Mxene in Hydrogen Technology Unleashing the Power of Two-Dimensional Materials for Clean Energy

Dr. Pooja Devi is a Senior Principal Scientist at CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIR-CSIO). She did her M. Tech from IIT Roorkee and PhD from AcSIR, New Delhi. Her research focuses on the design of Materials for hydrogen production, water/air pollutants degradation, and monitoring of environmental contaminants.

Dr. Pooja has an impressive portfolio of over 102 research papers published in high-impact journals, and 23 book chapters. Her work has resulted into more than 4500 citations. She has also edited 7 books as lead editor, filed 3 patents, secured 2 design registrations, and 2 copyrights/trademarks. She has developed 4 technologies, with 2 successfully transferred to industry. Her contributions to science have been recognized through numerous prestigious awards, including the IIT Roorkee Distinguished Young Alumni Award (2024), NASI Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award (2021), INAE Young Engineer Award (2020), SERB Women Excellence Award (2020), IEI Young Engineer Award, and Haryana Yuva Vigyan Ratan Award (2019) among others. She has been honored with international fellowships such as the CSIR Raman Research Fellowship to visit Drexel University, USA; IUSSTF Water Advanced Research and Innovation (WARI) Fellowship, and the Canadian Commonwealth Fellowship. Dr. Pooja is also an active member of several national and international science academies, including the Global Young Academy (Germany), Indian National Academy of Engineers, Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, and Indian National Young Academy of Sciences. She has represented India in BRICS Young Scientist Conclave and the SCO Young Scientist Conclave. Recently, she was recognized among the Eminent 125 Women in Science by the CII Compendium and listed in the top 2% of researchers globally, according to a Stanford University and Elsevier study in 2022 and 2023. She is also prolific orator and delivered more than 72 talks at national and international platform, and is coordinating science outreach activities in Chandigarh and Haryana schools at her institute level.

Prof. Arafat received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati (Ohio, USA) in 2000. From 2000-2003, he worked as a researcher and project manager at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) (Illinois, USA). His research at ANL was focused on process development for nuclear waste treatment at DOE sites. Between 2003 and 2010, Dr. Arafat served as a faculty member at the Chemical Engineering Department at An-Najah University (Palestine). In 2010, he joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a visiting scholar for six months, after which he moved to Abu Dhabi (UAE) where he now works at Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. He is a recipient of several prestigious international awards and international research fellowships, including the USA Department of Energy (DOE) Secretarial Honor Award and the Mondialogo Engineering Award, awarded jointly by Daimler AG and UNESCO. He is also the recipient of 16 grants totaling USD $10M. He is an author of 70+ book chapters and peer-reviewed journal papers and 80+ conference papers. The focus of Dr. Arafat's research interests is on sustainable and autonomous desalination processes, the development of novel membranes for desalination and the development of sustainable solid waste management strategies. Dr. Arafat serves on the editorial board of many international peer- reviewed journals

Yury Gogotsi is a globally prominent scientist, born in Ukraine, who focuses primarily on materials chemistry and electrochemistry. He currently works as a chaired Distinguished University Professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia in materials science, engineering, and nanotechnology fields. He also holds the position of Director of the A. J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute. During his career he has received numerous awards for his research, including the S. Somiya Award from the International Union of Materials Research Societies, the Materials Research Society Medal, the Chemistry of Materials Award from the American Chemical Society, the Ceramic Prize form the World Academy of Ceramics, and many others.