On November 19-20th, 2020, the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) hosted the “International Workshop on Nanotechnology for a Sustainable Future”. This virtual workshop brought together world leaders in nanotechnology to address current global issues, to meet United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) in nanotechnology & society, policy and science diplomacy, industry & innovation, energy & environment, devices for healthcare & communications, resource management and the circular economy.
Researchers and governmental officials from four continents presented at this workshop including representatives from Japan’s Science & Technology Agency (JST), the University of Sydney Nanotechnology Institute in Australia, and Nanotechnology research hubs in the Netherlands, and WIN members, researchers from other Canadian universities, and Canadian funding agency representatives.
Prof. Jatin Nathwani (Executive Director, WISE) was one of the speakers who gave a talk on the unique challenges of a global energy transition to a clean energy future. The talk highlighted the need for accelerating critical investments in a circular economy enhanced through digitalization and technological innovations.
Another guest speaker from the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE) was Prof. Linda Nazar (Chemistry). She holds the Canada Research Chair in Solid State Energy Materials, received the honour for her advancements in battery systems and clean energy storage. Her efforts are contributing to breakthroughs in the design of electric vehicles and other clean-energy technology. Nazar ranks within the top one per cent of scientists worldwide for the number of academic citations received within their subject field. Nazar was also named a Thomson Reuters’ Highly Cited Researcher, and is on their 2014 list of Most Influential Scientific Minds.