Topics

Section A
Green Deal – a common task for chemical and biochemical engineers 
New challenges for the Green Deal

A1. Climate and energy

Energy self-sufficiency, Clean energy, Low energy cost processes, Renewable energy and energy storage, Hydrogen as a fuel (incl. safety aspects), Photochemistry, Solar cells and solar powered technologies, Fuel cells, Phase out of fossil fuels, Energy to carbon footprint ratio, New energy sources integration,

A2. Sustainability and circular (bio)economy

Sustainability and circularity, Sustainable mobility, Carbon dioxide economy, Raw materials (accessibility, availability, international standards, fairness, reuse), Quality assurance, 
Safety (risk assessment, accidents and loss preventions, Control and management systems, Elimination of health and environmental hazards), 
Challenging thermodynamics limits and opportunities of circularity,
Electro-, photo- and other unconventional conversion technologies,
Process challenges and new value chains for food, transport (data, people, goods), and materials circularity, (Bio)process systems and sustainability analysis, Cell, metabolic and (bio)catalyst engineering enabling circular processes; Integrating societal context (ethics, quality) in life cycle and sustainability analysis

A3. Water

Water supply, Water management - reuse, purification, standards, availability. Biological systems for water treatment, Water biohazards, Water contaminants and their elimination. Coagulation and electrocoagulation, Reverse osmosis, Membranes for water purification, Disinfection – chlorination, ozonation, physical and biological methods, Advanced oxidation processes.    

A4. Food in the focus

Soil preservation, Life-friendly fertilisers, Pesticides alternatives, Bioprocessing, Biotechnologies in food production, Soil quality standards and control, Food preservation and food quality standards, Healthy stock, Biodiversity, Maladies prevention, ATB significant elimination, Natural nutrients, Food packaging and transporting, Short supply chains.     

A5. Wastes

No waste technologies and zero waste plants, Production-trade-customer zero waste chains, Urban mining, Waste management, Green and supercritical chemistry, VOC reduction, Ionic liquids and green solvents, Processes for environment, Microplastics and other micro pollutants, Endocrine disruptors, Biological and biosphere compatible wastes, Biohazardous chemicals, Polyaromatics, Chlorinated and fluorinated hydrocarbons, Air-aerosols, Heavy metals and other contaminants, Health-care wastes and contaminants. 

Section B
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering in Medicine

B1. (Bio)process Engineering: Technologies for new drugs, vaccines, disinfectants and diagnostics

Scaling-up in the pharmaceutical industry, Continuous Manufacturing, (bio)process miniaturization, microreactors for the pharmaceuticals production, [Industry 4.0 and the pharma sector, process analytical technology (PAT), monitoring, automation and digitalization -> please submit to H1]. Downstream processing, Raw materials safety, availability, Low-risk technologies, Rapid industrial response on the actual market demand, Demand for new or improved technologies, Rapidly adaptable technologies and processes.

B2. Healthcare and Hygiene

Remote medicine, Hygiene standards, Nontoxic disinfectants, Special wastes and their handling, Analogies of the engineering approach and the body healthcare, Informatics, data collection, and data sets evaluation – analogies with engineering approaches.

B3. Pharmaceuticals and diagnostics  

Theoretical design, Synthesis, Analysis, Testing, Rapid screening, Toxicology, Purity, Adhere effects, Optically pure isomers, Biopharmaceuticals/Biomedicine, Bio(medical) engineering & Regenerative Medicine (Advanced Therapeutic Medical Products ATMP)      

B4. New materials for medicine

Biocompatible composites, Sensors for healthcare, Biodegradable materials, Multifunctional materials, Organic-inorganic hybridisation.    

Section C
Acting Together - Biochemical and Chemical Engineering Integration

C1. Advanced technologies in bioproduction …

Synthetic and systems biology, Cell and metabolic engineering, Enzymatic reactions, Microbiology based reactions and their practical use,
Bioreactors, Scaling-up (scaling-down) strategies in biotechnologies,
Downstream processing, Separation of biological materials, Separation with the help of biomaterials, Biological membranes,

C2. …and biomass processing

Biorefineries, Fine chemicals with origin in the biotech sector, Resources of biomaterials, Biofuels and biofuel cells, Bioprocesses for environment, Biological processing of wastes and contaminants towards low toxic and low risk effluents.    

C3. Biomaterials, biochemicals and bioproducts 

Proteins, Amino acids, Enzymes, Nucleic acids, Nutrients, Biosensing structures and components, Biomaterials: Biomimetics, Multicomponent functional materials, Biocompatibility, Biocomposites. Hybrid biocomposites, Bio-nanomaterials, Biocompatible materials, Thin functional biofilms, Printed bioactive functional structures and pharmaceuticals, (Microalgae bioengineering).

Section D
Matter in Motion

D1. Continuous processes

Design and optimization, Fluid flow, Fluid mechanics, Multiphase flow, Fine chemistry and the continuous processing, Hydrodynamics, Pressure drop

D2. Process intensification

miniaturization (microreactors, fluid flow and microfluidics, microchannels), energy activation (microwaves, ultrasound, plasma, light, electric/magnetic fields), hybrid and multifunctional process (e.g., multifunctional reactors and hybrid separators), novel process and equipment concepts, modular processes, modeling and control of intensified processes, scale-up and industrial implementation of intensified processes,  “Batch to continuous flow" transition

D3. Mixing

Theory and practice, Modelling, System design, Technical aspects, Advanced mixers and micromixing devices, Mixing and aeration in bioprocessing, Static mixers

Section E
Faster and More Selective

E1. Reaction engineering and reaction kinetics

Kinetic models and rate equations, Side, parallel and consecutive reactions, Deactivation, Rate determining step, Activation energy, Kinetics of enzymatic reactions, High yield catalysts towards fine chemicals

E2. Homogeneous, heterogenous and enzymatic catalysis

Design and preparation of catalysts, Selectivity, Regioselectivity, Stereoselectivity, Biocatalysts & Biocatalyst engineering, Characterisation of catalysts, Surface properties and surface morphology, Supported noble metals, Non-supported catalysts, Homogeneous catalytic complexes, Catalysis on the interphase, Mono-crystals in catalysis, Photocatalysts, Electrocatalysis, Toxicity of catalysts – new alternatives  

E3. Catalytic processes and technologies

Hydrogenation, Oxidation, Coupling, Polymerisation catalysts, Fine chemistry, Catalysts for environmental processes, Industrial catalysts, Raney nickel, Toxicity

E4. Catalytic and biocatalytic reactors

Batch, CSTR, Carberry, and tubular continuous reactors, Packed bed, Bioreactors, Thin film catalyst reactors, Photoreactors for light sensitive semiconducting catalysts, Reactor design, Process optimisation, On line control, monitoring, and sampling. Digital operation

Section F
Solid Matter

F1. Advanced functional materials

Particulate and microporous solids, 3D printing, Materials printing, Low-risk materials, New composites, Organic-inorganic hybridisation in the synthesis of new materials, Molecular templating, Semiconductors

F2. Biomaterials,  see C3   

F3. Thin films and nanomaterials  

Self-assembly, Sensors and sensing objects and nano-objects, Actuators, Hierarchical structures and nanoparticles, Biofilms, Monolayers, Light sensitive films, safety aspects
F4. Polymers

Polymers and polymer technologies, Conductive polymers, [Biopolymers, Biocompatible polymers -> C3], Reuse of polymers, Recycling

F5. Characterisation of solids 

Functional characterisation, Structural characterisation, Morphology, Rheology, Surface science, Surface analysis, Physical and chemical analytical tools and approaches for characterisation of solids

Section G
Tools and Toolkits for the development of chemical and biochemical processes and reactors

G1. Transport phenomena, separation
Heat and mass transfer, Diffusion

G2. Thermodynamics

Phase equilibria, Multiphase systems and multiphase processes, Interfacial phenomena, phase transfer catalysis

G3. Electrochemistry and photoelectrochemistry  

Water splitting, Fuel Cells, Light sensitive semiconductors, Light harvesting and solar cells, Electricity storage, Storage of hydrogen, Batteries, Lithium insertion, Conductive polymers, Electroanalytical chemistry, Voltammetry, Amperometry, Sensors and actuators

G4 Separations
Separation technologies, Membrane processes, Adsorption, Absorption, Crystallisation, Filtration, Distillation, Sedimentation

G5. Computations and modelling

Chemical engineering computations and modelling (Process simulation, Conceptual design and Optimization), Molecular dynamics, ab-initio calculations, Mathematical predictions, Neural networks

Section H
Digital transformation

H1. Digital transformation

Industry 4.0, Process Design, Process Systems Engineering, (Bio)process miniaturization, visualisation & predictive maintenance – from simple models to digital twins; (Bio)process modelling, process operations, decision-making processes (data analytics, machine learning, cloud computing, numerical methods). automation, monitoring and process analytical technology (PAT), IoT (internet of things), efficiency and flexibility in new (personalised) value and supply chain management, cyber security

Section I
Education

I1. Education of (bio-)chemical engineers

Teaching chemical engineering: new strategies, opportunities, Choosing chemical engineering as the field of studies, Competitiveness of chemical engineers on the job market, Alternative teaching approaches during the Covid pandemic, Aspects of modern training and life education in the chemical engineering profession, Roles of chemical engineers towards the public, Popularisation of the field

I2. Motivating high school students for STEM courses

New techniques, ideas and practical examples how to successfully motivate for studies in the STEM area, especially in the area of chemical and biochemical engineering