His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, will attend the opening of the 15th International Workshop on Advanced Materials (IWAM).

IWAM will bring together prominent scientists from internationally acclaimed educational institutions for three days of lectures, discussions and poster sessions on how advanced materials are helping shape the future.

A Nobel Prize winner and advanced materials scientists from institutions such as the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in the UK, the University of New South Wales in Australia, and the Max Planck Institute in Germany, will descend on Ras Al Khaimah’s Mövenpick Resort Al Marjan Island, from February 19 to 21 for the Workshop.

IWAM has grown considerably in recent years, with organisers Ras Al Khamiah Centre for Advanced Materials (RAKCAM) receiving almost 450 submissions to present at this year’s event, which will bring together more than 200 scientists, professors, researchers and students. The event has also been growing in popularity in the UAE, with over 100 local attendees registered this year, mainly from universities across the country.

IWAM is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Saud, who views science as a driver of the innovations that will contribute to the advancement of humanity and help shape a bright future for generations to come. Education is also fundamental to his vision for a sustainable future for Ras Al Khaimah, and IWAM plays a vital role in engaging students from across Ras Al Khaimah and the UAE in scientific subject matter that can inspire them to be a part of the story of building Ras Al Khaimah’s future.

Some of the key elements of this year’s event include a student engagement program organised with support from the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research; visits from scientists to Ras Al Khaimah companies in an effort to bridge the gap between science and industry; and the prestigious Sheikh Saud International Prize, given to those who have excelled in the field of advanced materials.

Elsewhere on the programme, Veena Sahajwalla, of the School of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of New South Wales, who is known as Australia’s ‘Queen of Waste’, will be delivering a talk on ‘A smart vision for a sustainable future’, which will focus on how sustainable materials and products can be created from waste.

Advanced Materials include metals, ceramics and polymers that are either new or enhanced beyond their original state, and they can be found in mobile phones, other electronics, composites and coatings, energy systems, membranes and sensors, among other materials. These materials have the potential to revolutionise many industries, such as aerospace, transport, construction and healthcare, as they can help lower carbon footprints and energy demand, as well as limit the need for raw materials.

Among other speakers in attendance are Robert Hoye, of the Department of Chemistry at Oxford University, UK, who will be talking about the future of photovoltaics, which convert sunlight into electricity, much like solar panels, and Shirley Meng, of the Laboratory for Energy Storage & Conversion at the University of Chicago, USA, who will deliver the annual Dresselhaus Memorial Lecture on how we can design better materials for future batteries.