4th Frontiers in Catalysis and Chemical Engineering

Dan Meyerstein is a Professor of Chemistry at Ariel University and Professor Emeritus at Ben-Gurion University in Israel. He Received his Ph.D. in 1965. He has over 350 papers. He was president of Ariel University and President of the Israel Chemical Society.

Jacob A. Moulijn is emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Delft University of Technology (19902007) and at the University of Amsterdam (1986-1990), visiting professor at several universities, including University of Delaware, USA, University of Gent, Belgium, National University of Singapore the University of Mumbai, India and Cardiff University, UK. During the nineties he was active in China for the UN-World Bank. He is active as consultant for several companies. He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of the Åbo University, Finland and received several awards, including the BP Energy Price, and the NWO-STW ‘Simon Stevin Meesterschap’ award (2000). His research interests include: catalysis engineering, catalytic reactors, zeolitic membranes, kinetics, mass transfer, multiphase monolithic reactors, catalyst testing, petroleum conversion (Hydrotreatment, FCC, FischerTropsch), exhaust gas catalysis (soot from diesel engines, N2O removal, NO abatement, H2S removal, CFC conversion), selective hydrogenation, selective oxidation, photo- and electrocatalysis, catalyst synthesis by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), coal conversion (gasification, pyrolysis, combustion), and biomass conversion. He is (co-) author of over 750 technical papers, co-author of two books, editor of seven books, holder of several patents (reactor design, zeolitic membranes, catalyst development, biomass conversion).

Faraz Ahmad is currently doing MS in Chemical Engineering from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, Shanxi, Peoples Republic of China. Faraz is working as a research assistant in the Key Laboratory of Coal Science and Technology of Ministry of Education and Shanxi Province. His research topic is “Production of styrene and ethylbenzene by side-chain alkylation of toluene with methanol”. Specifically, his expertise is in the following area: catalyst preparation, characterization of catalysts. Previously in his BS, he has done a research project entitled “Production of Methanol from Coal”. Apart from an educational career he has two years of teaching experience in a reputable HEC recognized University in Pakistan.

Péter Kisszékelyi is a fourth year PhD student at the George Oláh Doctoral School, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary. He works under the supervision of Dr. József Kupai in the Organocatalysis Research Group (www.kupaigroup.com) at the Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology. His research focuses on cinchona-based recyclable organocatalyst design and other sustainable catalytic methodologies.

Sándor Nagy is a third year PhD student at the George Oláh Doctoral School, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary. He works under the supervision of Dr. József Kupai in the Organocatalysis Research Group (www.kupaigroup.com) at the Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology. His research focuses on design, synthesis, application and recycling of cinchona-based organocatalysts.

Hossein Zainalzadeh is a Bachelor of Science degree student in Chemical Engineering at Sahand University of Technology and will complete his undergraduate degree on September 30, 2019. He was a member of the Nanotechnology and Science Committee for one year and teaching assistant (TA) in the "Fluid Mechanics" course for two semesters from October 1, 2018 to June 17, 2019. During his education, Hossein was one of the two undergraduate students who could enter the research centers as a research assistant (RA). Hossein has been working as a researcher under the supervision of Professor Mohammad Haghighi for three years. His research areas of interest are CO Oxidation, Hydrogen and Biodiesel production, designing and synthesis of nanostructure catalysts. Hossein’s B.Sc thesis focused on the biodiesel production over SAPO-34. Last summer, Hossein worked as an intern at Khoy Combined Cycle Power Plant. Presently he is planning to study M.Sc. in the related fields.

Iman Ghasemi was born in 1997. Iman earned a B.Sc. degree in chemical engineering from the Sahand University of Technology where he gained experience in water treatment by photocatalysis process under the supervision of Prof. Mohammad Haghighi. Since 2018 he has been joined Reactor and Catalysis Research Center and working on the nano photocatalyst synthesis and their applications in different organic dye degradation. Last summer, he worked for more than 4 months for “Azar Sahand Plastic Production Plant” as an intern in its quality control laboratory. His research interests include the “Green” synthesis of nanocatalysts and its application in air and water pollution control and treatment, and the study of their reaction mechanisms and kinetics.

Mahdiyeh Mohammadzadeh is M.Sc. student in Chemical engineering and Catalysis at Sahand University of Technology. She holds a B.Sc. in Chemical engineering from the same university and her degree was awarded in Sept. 2013. She has been working in the Reactor and Catalysis Research Center (RCRC) at Sahand University of Technology since 21 January 2019. She is keen to research in the areas of catalysts under supervision of Professor Mohammad Haghighi. Her research focuses on synthesis of photocatalysts for environmental applications and water treatment. After completing her undergraduate degree, she worked as an English language teacher at Alef institute (www.alefsite.ir) from 2016 to 2018. In spite of her interest in teaching English, she decided to continue her graduate studies. Currently, she is the top student of her master's class. Mahdiyeh is going to pursue a Ph.D. program as soon as completion of her master's next year.

Mehdi Mohammadpour holds a bachelor degree of science in Chemical Engineering from Azad University of Tehran. He was the director of education at several companies from July 16, 2013. He worked as an intern in PetroTech Company. At present, he is studying M.Sc. Chemical Engineering at Sahand University of Technology. His Master's thesis is about biodiesel (Green Fuel) production for Environmental purposes under the supervision of Professor Mohammad Haghighi and collaboration of Reza Shokrani (Ph.D. Student). Another area of his research focuses on Methane and Ethane Reforming. Mehdi is a member of Reactor and Catalysis Research Center (RCRC) from January 12, 2018 up to now.

Sahar Dehghani is Ph.D. of Chemical engineering from Sahand University of Technology in May 2019. She got M.Sc. degree of Chemical engineering in the field of catalysis from the Razi University in Feb. 2012. Also, she got her B.Sc. degree in chemical engineering from Mohaghegh Ardabili in Feb. 2008. She had taught the lab course of “Chemistry (I)” at Sahand University of Technology for three terms. She has been working in the Reactor and Catalysis Research Center (RCRC) at Sahand University of Technology since 21 Sep. 2013 under supervision of Professor Mohammad Haghighi. Her research focuses on biodiesel production by heterogeneous catalysts in both M.Sc. and Ph.D.

Zahra Abdollahizadeh is M.Sc. student in Chemical engineering and Catalysis at Sahand University of Technology. She received her undergraduate degree in Chemical engineering from Azad University of Tabriz. She has been working in the Reactor and Catalysis Research Center (RCRC) at Sahand University of Technology since July 2018. Her field is catalyst, and she is the top student of this field. She is interested in environmental projects and is working on the photocatalytic degradation of the antibiotic pollutant from wastewaters. Her supervisor is Professor Mohammad Haghighi who is one of the prominent figures of this field. Zahra will be graduated next month and as soon as she is going to start her doctoral program.

Jozsef Kupai works as an assistant professor at Budapest University of Technology and Economics Hungary, he delivers organic chemistry lectures and practices. He is the head of the Organocatalysis Research Group at the Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology. The expertise of the Kupai group (www.kupaigroup.com) members centers on the synthesis, application, and recovery of cinchona based organocatalysts. Dr. Kupai collaborates with Dr. Gyorgy Szekely at the University of Manchester. The Szekely Group is responsible for the process design encompassing flow reactors coupled with membrane purification.

Dr. Chuanyi Wang is a distinguished professor at Shaanxi University of Science & Technology (SUST), China. Before moving to SUST in the summer of 2017, he was a distinguished professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), serving as Director of the Laboratory of Environmental Science & Technology of Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry, CAS, and Head of CAS-SAFEA International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams (2010-2017). He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Photographic Chemistry of CAS in 1998, worked in Germany (Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hannover and Free University Berlin) as an Alexander von Humboldt research fellow with Prof. Detlef Bahnemann from 1999 to 2000, and then worked in the USA (Tufts University and Missouri University-Kansas City) as a research faculty from 2000 to 2010. Currently, Dr. Wang also serves as an associate editor of Environmental Chemistry Letters and works as an editorial board member for a number of international journals. Dr. Wang’s research interest covers catalysis and photo-/electro-catalysis at nanostructured materials, including material design, synthesis, functionality evaluation, and in situ surface probe studies with a focus on applications in photo-/electrochemical energy conversion and environmental remediation. By far, he has published over 190 papers in peer-reviewed journals.