Associate professor of chemical engineering Geoff Geise (pictured in the second row, fourth from left) was invited to be a delegate at the first U.S.-Africa Frontiers of Science, Engineering and Medicine Symposium hosted by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and the African Academy of Sciences.
The meeting was held Oct. 12-14 in Nairobi, Kenya. Geise was one of the less than 10% of nearly 900 applicants to receive an invitation.
The symposium sessions were designed to explore the frontiers of research in the fields of artificial intelligence, materials science, biodiversity, climate change and food security, and infectious diseases. To meet a goal of bringing together researchers from many different disciplines, organizers emphasized having participants whose research falls within broader applications of these disciplines.
According the symposium website, organizers created the meeting to “enhance the scientific exchange and dialogue among young researchers in African countries and the United States, including the African science diaspora, and through this interaction, facilitate research collaboration within and beyond the region.”
Geise presented research about the use of polymer materials to address water purification challenges facing the African continent.
“I highlighted efforts to develop structure-property relationships to inform engineering of advanced water filtration membranes and materials for critical resource recovery, and I presented work related to advanced manufacturing of polymer membranes,” Geise said.
“My presentation contributed to the cross-cutting themes of advanced manufacturing of materials and of technologies that contribute to addressing broader climate challenges facing the world.”