Boron Separation Processes

different institutions and conferences as invited in Japan, Europe, India, Australia, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, S.Africa, Abu-Dhabi and Chile. She supervised 40 graduate students on water/wastewater treatment issue. She has got the following awards: TUBITAK-science promotion award in engineering field (2001), Canon Foundation in Europe Award (2001), SCI-IEX Award (2012). Professor Marek Bryjak is working at Wroclaw University of Technology since 1982 where he graduated in 1977, received his PhD in 1982 and awarded DSc degree in 2001 for studies on application of polymers to separation processes. He underwent post-doc fellowship at Centre for Surface Science, Lehigh University USA in 1989-1991 and later visited universities in Chile, Czech Rep, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, UK, Ukraine and USA. He was the Head of Department of Speciality Polymers and Department of Polymer and Carbon Materials. He was the President of Membrane Section, Polish Chemical Society and was one of the initiators of the Permea conference - the meeting of academia and industry membranologists' from Central European and other countries. He is the member of European Center for Innovation and Technology and Center of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology. Professor Bryjak authored and co-authored about 70 scientific papers, 6 chapters and edited two books. He supervised 5 PhD and 75 MSc theses, gave about 60 invited lectures and participated in 12 projects. His scientific interest is focused on development of methods for formation of polymer membranes or/and their surface modification (preferably by plasma treatment), preparation and evaluation of new separation materials, and implementation of these materials to water technology. Professor Nidal Hilal holds a chair in Water Process Engineering and the Director of Centre for Water Advanced Technologies and Environmental Research (CWATER) at Swansea University in the United Kingdom. He obtained a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wales in 1988. In addition to three years of industrial experience, he has worked continuously in academia since graduation in 1981. Over the years, he has made a major contribution becoming an internationally leading expert in the application of atomic force microscopy to chemical and process engineering, particularly in water resources development. His research interests lie broadly in the identification of innovative and cost-effective solutions to real world process engineering problems within the fields of nano-water, membrane technology, water treatment including desalination, colloid engineering and the nano-engineering applications of atomic force microscopy. Professor Hilal is internationally recognized as a world-leader in developing and applying the force measurement capability of AFM to the study of membrane separation and engineering processes at the nanoscale level. In recognition of his outstanding research contribution in the field of Scanning Probe Microscopy and Membrane Science &Technology he was awarded a DSc (Doctor of Science) from University of Wales in 2005. The world-leading reputation for research that Professor Hilal has earned in the fields of membrane technology and water treatment have now been formally recognized by the award of the prestigious Kuwait Prize of Applied Science for Water Resources Development for the year 2005. This has been awarded by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). This prize is one of the highest scientific honours which are awarded in the Middle East for intellectual achievement. Professor Hilal's research has produced several breakthrough innovations with applicability to water purification and treatment, including the development of novel membranes; the first demonstration to the world that nanofiltration membranes have pores; the smallest AFM colloid probe reported in the literature; the first AFM coated colloid probe technique; the first AFM cell probe technique; the first AFM Calcium Carbonate probe technique to study Desalination; the first direct measurements of the interaction of single live cells with surfaces; the first use of AFM in meso-scale cavitation studies. This work has led to the development of a ground-breaking AFM-HSMP technique that combines AFM force-distance measurements with ultra-high speed micrography to study rheology and extensional fluid properties. All these techniques/technologies have widespread applications in process optimisation and the development of novel processes. While of great importance to process engineering in general, the ability of these techniques to quickly and accurately predict the performance characteristics of novel water filtration membranes can truly be regarded as a breakthrough in water purification technology. Professor Hilal pioneered the application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to process engineering problems. These studies have led, for example, to the use of AFM in the development of new membranes with optimised properties for difficult separations. He has recently published a pioneering book on Atomic Force Microscopy and Nano-Process Engineering by Elsevier in 2009 and a book entitled Membrane Modification: Technology and Applications by CRC press in 2012. He has also published 4 textbooks, 27 book chapters and around 300 articles in the refereed scientific literature. Professor Hilal is the Editor-in-Chief for the international journal Desalination and on the editorial boards of a number of international journals, and is a member of the advisory boards of several multinational organizations. He is a registered European Engineer, a Chartered Engineer in the UK and a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. Professor Hilal has served on and has carried out extensive consultancy for industry, government departments, research councils and universities on an international basis.