Call for Papers

Please contact the symposium organizers with questions.

At present the waste produced from discarded consumer electronics, medical devices, and packaging materials is tremendous and unsustainable. For example, according to a recent UN report, as much as 50 million metric tons of consumer e-waste a year is produced globally, of which only 20% is recycled. Similarly, hospitals generate ~5 million metric tons of medical waste (around 29 pounds per bed per day). Even grimmer statistics exist for plastics – a ubiquitous class of materials. The world produces ~400 million metric tons each year and the majority of it is either dumped in dumping grounds or incinerated. Development of biodegradable and sustainable materials is therefore crucial for establishing a circular economy and for solving the grave global challenges associated with pollution and climate change. In this context, materials science and engineering plays a critical role. Emerging demonstrations of biodegradable electronics and packaging materials illustrate the power of innovation in materials in developing sustainable, bio-friendly alternatives to conventional, toxic, and non-recyclable products.

This symposium will focus on the fundamental and applied research in the area of biodegradable, resorbable, and sustainable materials. It will cover a broad range of research areas that encompass advances in polymer science, green chemistry, device design engineering, computational modelling of biodegradable materials, and sustainable fabrication processes. Topics of interest include but are not limited to biodegradable and sustainable electronics, sensors, energy sources, and packaging materials. The proposed symposium will thus provide a unique avenue to share ideas amongst researchers from disparate domains spanning materials synthesis and processing, computational materials science, and device fabrication who share a common goal of reducing waste and establishing a sustainable world economy.

Topics will include:

• Understanding the thermodynamics and kinetics controlling biodegradation of materials
• Computational modelling of biodegradable materials and predicting device performance
• New biodegradable and sustainable materials and composites
• Sustainable manufacturing processes
• Biodegradable and sustainable electronics
• Biodegradable and sustainable optoelectronics
• Bioresorbable implants
• Biodegradable and sustainable energy storage systems
• Biodegradable and sustainable energy harvesters
• Biodegradable and sustainable sensors
• Green electronics or zero-waste electronics

Invited Speakers (tentative):

• Xudong Wang (University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA)
• Yufeng Zheng (Peking University, China)
• Magnus Berggren (Linköping University, Sweden)
• John Rogers (Northwestern University, USA)
• Liangbing Hu (University of Maryland, USA)
• Mihai Irimia-Vladu (Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Austria)
• Martin Kaltenbrunner (Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Austria)
• Ravinder Dahiya (Northeastern University, USA)
• Suk-Won Hwang (Korea University, Republic of Korea)
• Clara Santato (Polytechnique Montréal, Canada)
• Peter Zalar (TNO, Netherlands)
• Markus Niederberger (ETH Zürich, Switzerland)
• Mario Caironi (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy)
• Fabio Cicoira (Polytechnique Montréal, Canada)
• John Fisher (University of Maryland, USA)
• Aaron Franklin (Duke University, USA)
• Eric Glowacki (CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Czech Republic)
• Ximin He (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
• Seung-Kyun Kang (Seoul National University, Republic of Korea)
• Zhou Li (Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)
• Chase Linsey (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
• Helen Lu (Columbia University, USA)
• Victoria Piunova (Loliware Inc, USA)
• Vladimir Pozdin (Florida International University, USA)
• Xinge Yu (City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)
• Yi Zhang (University of Connecticut, USA)
• Xuanhe Zhao (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)

Symposium Organizers