Science, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Cells Tissues Organs). She is the author of over 160 papers published in international journals/books and encyclopedias and has made numerous invited and keynote lectures at scientific meetings. She received international scientific recognition and conference awards for her invaluable contribution.

Prof. Alexey Volkov is the Executive Advisor and Senior Scientist at A.V.Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences. He was graduated from Moscow State University, chemical department (Russian Federation) in 2001. Doing his PhD, he spent about 2 years in University of Twente (the Netherlands). Alexey Volkov received his PhD degree in polymer science and membrane separation in 2017, and his Dr. Habil. degree in membrane science and petrochemistry in 2017. Through 2009-2022, he was holding position of deputy director of Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2022-2023, Alexey Volkov was visiting KAUST (Saudi Arabia) as the Visiting Professor. He is serving the membrane community as the Council member of European Membrane Society, and the Board member of World Association of Membrane Societies. His interests are in development of novel membranes and membrane processes for chemical, petrochemical and energy sector, a major focus is given to environmental applications.

Raja Ben Amar (https://orcid.org/ 0000-0001-6649-4929) is currently working as full Professor in the chemistry department of the Faculty of Science of Sfax, University of Sfax (Tunisia) and Director of the Reserach unit ‘Advanced Technologies for Environment and Smart Cities’. She achieved her master degree in Chemical Engineering from ENSIC (Institut Polytechnique de Lorraine, France) and her PhD in chemical Engineering from IGC ( Institut Polytechnique de Toulouse, France). Her main research interests are in the area of membrane science and separation processes including wastewater treatment, water desalination, development of low cost membranes. She has published more than 130 papers in ISI indexed journals, books and patents. She is a reviewer for several scientific journals. She is currently, the President of the African. She is involved in many international committees and projects in the frame of cooperation programmes such as join project with numerous countries, participation in European project on the ERANETMED , Erasmus and PRIMA.

Dr. Mihir Kumar Purkait is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT G). Prof. Purkait has made outstanding contribution in the field of smart membrane fabrication for chemical, biochemical and environmental separation, purification and preconcentration. The development includes membrane response properties, such as thermo-response, pH-response, glucose-response, molecular-recognition, dual and multi-stimuli-response. He has also developed antibacterial and antifouling membranes. Apart from membrane filtration, Prof. Purkait contributed significantly on fruit juice clarification technology, adsorption, electrocoagulation, nanotechnology, catalyst development and electrochemical reduction of CO2 to various energy product.

Stefan Panglisch is responsible for the Chair of Mechanical Process Engineering/Water Technology at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Linked to the professorship is a position as Scientific Director at the IWW Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wasserforschung, a nationally and internationally renowned research and consulting institute. He is also Managing Director of the DGMT German Society for Membrane Technology and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the WIS Defence Science Institute of the German Armed Forces. Before taking office, Stefan Panglisch was head of the R&D department at inge GmbH (now a DuPont brand), one of the world's leading technology providers for ultrafiltration technology. His research interests are -Membrane, adsorption and combined membrane processes -Influence of climate change on water infrastructure -Utilisation of heavily polluted water resources (e.g. oily or eutrophic) -Process optimisation and simulation -Water reuse

Dr Mohamed Taky is Professor and Director of the Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory (LAMPE) at the Faculty of Science, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra (Morocco). He obtained his PhD in 1991 from the University of Montpellier II (France). His early research work at CNRS Montpellier focused on concentration polarization in electrodialysis and on the phenomenon of water splitting at the interfaces of ion exchange membranes. Since joining Ibn Tofail University in 1996, his research activities have focused on water treatment, particularly desalination, industrial effluent treatment and wastewater treatment for reuse. Mohamed Taky is the author of a hundred publications. He is also a founding member of the Moroccan Membrane and Desalination Society (MMDS) created in 2005. He is currently Vice-president of MMDS.

Dr. Catia Algieri (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3163-5861) is currently working as researcher at the Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM-CNR)-Italy. Her main research interests are in the area of membrane science and separation processes including wastewater treatment, water desalination and gas separations. She has published over 70 papers in international journals, book chapters and encyclopedias, and she has one granted patent. She collaborated in several international and national projects focused on membranes preparation and application in water treatment, catalytic reactions and gas separations. She is also involved in the editorial board of international scientific journals. She has made various plenary and keynote lectures at scientific conferences. She is a reviewer for several scientific journals.

Saad Alami Younssi received his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry and Analytic Chemistry in 1994 at the Montpellier 2 University, France. He became Assistant Professor (1996), and then Professor at the Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco. Between 2006 and 2013, he held the position of Vice Dean in charge of pedagogy at the Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Mohammedia. In 2014, he has been elected the Director of the Laboratory of Materials Membranes and Environment at the Hassan II University of Casablanca. In January 2018, He has been elected President of the Moroccan Membrane and Desalination Society. Since March 2022, he occupies the role of the External Relations - Director of the African Membrane Society. In May 2023, he has been selected to be the Director of the “Ecole Normale Supérieure, Hassan II University of Casablanca”. His research interests include elaboration and characterization of inorganic and composite microfiltration, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration membranes as well as salts transfer through microporous membranes and desalination and water treatment by membrane. He published more than 75 articles in SCOPUS-indexed journals.

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