First International Congress on Sustainability Science and Engineering

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Sponsored by:  U.S. EPA, NSF, NIST, IEEE, University of Kentucky, AIChE Sustainable Engineering Forum
Supported by: ASME, ACS Green Chemistry Institute, IChemE
August 13, 2009: Workshop on Water Resources

The purpose of the Congress is to provide a common platform to practitioners of various physical and ecological sciences, engineering fields, economics, and social sciences for exchanging emerging ideas about ways and means of protecting the environment and its resource depletion so that humans can achieve sustained economic growth and societal benefits through generations. Products, processes and systems for sustainability are among the major focus of this conference.

Congress Areas of Focus include:

Structure of the Congress:

Sustainability has become a common currency in describing proactive plans and solutions in many scientific, engineering, and social science disciplines with no consensus on what sustainability means.  This congress is purposefully designed to bring experts from various disciplines so that it fosters an understanding of different points of view as they relate to products, processes and systems involving sustainability principles.  Over time the expectation is that the exchange of ideas through effective dissemination means will lead to uniquely identifiable common sustainability goals, approaches and methodologies that are radically different to begin with.  For instance, various sustainability metrics are used by the experts. The congress deliberations will lead, over time, to import of metrics used in one discipline to another so that a comprehensive set of metrics can be developed and used by all for a chosen system.  The particular disciplines encouraged to participate in this conference are chemistry, biological sciences, ecology, engineering (chemical, civil, mechanical, and material, environmental, architectural), agriculture, biotechnology, nanotechnology, power and energy technologies, economics, public health and safety, and social sciences.

All presentations are plenary, and the talks will be a mix of solicitated and unsolicitated contributions.  Paper sessions, panel discussions and open forum sessions are planned. The duration of the conference will be three full days.  The presenters and attendees will be from all three sectors: industry, academy, and the Government.  The international character will highlight the global nature of sustainability issues that are being discussed today. Opening session will set the stage for the conference representing scientific achievements and challenges from the academic, industrial, and legislative view points, while the concluding session will discuss and finalize the future work to be carried over.

Rationale and Target audience: 

The conference will encourage broad-based implementation of sustainability concepts and their measurement in industrial practice.  Selection criteria for solicited and un-solicited papers will include accomplishment and clarity of how sustainability as a paradigm is addressed or could be addressed. The best of the best will be represented in this congress and outcomes from the congress will provide a benchmark for the state of sustainability science in 2009. Selected papers from this congress will be published as an edited book. 

If you are engaged in scientific endeavors or engineering advancements that you believe can impact the state of sustainability implementation in providing the products and services required by society, you must plan to be part of this congress. 

Email ifs@aiche.org if you would like to become involved in planning and supporting the Congress.