SUMMIT PLENARY

Confucius wrote that “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.” But as the world strives towards a cleaner and greener economy, confusion is as rife as ever.
Climate and environmental sciences are riddled with jargon and contradictory studies. The concept of a ‘circular economy’ and the modelling of ‘carbon footprints’ have failed to inspire the general population. Today, the divide between policy makers, activists and members of the public is a gaping chasm.

But as the search for a sustainable way of life tumbles on, we ask: where will the waste go?


In the fast-moving world of technology and innovation, it takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place. Take Moore’s Law as an example – the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles about every two years. In other words: today’s technology and gadgets are tomorrow’s outdated scrap.

But at what cost? As we move from one technology to another, in a world landscaped by ever-changing political moods, a great deal can be lost in translation. Take for example the transition to electric vehicles – which currently rely on Lithium-Ion batteries for the storage and delivery of electricity. Is the transition from fossil fuel to electricity as clean as we think it is?

Current automotive technology is using lead-acid batteries – a product which is synonymous with pollution because it works hand-in-hand with petrol and diesel engines. As for the recycling of lead batteries (i.e. smelting), this activity is considered by some as being the world’s most polluting industry.¹

But isn’t the lead-acid battery also known as the world’s most recycled commodity product?²

In the US, almost 100% of these batteries are collected and recycled. The same cannot be said for Lithium-Ion batteries – which are currently nowhere near as recycled as lead-acid batteries. Moreover, electric vehicles are only as clean as the electricity they run on. Indeed, if we burn coal to produce electricity then all we have done is to shift the carbon footprint from the vehicle to the point of production of electricity.

The lead-acid battery was invented in 1859 – that is, before the mechanical generation of electricity. As a product, it has been around for more than 150 years. Its market share is expected to reach $95 billion USD by 2026.³ Lead batteries can support tomorrow’s Cleantech industry and our transition to a zero-waste future. But for this to happen, the incumbent lead recycling industry must become cleaner, more energy-efficient and less wasteful.

In this presentation, we explore the concept of producing materials from waste (as opposed to energy from waste) using as an example a low-temperature process for the recycling of lead-acid battery waste. The philosophy of looking at waste as resources with exploitable value is considered. An industrial concept for the utilisation of battery waste, municipal waste, mineral acid and base waste, plastics and carbon capture is debated in the context of our current and future economy.

Since 1950 when the author began studying electron-transfer reactions it has been a long journey with many adventures. In this presentation a history of these adventures will be described including the role of surrounding solvent molecules in the rate of redox reactions—oxidation/reduction reactions and the parabola description of the relationship between the driving force of an electron-transfer reaction and the reaction’s rate as well as the recent developments.

Basic Scientific Research, although abstract and not so easily understood from the general public, affect greatly the quality of human life. There is in fact a direct link between basic research and the quality of life; and this link is described in this presentation along with various examples from the history and present time.

The world is facing numerous challenges in relation to achieving a sustainable future for the planet. At the same time, these challenges are also opportunities. A direct link is drawn between challenges and opportunities, and various actions that humanity should take and prioritize according to their relevance, and current and future importance.

The human immune system uses the final products of oxidative stress to protect the human body from bacterial or virus infections. However, an excess of oxidative stress is closely related to almost all diseases such as cancer, dementia/ Alzheimer’s disease, sleep apnea, reproductive and intestinal irregularities as well as aging. These pathologies are caused by free radical species that are results of the effect of transition metals, ischemia/reperfusion, drugs, inflammation, and environmental factors such as iron. As such, controlling the oxidative stress is of extreme importance to prevent the above diseases in healthy persons or treat them on persons that currently suffer from these diseases. This presentation makes a description of oxidative stress and its proven relation with various diseases and gives different methods of controlling it through antioxidative agents. The results of using a particularly strong antioxidant named Twendee X consisting of vitamins and a complex of amino acids as a possibility to prevent or treat the above mentioned diseases are also presented as an example.

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.

On 20 May 2019, the definitions of all the base units that comprise the International System of Units (SI) are derived from constants of nature like the speed of light and Avogadro’s number instead of human-made artifacts. The kilogram, the SI base unit that was the oldest is now defined in terms of the Planck constant instead of the platinum-iridium cylinder known as “The Big K”. The redefinition of the kilogram became possible as a result of the ground-breaking discovery of the quantum Hall effect in 1980 by the author who subsequently received for this discovery the Nobel Prize in Physics five years later. The history, challenges and making of the new kilogram is presented along with its importance.

Popular films and real-world case studies were used to convey to senior chemistry majors a wide range of ethical dilemmas, principles and moral reasoning similar to what they may face as professionals and leaders in science. Students learned about ethics and diversity in science through movies and national case studies in science as the vehicle for analysis and reflection. This program facilitated and increased the rate of comprehension of ethical issues by showing how characters in films confront issues, make choices, and face the consequences. This drew from a variety of cases and experiences in scientific ethics and diversity. The project reveals the important role that ethics plays in the moral foundation of a science-based business or corporation. Students studied ethical dilemmas raised in films and in newspapers, and they enjoyed learning about the examples from actual cases. Results of a mindset survey administered at the beginning and end of the semester revealed a significant change in the students’ mindsets, toward greater flexibility and accepting diversity in people.

The recent development of technology and artificial intelligence has brought the industrial development at an equivalent of fourth revolution or in other terms at the level 4.0. With this high speed of development, the humanity values risk to be overlooked and the new technologies may be harmful to human values. In this presentation, the need to balance industrial revolution 4.0 to an equal humanity development, or Humanity 4.0, will be discussed.

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 soon. The continuation of fossil fuel emissions will be environmentally deleterious, and there is already 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 be developed. 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. Nano, nano-structured and nano-hybrid materials systems and nanotechnologies have also been deployed with significant impact. 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. Keywords: Transformative materials and technologies, nano,

Voice coil motors (VCM) and spindle motors in hard disc drives (HDD), speakers, vibration motors and autofocus cameras in smartphones all need neodymium - iron - boron (Nd-Fe-B) permanent magnets (PMs) in order to function. Compressors in air conditioners employ Nd-Fe-B PMs as well. Every kind of electric vehicle or robot makes use of Nd-Fe-B PMs to improve efficiency and to become more compact. So far, no alternative material was found to replace those specific PMs. In this sense, it is no exaggeration to say that rare earth iron (R-Fe) PMs sustain the world.
Who invented the R-Fe PMs? The Nd-Fe-B sintered magnet was first pointed out by the author whereas Nd-Fe-B melt spun magnets were discovered by J. Croat, both in 1982, and samarium - iron -nitrogen (Sm-Fe-N) magnets were sorted out by T. Iriyama in 1987. M. Sagawa and T. Iriyama were both beginners in the field of permanent magnets upon the time of each invention. After each invention, industrial production soon followed while fundamental research on R-Fe PMs has developed tremendously in the world.
To sustain the world using R-Fe PMs, it is important to eliminate concerns about resources of rare earths. For this purpose, M. Sagawa has been engaged in the development of two processes; one for eliminating the usage of dysprosium (Dy) for high coercivity Nd-Fe-B magnets used for electric vehicles (EVs) and another for a process aiming at a perfect net shape process. After sintering, no machining is necessary for usage in motors. In the meantime, T. Iriyama is engaged in developing high performance Sm-Fe-N bonded magnets to use the surplus of the Sm resource as a result of an extremely high demand for Nd. Because it is important to recycle the rare earths, technologies capable of recycling 100% of rare earths from all applications of R-Fe PMs will be established soon. The development of high coercivity Nd-Fe-B PMs containing no Dy will be achieved in a few years, and there will be no concern any longer about rare earth resources. Actually, there is no concern about the resource of Nd that may last for 1000 years.

FLOGEN Sustainability Framework determines in details the role of the 3 pillars or actors that, depending of their actions, make possible or prohibit the simultaneous achievement of the 3 criteria of sustainability. Among the 3 pillars, which are (1) Science and Technology, (2) Governance and Management and (3) Education and Civil Society, the Science and Technology has priority. This is because science and technology with their developments disrupt society routine and serve as a basis for good government and management decisions, for reinventing education as well as reorienting civil society activities. Frequently though, the science and technology are paid lip service when decision makers say they make decisions based on science thus recognizing its role. Furthermore, the role of science and technology as a solution provider is almost ignored. In fact, the role of science is equally supporting, disrupting but also a grand solution provider. The paper proves that they are both equal sides of the same medal and an intrinsic relation exist between all the above components and conclude that there is a strong bonding force that links and brings them together
(Part 1), (Part 2) and (Part 3)

Entrepreneurship is important but technological entrepreneurship is key to world prosperity and peace. While entrepreneurship is undertaking risk to build a profitable business in any field and help the society, technological entrepreneurship is undertaking risk to create something new for the society that will help it in long term. The role of technological entrepreneurship in achieving prosperity and peace in the world is highlighted and conclusions are drawn for its support from society.

In this expanding global sustainability era, the role of the lawyer has expanded as well; and therefore, an attorney’s involvement in the day-to-day operations of an enterprise requires diversified skills. Lawyers must be able to turn around immediate advice and grasp all facts, in addition to obtaining full knowledge of operations and goals of the enterprise to give effective and comprehensive legal and business advice.
This paper gives an overview of the requisite skills in this era and provides a look at the modern lawyer’s role in any organization to maximize profits and minimize liabilities in the next generation.

I am honored to be here in two capacities:
In my capacity as Honorary Council of Canada to Cyprus, I extend the best wishes to all the participants on behalf of High Canadian High Commissioner for Cyprus Mark Allen.
In my capacity as the Art and Executive director of the Centre of Visual Arts and Research, I am honored and humbled to be among you at this high-level scientific conference. As an Art Director, I am fascinated by the breadth, sophistication and quality of research hosted under SIPS2019. Indeed, its through such initiatives that a sustainable future can be built and maintained.
In my both capacities, I wish you a fruitful stay and enjoy Cyprus, that Euripides once described as a land where there are graces and there is desire.