To be Updated with new approved abstracts

An overview of recent approaches in chemistry to achieve sustainability.

With the world's population increasing from seven billion currently to approximately nine billion by the year 2040, achieving a healthy lifestyle for all people on earth will depend, in part, on the availability of affordable energy, especially electricity. This presentation considers the various choices, or options, for producing electricity and the consequences associated with each option. The options are fossil, renewables, and nuclear. The consequences associated with these three options are addressed in five different areas: economics, environmental effects, public health and safety, sustainability, and politics. All options are needed, but some options may be better than others when compared in the five areas.

Since the 1970's, Turkey has undertaken several policies to utilize its Lignite reserves. Various technologies have been considered and implemented throughout 4 decades. In the beginning, the state-owned power generation company was commissioned to invest in such power plants. In the 1990's to 2000's, this role was passed to the private sector, but without much success. After the banking crisis in 2001 and the restructuring of the banking system with the guidance of the IMF, the account deficit and dependence on Russia-sourced natural gas was brought to the forefront, thus Lignite utilization policies were told to be essential. The market paradigms were barely supporting this vision, thus the private sector didn't pay much attention to this hard to burn fuel. However, policies were enforced. At the same time, line Global energy policies dramatically shifted towards support for renewable energy sources (RES). As a result of the evolution in RES technologies, their effectiveness, CAPEX and OPEX costs, and viable subvention schemes, the market share of RES-sourced electricity increased from 20% to 44%. Further triggered by the global economical and local stagnation, the market paradigms changed (power and cleaner coal prices declined) and made the Lignite fueled power plant (LCPP) investments completely non-viable. Thus the Turkish Government recently introduced harsh subvention methods to support the LCPP investments, to the disadvantage of the cleaner imported steam coal thermal power plant technologies. With its 80 GW power generation capacity, the controversy of Turkey's energy policies to the COP 21 outcomes becomes an interesting topic to look at. This paper will evaluate the questions 'Are Lignite subvention policies sustainable from an economical and environmental perspective?' and 'Are there other possibilities to solve the economic and social burden of the Lignite mining sector and related power plants?'

This lecture outlines the translation of the genetic code into proteins, and the new generation of antibiotics, based on the scientific work that was evaluated for the Nobel Prize.

Over the last two decades the processing method �Severe Plastic Deformation�SPD� has impressively demonstrated that nanostructured materials with superior mechanical properties can be produced �top-down� in bulk shape which cannot be achieved with traditional �bottom-up� methods. Now, the optimization of functional properties has been coming into the focus of the community�s research, not at least since the authors reached outstanding successes such as world-records in the figure-of-merit (ZT) of SPD-thermoelectrics, and in the reproducibility in the hydrogen storage of SPD-processed hydrogen storage materials. Recent investigations by the authors clearly suggest that a high density of SPD- induced lattice defects other than of classical grain boundaries can be equally or even more beneficial with respect to functional properties. For example, in case of thermoelectrics, SPD-induced dislocations and/or particular dislocation arrays seem to be most effective in increasing the ZT value. Also in case of soft magnetic materials, regular dislocation arrays from SPD which form low-angle zero-strain nanocrystal boundaries promise new low-coercivity and high-magnetostriction materials, while in case of hydrogen storage, thermally stable SPD-induced vacancy clusters seem to govern the formation / dissolution of the hydride phase. With the know-how to be obtained from systematic investigations, it should be possible to tailor specific defect structures on the nanoscale for optimum functional materials performances with very promising perspectives to practical application.

Nanomaterials have dominated research in engineering and the physical sciences for almost twenty-years. Yet, their applications are still not at the expected capacity. A most well known example is the case of next generation rechargeable batteries that employ high capacity anodes. Metal-based anodes allow for capacities for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries of 990-4000 mAh/g, which are 3-10 times higher than current Li-ion cells. However, they cannot be commercialized due to the mechanical instabilities, such as severe fracture, that arise during the initial charge-discharge process of the battery. To overcome this limiting factor the most effective approach is to coat the metal nanoparticles with a matrix, as the resulting interfaces can increase the mechanical stability and allow for a significantly longer battery lifetime. It is necessary, therefore, to account for such interface terms in the constitutive equations to develop design criteria. As a result new nanostructured Si and Sn anodes that can withstand fracture can be fabricated. The talk will elaborate on the most promising candidates that are expected to be commercialized within the next five years. In closing the new perspectives in energy storage that such anodes can provide will be elaborated.

Sustainability means doing more with less. In materials science, interfaces can dominate performance and thus can be used to manipulate nano- to macro-scale material properties, at decreasing energy cost and with increased precision. Interfaces can also create effective composite materials to replace homogeneous materials that use scarce elements. Interface science and engineering is a very active field not only for understanding interface characteristics and properties but also in terms of sustainability: using this knowledge to design interfaces at the nano-to-macro scale will be critical for sustainability in the 21st century for using global resources wisely and minimizing their impacts.
This talk will focus on the fundamental science of solid-solid interfaces between dissimilar inorganic materials and on grain boundaries in single phase materials. The potential of the underlying science to improve materials sustainability will be illustrated through several examples, from the stabilization of �unstable� materials which could replace rare earth and critical materials, to the creation of new properties in a solid by inserting the appropriate grain boundaries.
The state of the art will be presented including what science is still needed to achieve improvement in properties beyond current performance.

At the last summit, our president, Dr. Florian Kongoli, charged us with the idea that some of us will become entrepreneurs within the next year. At the time, I was just about to begin this path myself. If you attend this talk, you will hear about my adventures over the past year, both positive and negative, with my start-up company, Unoia. You will hear how university administration both helped and hindered my progress and those of others. You will hear how I struggled to learn the concepts, legal issues, and "lingo" of start-up companies. You will hear about my struggles and successes [more struggles I'm afraid] with employees, including the vast differences between an employee and a graduate student. Indeed the preparation for this, and all of the above, is woefully inadequate in academia, or at least at Penn State and Princeton, my institutional locations. Finally, if you cant tell, I am a woman. I will tell you how this plays into my experience, which will require me to state some opinions on the subject, many of which may not be welcomed but that I firmly believe.

Oxidative stress is well known by medical doctors and biologists for its negative health issues. Unfortunately, this knowledge is mostly based on long-time hard consequences on patients’ well-being and observation of specific protein markers or metabolites. Conversely, though less publicized than its negative aspects, oxidative stress is also necessary for sustaining aerobic life through a series of critical processes undergoing at the single cell or tissue levels. This explains why, starting with cyanobacteria, the evolution of aerobic cells and organisms has retained oxidative stress mechanisms while enforcing various mechanisms (enzymes, anti-oxidants, etc.) to maintain a delicate balance (homeostasis) between its positive and negative consequences.
One good example of such delicate balance between life sustainability and life unsustainability is brought by the subtle mechanism of hyperemia that regulates blood distribution in the brain. Neurons cannot store the oxygen and nutrients amounts that are required to fulfil their high energy-demanding functions for more than 3-5 minutes (note that our brain consumes ca. 20 to 25% of our energy intake). Hence, when entering into a highly active status, neurons must send information to local blood capillaries to receive more energy than when less active. Besides its physiological function, the overall macroscopic outcome of this process allows observing the brain working through PET scans and functional magnetic resonance imaging (f-IRM). However, its fine details have long remained at the conjectural level. Thanks to the use of ultramicroelectrodes we have been able to investigate and quantitatively characterize this process and its dynamics at the level of single neurons. This confirmed that active neurons emit intense bursts of nitrogen monoxide (NO also known, though improperly, as ‘nitric oxide’) to entice local blood capillaries to deliver oxygen (O2) and nutrients. Hence, active neurons are usually bathed by an extracellular fluid simultaneously enriched in NO and O2.
In the absence of copper-containing Amyloid-β (Cu-Aβ), this process is beneficial by allowing neurons to perform their functions. However, when free Cu-Aβ peptides accumulates locally, this is expected to lead to a fast-catalytic formation of peroxynitrite, a highly toxic species, near active neurons. When diffusing into neuron membranes, peroxynitrite initiates therein fast and intense free-radical propagating chains that eventually results in the apoptotic neuron death. Though overseen by the biological and medical communities, this mechanism may well be at the origin of Alzheimer’s disease. In this respect, rather than being a causative factor, the formation of amyloid plaques may represent the best way for the brain to protect its neurons, by decreasing the availability in highly deleterious free Cu-Aβ peptides.

Sustainable development is a comprehensive and complex system of systems requiring multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary science and technology inputs with economic, environment and social objectives. The trade space is very wide and the multitude of trade-offs generate considerable challenges and make it often difficult to achieve an effective balance. During the last sixty years the planet's population has grown exponentially, from 2.5 to 7.5 billion people, and the technological progress achieved has been tremendous, especially in the industrialized countries. These trends are expected to continue, even at faster rates. All these associated technological activities in the pursuit of better living standards have created a considerable depletion of resources and pollution of land, water and air. Thus and because most of our resources are limited, it is imperative that we achieve more with less. In broad terms, sustainable development is achieved when the present needs and challenges are met without placing in jeopardy the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and challenges. The global energy demand is expected to increase exponentially, associated with the increase in the global population. The three main reserves of fossil fuels: oil, natural gas and coal are decreasing very rapidly and will not always be available to meet the global demands in the near future. The continuation of fossil fuel emissions will be environmentally deleterious, and there is a need to remediate some of the deleterious effects already sustained by the environment. Energy security has become a major and critical issue as fossil fuels are confined to a few areas in the world and their availability is controlled by political, economic and ecological factors. This means that in a short term, considerable energy efficiencies and savings must be achieved, and alternative and renewable sources of energy must now be developed. In order to enable all these technologies considerable advances in energy storage and conversion materials and technologies such as batteries, super capacitors and fuel cells must be achieved. The transportation industry has by far the largest share of global oil consumption and is now the major producer of global greenhouse gas emissions in most industrialized countries. Mobility projections show that it is expected to triple by 2050 with associated energy use and environmental impact. Considerable achievements have recently been obtained in the development of new and advanced materials such as light weight metallic alloys, metal matrix composites, intermetallic and carbon fiber composites and hybrid materials. A significant number of nano, nano-structured and nano-hybrid materials systems have also been deployed and is now being introduced. In addition, component redesign using a materials and functional systems integration approach is being used resulting in considerable system improvements and energy efficiency. This resulted in their introduction in the energy, transportation and manufacturing industries in a wide variety of devices and components with considerable technological, economic, environment and social impacts. This presentation deals with the role of new and advanced materials and technologies in sustainable development and focus of key areas such as energy, environment, transportation and manufacturing.

The beauty of crystals has origins solidly underlined by science. There are a multitude of combinations in materials’ properties and structures that give crystals the beauty that is visible to the human eye. Diverse illustrations of this unique bond between scientifically underlined properties and the beauty of different crystals are given.

The role of science and technology as one of the most important pillars of sustainable development has been analysed within the new FLOGEN sustainability framework. Many distant and recent historical examples have been considered to make the point that science and technology are grand disruptors of boundaries, borders, and ways of life, and they have opened society’s eyes to new serious problems and realities. The paper points out that science and technology are well credited for this great diagnostic role, but have been frequently ignored for their role as solution producers. Numerous examples illustrate the fact that usually solutions are sought far from science and technology, or without their close cooperation, and this has been in fact the cause of failures. It is shown that science and technology are grand solution providers, and this is clear from the distant, recent, and current realities, where they have proven wrong all non-scientific solutions or doomsday predictions. It is concluded that no sound long term solution can be found when science and technology are not considered as a solution provider as the pillar at the forefront of sustainable development, and this is even more so valid for the acute problems faced by the world today.

PART 1:
The role of science and technology as one of the most important pillars of sustainable development has been analysed within the new FLOGEN sustainability framework. Many distant and recent historical examples have been considered to make the point that science and technology are grand disruptors of boundaries, borders, and ways of life, and they have opened society’s eyes to new serious problems and realities. The paper points out that science and technology are well credited for this great diagnostic role, but have been frequently ignored for their role as solution producers. Numerous examples illustrate the fact that usually solutions are sought far from science and technology, or without their close cooperation, and this has been in fact the cause of failures. It is shown that science and technology are grand solution providers, and this is clear from the distant, recent, and current realities, where they have proven wrong all non-scientific solutions or doomsday predictions. It is concluded that no sound long term solution can be found when science and technology are not considered as a solution provider and as the pillar at the forefront of sustainable development, and this is even more so valid for the acute problems faced by the world today.

Nitric Oxide was once considered only as a compound that polluted the atmosphere. This was until when cyclic GMP signaling pathways were discovered, and this transformed this inorganic component from a harmful to a beneficial one for human health. This presentation shows how this signaling works, and the positive role of Nitric Oxides in numerous human health deficiencies.

Since 1973 the European Industry has been dealing with a growing regulatory pressure that obliged to generate additional cash flow to be invested in environmental protection -process and equipment- resulting in the correspondent increase of the operating costs without any or negligible financial compensation.
Nevertheless those policies have greatly contributed not only to the reduction of the pollutants and to the improvement of the quality of life but also they have been a driver for an unparalleled industrial sustainable development across the states members of the EU.
This presentation will review the regulatory steps and the contribution of the Copper industry to the above joint endeavor.

PART 2:
The role of science and technology as one of the most important pillars of sustainable development has been analysed within the new FLOGEN sustainability framework. Many distant and recent historical examples have been considered to make the point that science and technology are grand disruptors of boundaries, borders, and ways of life, and they have opened society’s eyes to new serious problems and realities. The paper points out that science and technology are well credited for this great diagnostic role, but have been frequently ignored for their role as solution producers. Numerous examples illustrate the fact that usually solutions are sought far from science and technology, or without their close cooperation, and this has been in fact the cause of failures. It is shown that science and technology are grand solution providers, and this is clear from the distant, recent, and current realities, where they have proven wrong all non-scientific solutions or doomsday predictions. It is concluded that no sound long term solution can be found when science and technology are not considered as a solution provider and as the pillar at the forefront of sustainable development, and this is even more so valid for the acute problems faced by the world today.

PART 3:
The role of science and technology as one of the most important pillars of sustainable development has been analysed within the new FLOGEN sustainability framework. Many distant and recent historical examples have been considered to make the point that science and technology are grand disruptors of boundaries, borders, and ways of life, and they have opened society’s eyes to new serious problems and realities. The paper points out that science and technology are well credited for this great diagnostic role, but have been frequently ignored for their role as solution producers. Numerous examples illustrate the fact that usually solutions are sought far from science and technology, or without their close cooperation, and this has been in fact the cause of failures. It is shown that science and technology are grand solution providers, and this is clear from the distant, recent, and current realities, where they have proven wrong all non-scientific solutions or doomsday predictions. It is concluded that no sound long term solution can be found when science and technology are not considered as a solution provider and as the pillar at the forefront of sustainable development, and this is even more so valid for the acute problems faced by the world today.

YILDIRIM Group is a global player in the metals and mining, port management, coal and coke, fertilizers and chemicals, energy, and maritime industries. In this presentation, an overview of the group will be provided, and its business sectors and global footprint will be outlined. A special focus will be given to the group vision and strategy for a sustainable growth, its current sustainable global growth, and an insight into its future plans. In particular, the corporate social responsibility projects in various countries around the world will be discussed, in order to provide an understanding of the company's role in sustainable development, and how YILDIRIM Group successfully achieves environmental awareness to minimize ecological impact.