Prof. Dr. Bruno G. Pollet has worked on Hydrogen Energy in the UK, Japan, South Africa, Norway, and Canada, and has both industrial and academic experience. He is currently a Full Professor of Chemistry, Co-Director of the Hydrogen Research Institute and Director of the Clean Hydrogen Lab at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in Canada. He also holds an NSERC Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Clean Hydrogen. He is a member of the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition, An Independent Advisory Council to the United Nations’ Secretary-General and the Council’s Hydrogen Task Force leader.

He is Executive Vice President of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IAHE), President of the Clean Hydrogen Division of the IAHE, Board member of the Canadian Hydrogen Association and Board member of the Canadian Hydrogen Safety Centre. He also sits on several industrial, research institution, and other association boards. He has over 400 publications, including peer-reviewed articles, conference papers, book chapters and books as an author and an editor

Dr. Shizhang Qiao is a Chair Professor, the founding Director of the Center for Materials in Energy and Catalysis (CMEC), and Director of ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Battery Recycling, at Adelaide University, Australia. His research expertise lies in nanostructured materials for electrocatalysis, batteries, and other new energy technologies. He has co-authored 600 papers in refereed journals with 155,600 citation times, resulting in an h-index of 204.

In recognition of his research achievements, Dr. Qiao has been awarded several prestigious awards, including inaugural ARC Industry Laureate Fellow (2023), the South Australian Scientist of the Year (2021), ARC Australian Laureate Fellow (2017), ExxonMobil Award (2016), and ARC Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award (DORA, 2013) among others.

He is an elected Fellow of Australian Academy of Science (FAA) and Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering (FTSE), a Fellow of the International Institute of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE), and the Royal Chemical Society (FRSC). Dr. Qiao is the Editor-in-Chief of EES Catalysis (RSC) and also recognized as a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher in three categories (Chemistry, Materials Science, Environment and Ecology).

Talk Title: Challenges and Opportunities for Earth Abundant Electrocatalysts in Water Electrolysers and Fuel Cells

Prof Chuan Zhao is a Professor and Australian Laureate Fellow in the School of Chemistry at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the Head of UNSW Nanoelectrochemistry Lab. He is also the Deputy Director of the ARC Training Centre for the Global Hydrogen Economy, the Deputy Research Director, Flagship Program Director and Sydney Node Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence on Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide, and the past Chair of the Electrochemistry Division Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI). Prof Zhao has over 15 years of experience in hydrogen research and has led significant commercialisation projects on water electrolysers and fuel cells. Prof Zhao is internationally recognised for his pioneering work in developing non-precious metal-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen production and utilisation. He has published over 400 high impact papers and is recognised as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher.

Prof Zhao has received numerous awards including the RACI HG Smith Memorial Award and R.H. Stokes Medal – the most distinguished Australian Award in Chemistry and Electrochemistry, respectivel, RACI Applied Research and Innovation Award, and the Liversidge Medal and Lectureship from the Royal Society of New South Wales. He is elected Fellow of Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering (FTSE), Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), Fellow of RACI (FRACI) and Fellow of Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN).