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The 24th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering (GC&E) Virtual Conference is a wrap! Converted to a five-day virtual event due to the pandemic, the theme of the conference was “System-Inspired Design.” As a free, first-time virtual ACS conference, almost 5,000 people from 100 countries attended the week of June 15-19, 2020.
Each day of the conference started with a distinguished keynote speaker who gave attendees a different perspective on how advancing science can be done through green chemistry. During the week, participants watched the presentations of Bruce Lipshutz, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara; Thomas Jaramillo, Ph.D., Stanford University; Jeannette Garcia, Ph.D., IBM Research; and Jillian Goldfarb, Ph.D., Cornell University.
On Tuesday, the recipients of the 2020 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, in partnership with the American Chemical Society, were announced by EPA Assistant Administrator Alexandra Dapolito Dunn. The winners were Genomatica, Merck, Johns Manville, Vestaron and Steven Skerlos of the University of Michigan and Fusion Coolant Systems.
On Friday, we also heard from green chemistry and engineering early-career investigators. Over 900 attendees watched as David Allen, Ph.D., led a discussion with the 3rd Annual ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Lectureship Awardees. The recipients were Jonas Baltrusaitis, Ph.D., Lehigh University; Katalin Barta, Ph.D., Karl-Franzens University of Graz and University of Groningen; and Feng Wang, Ph.D., Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics.
A huge thanks to our gold & silver sponsors, including The ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable, celebrating their 15th anniversary. During the week, exhibitors had over 4,300 views and engagements with attendees.
On the final day, a moment of silence to commemorate Juneteenth was held. That evening, a Special Session: A Conversation on Diversity, Inclusion and Respect was held with Dorothy J. Phillips, Ph.D., ACS Board of Directors, and the ACS community to continue building on the commitment to our core values.
“The ACS GC&E Conference was a phenomenal success. It provided ACS with the opportunity to share green chemistry and engineering with a global audience of almost 5,000 attendees from 100 countries," said Thomas M. Connelly, Jr., CEO, American Chemical Society.
“The conference was a success, based on the high number of attendees and the overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees,” said Mary Kirchhoff, Executive Vice President, Scientific Advancement.
The complimentary conference sessions are available to watch on demand until Friday, September 25, 2020. For first-time viewers, register now to watch the sessions. A separate email will be sent with your log-in credentials.
Next year’s conference will be held June 14-16, 2021, in Reston, VA. The theme of the conference is “Sustainable Production to Advance the Circular Economy,” the second stage in the chemical life cycle.
