Depletion of nonrenewable resources, air, water, and soil pollution, global warming, depletion of stratospheric ozone and forests, scarcity of water for drinking and agriculture, and excessive population growth are among the major challenges to the global society. The United Nations indicated in the Brundtland Report1 that the ?current patterns of resource consumption and environmental degradation could not continue as they were and in order to reduce the problem facing us, society must act as a whole.? Today, environmental sustainability, energy sustainability, manufacturing sustainability, process and product sustainability, water sustainability, business sustainability, etc., are studied and practiced extensively. How to ensure engineering sustainability becomes a focal point for long-term development. The chemical and allied industries have been working collaboratively towards solutions to the pressing issues that we need to address today and in the future. This has greatly stimulated the academic institutions to develop sustainable-engineering-focused innovative and aggressive research and educational programs. A forum for the researchers and practitioners in this area to share their research and educational experience will be highly desirable. Therefore, the 3rd International Symposium on Sustainable Chemical Product and Process Engineering on Sustainable Chemical Engineering is proposed that is planned to be held in Dalian, China, June 2-5, 2013.
Intellectual Merit: The 3rd symposium will have the following main objectives: (i) to share knowledge and research experience in studying economic, environmental and social sustainability, (ii) to assess the state-of-the-art green chemical product and process engineering, (iii) to bridge the gap between research and development, strengthening the linkage between academia and industries, (iv) to discuss research directions for the chemical and allied industries to move towards sustainability and educational approaches for the integration of industrial sustainability into the chemical engineering curriculum, and (v) to explore opportunities for international collaboration in the proposed technical areas.
Broader Impacts: The project will facilitate US researchers/educators to exchange knowledge with leading researchers and educators in over 10 countries, and help the US delegates identify international collaboration opportunities in the research and education of sustainable chemical engineering. Junior faculty and researchers as well as graduate/undergraduate students, especially those in the underrepresented ethnic groups, will be encouraged to participate in the symposium. This symposium will also include two mini-workshops for catalyzing international collaborations on sustainable chemical engineering research and education
The Third International Conference on Sustainable Chemical Product and Process Engineering (3rd SCPPE) was successfully held in Dalian, China on May 27-31, 2013. The conference was jointly sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the China National Science Foundation, and co-sponsored by Dalian University of Technology and The State Key Laboratory of Final Chemicals, China, AIChE Sustainable Engineering Forum and Institute for Sustainability, Bayer MaterialScience, LLC, USA, and The Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities, China. The conference attracted about 300 attendees from 13 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, UK, and USA. The theme of the conference was Sustainable Chemical Manufacturing and Energy Supply. The conference provided a unique forum for researchers, scientists, and practitioners to assess and critique the current status and discuss the future directions of research and education in this challenging field. An important aim of the conference was to bring together leading experts from around the world to share their knowledge, research and educational experience in the most challenging areas of chemical engineering sustainability. The primary objectives were: (1) to assess state-of-the-art sustainable chemical product and process engineering, (2) to bridge the gap between research and development and strengthen the ties between academia and industries, (3) to discuss research directions for chemical engineering sustainability and educational approaches for the integration of sustainability science into chemical engineering curriculum, and (4) to explore opportunities for international collaboration. The conference covered an important, diverse set of topics in sustainable product and process systems engineering. These included: (1) green chemistry and engineering applications, (2) fine chemical innovation and manufacturing sustainability, (3) innovation in process design for sustainability, (4) nano/bio materials and system sustainability, (5) alternative and renewable energy systems and supply chains, (6) energy and sustainability in production, (7) green reaction engineering and separation, (8) biological conversion and process sustainability, (9) waste management and reuse, and (10) LCA, sustainability assessment, and tools. The conference also held two mini-workshops: one on international collaboration and the other on the challenges and opportunities in chemical product and process sustainability. In addition, the conference organized student best paper competitions (one for oral presentations and the other for poster paper presentations), which recognized a number of undergraduate and undergraduate students from China, Brazil, Finland, and U.S. Furthermore, the conference generated a special issue on sustainable chemical product and process engineering with the journal, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering; the special issue was published in January, 2014.
