The Nanotechnology Center for Education and Research hosted on September 22 and 23, 2022 scientists from 7 European countries and the USA at the 1st Baltic Symposium on Polymer and (Bio)Materials Science: From Materials Design to Advanced Structures oraganized by the Department of Polymer and Biomaterials Science of the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering under the honorary Patronage of Rector of the University, Prof. Jacek Wróbel who officially opened the symposium together with the dean of the Faculty, Prof. rafał Rakoczy. During the intensive two-day sessions, 64 scientists from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Romania, Italy, Poland and the USA had the opportunity to present the latest developments in the design of polymers, hydrogels, biomaterials, composites and nanomaterials, as well as in materials engineering research methods used to evaluate their structure and properties.
Plenary and keynote lectures were gived by:
· Prof. Julius Vancso (Twente University, NL) How can “smart” organometallic hydrogels learn and forget
· Prof. Judit E. Puskas (The Ohio State University, USA) Green polymer science: enzyme catalysis
· Prof. Lars Magnus Bjursten (Lund University, Sweden) Why is it difficult to transfer in vitro biocompatibility data to in vivo experience?
· Prof. Matteo Gigli (Ca’Foscari University of Venice, IT) Lignin-based nanomaterials for advanced applications
· Prof. Wojciech Święszkowski (Warsaw University of Technology, Poland) Advanced biofabrication for tissue engineering
An important highlight of the Symposium was the discussions at the 34 poster papers presented during the poster sessions. The jury selected the winners of the best 3 posters - among them were a student of the 'alpha-Reactive' Scientific Club, Iskenderbek Ilchiev (Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering) and a doctoral student, Marta Woroszylo from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Animal Husbandry at ZUT, and a doctoral student, Dominik Wołosz from Warsaw University of Technology. The intensive scientific program was made more enjoyable with a concert by the "Karlowicz Quartet" string quartet. The symposium, which was the first of the international conferences oragnized stationary at ZUT after the period of pandemic restrictions, showed that the Szczecin scientific community in the field of polymer and biomaterials engineering is an important point on the national and international map of science. Participants have already accepted the invitation of the Chair of the Organizing Committee, Prof. Miroslawa El Fray, to the next meeting, which will be held in two years' time, thus making this event a cyclical conference.
