Georgia Institute of Technology Professors William J. Koros and Satish Kumar have been invited to speak at the 2014 TechConnect World Innovation Symposium in Washington DC on June 15th – 18th.  Held in conjunction with the National SBIR Conference and the 3rd annual National Innovation Summit and Showcase, TechConnect World is the world’s largest multi-disciplinary multi-sector conference comprised of private industry, government and academic innovators and technology business developers, and funders. The annual conference is sponsored by TechConnect, a technology development organization whose goal is to match emerging technology innovators with investment and production opportunities.

Koros is currently the Roberto C. Goizueta Chair and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Membranes at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Professor Koros joined the School of Chemical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2001. He has published over 350 articles and holds 14 US Patents in the areas of sorption and transport of small molecules in membranes, barrier materials and sorbents. His research has been recognized by the AIChE Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology in 1995 and the AIChE Separation Division Clarence Gerhold Award in 1999. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2000, and was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 2002 and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2003. In 2008, Koros received the Alan S. Michaels Award for Innovation in Membrane Science and Technology from the North American Membrane Society. He also received the William H. Walker Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering Publications in 2010, and in 2011 he was selected as the 63rd AICHE Institute Lecturer. Professor Koros will be presenting “Nanotechnology-Enabled Expansion of the Boundaries on Large Scale Low Energy Intensity Separations,” on Tuesday, June 17th.

Kumar is a Professor with the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He received his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India and obtained his post-doctoral experience in Polymer Science and Engineering under the tutelage of Professor R. S. Stein at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He conducted research as a foreign collaborator at C.E.N.G., Grenoble France. During 1984-89, he worked in the Polymer Branch at the Air Force Research Laboratory, WPAFB OH. He joined Georgia Institute of Technology in 1989. His current research and teaching interests are in the areas of structure, processing, and properties of polymers, fibers, and composites with a focus on carbon nanotubes and other nano materials. He has conducted fiber processing and structure-property studies on a broad range of polymers including synthetic and natural polymers, as well as carbon fibers. Kumar will present “Developments in and Potential of Polymer Nanocomposites,” on Wednesday, June the 18th.

TechConnect World 2014 will be held at the Gaylord Convention Center from June the 15th through the 18th. For abstract information, click the title links in the above article. For more information and registration, please follow this link to the TechConnect World website.