Sustainable Growth through Process Innovation and Downstream Integration is the overriding theme of the 4th Middle East Process Engineering Conference and Exhibition (MEPEC 2017), to be held under the patronage of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, H.R.H. Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Oct. 9–11, 2017, at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.
The biennial MEPEC — launched in 2011 by AIChE’s Saudi Arabia Local Section, and with AIChE as one of its main supporting organizations — has emerged as a popular and influential conference for process engineers in the Arabian Gulf Region. Conference organizers anticipate attendance by an international audience of more than 2,500 engineers, researchers, and business and technology leaders, who will exchange practical experiences in all areas of process engineering and discuss technical solutions to challenges faced by the region’s industries.
Scores of speakers will explore topics related to process design and development, manufacturing and operational excellence, sustainability, and downstream integration for value creation — at technical sessions, keynote talks, poster presentations, and other events. MEPEC also incorporates an exhibition with more than 200 exhibiting organizations. A highlight of the exhibition is MEPEC’s Innovation and Commercialization Zone, which gives startup companies, universities, and researchers a platform to demonstrate new inventions, proof-of-concept designs, and innovative products, for the benefit of the region’s process engineers.
Several special events are co-located with MEPEC 2017, including the AIChE Center for Chemical Process Safety’s (CCPS) Middle East Process Safety Conference. The CCPS conference is dedicated to advancing operational excellence in the Middle East’s chemicals and petrochemicals industries through the effective management of risk and reliability. The event aims to define, through the collective experience of the participants, the engineering practices and leadership traits that drive industry to a zero-harm culture.
New at MEPEC 2017
Debuting at MEPEC 2017 is the Middle East Fine and Specialty Chemicals Conference and Exhibition, which will provide a regional forum for petrochemical suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and potential investors to showcase their products and share knowledge and experience across the entire value chain.
Another new program is the Leadership Excellence for Women Awards and Symposium, which is dedicated to recognizing the innovations and leadership contributions of women working in the oil and gas industries across the research, business, and technical sectors.
The conference also features a mentoring component — ChemME — that is designed to nurture and engage young professionals and recent chemical engineering graduates from the region. Undergraduate AIChE members from 15 universities in the Middle East will also participate in a regional AIChE Chem-E-Car® Competition.
Up-to-date program and registration information is available at www.mepec.org.