A group of international scientists and scholars gathered at Florida Polytechnic University on Oct. 24 for the third annual USA-India Roundtable Conference and Workshop on Green Chemistry, Engineering and Technologies (GCET) to share ideas on the next generation of green and sustainable technologies.
The conference is a joint effort of Florida Poly, Panjab University in Chandigarh, India, and Florida-based Molekule Inc.
“I see very positive things going on,” said Florida Poly physics professor Dr. Sesha Srinivasan, conference organizing co-chair and project co-director of the Indo-US 21st Century Knowledge Initiative. “The planet earth is very fragile, and you can make many things more sustainable.”
He said GCET participants are focused on bringing forward cutting-edge research on green science and technology to further environmentally sound and sustainable practices across industries.
“We, as organizers of GCET-2019, continue to strive for creating strong networking platforms where great minds share their knowledge and passion for STEM, and strengthen the foundation for future collaborations between the two countries,” said Dr. Ganga Ram Chaudhary, conference organizing co-chair and project co-director of the Indo-US 21st Century Knowledge Initiative.
In the first three years of the universities’ collaboration, 29 research papers have been published and one patent has been filed.
“The reason why we’re here is we care about our students and their future,” said Dr. Nicoleta Hickman, division director of science, arts and mathematics (SAM) at Florida Poly. “They inspire us and teach us to be better.”
This is the second consecutive year that Florida Poly hosts the GCET conference. The event included a plenary talk about partnerships in higher education by Richard Boyum, university partnership coordinator at the U.S. Department of State. There also were presentations on several research posters and roundtable panel sessions on topics such as the health impacts of indoor air quality, nanotechnology for environmental sustainability, and greener and safer nanoparticles in environmental remediation.
“As we move into a time when our environmental considerations for our future become more important, this is where green science and green engineering and green technologies all become extremely important,” said Dr. Yogi Goswami, director of the Clean Energy Research Center at the University of South Florida. “Combining our strengths from the U.S. and from India makes us so much better. As all scientists know, by collaborating, you come up with ideas and thoughts you by yourself would not be able to.”
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