SABIC Demonstrates its Innovations at the 23rd National Symposium on Catalysis at Bengaluru

SABIC, a global leader in diversified chemicals, displayed its commitment to innovation through participation and sponsorship at the 23^rd National symposium on ‘Applied Catalysis in Emerging Technology in Chemicals’ held in Bengaluru from January 17-19. Janardhanan Ramanujalu, Vice President & Regional Head, SABIC South Asia & ANZ was the Guest of Honor and delivered the keynote address at the conference along with distinguished scientists of the country including Padma Vibhushan Dr. M.M. Sharma, Padma Shri Dr. G.D. Yadav and Dr. Anand. B. Halgeri, President, Catalysis Society of India.

Janardhanan Ramanujalu, in his keynote speech, shared his insights on sustainable development through catalysis, emphasizing on the need for cutting-edge research to find and create new catalysts. He highlighted the role of catalysis and catalyst’s role in developing, supporting the newer model of circular economy as well as SABIC’s strategic partnerships in India in the area of research. He remarked, “At SABIC, our goal is to collaborate with companies, as well as government and academia, to develop advanced materials and product solutions that can address regional and global challenges. In India, we have built strong relationships between industry and academia with various strategic collaborations including our collaboration with Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET) and with premier technology institutes in India to jointly work and support academic research done by PHD students in the chemical industry.”

Over 50 senior scientists from across SABIC including India, KSA and USA participated in the event, presented research papers, delivered plenary sessions on catalysis and newer technologies and participated in panel discussions on the future research in applied catalysis. Discussions included initiatives, progress and the path forward for development of catalysts and catalytic processes. Dr. Kishan Gurram, Director, T&I, SABIC South Asia and Dr. Rajeshwar Dongara, Sr. Manager, SABIC were also the key committee member for the symposium.

Dr. Fahad Al-Sherehy, Vice President, SABIC Corporate Technology and Innovation said,” At SABIC, we believe technology and innovation play a significant role in creating new solutions for the pressing issues in the world. Catalysis forms a major component of our research, contributing to our ongoing efforts to meet regional and global needs. We are pleased to participate in conferences like CATSYMP-23, which have provided a great platform for scientists, industry and academia to pool expertise to facilitate research in applied catalysis.”

Eminent scientists from leading chemical companies including SABIC, Reliance Industries, Shell, UOP, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum, BPCL, ONGC, Tata Chemicals, KAUST- KSA, top Indian research institutes such as Indian Institutes of Technology, CSIR labs (NCL, IICT, IIP), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, ICT, Indian Institute of Science, international universities including Cardiff University, United Kingdom, Monash University, Australia, Universitat Leipzig, Germany and Inha University, South Korea participated in the symposium. Over 500 research students in the field of catalysis also participated in the symposium.

Catalysis Society of India organizes the national symposium on catalysis once in every two years and the present symposium was the 23rd in the series (CATSYMP-23) held in Bengaluru.