IEX2020 - A Vision for the Future

Carl Atkinson / EDF Energy

Carl Atkinson has more than 40 years’ experience in the power generation industry. He attained his Masters degree in chemistry in 2003 and is currently working towards a PhD part time with the University of Sheffield the subject of which is ion exchange. He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is a Chartered Chemist and a Chartered Scientist.

Rob Brown / University of Huddersfield

Rob graduated in Chemistry from the University of Birmingham and followed with PhD work in physical chemistry. For the last 20 years he has held positions at the University of Huddersfield. His research has been in green chemistry, developing solid acid and base catalysts to replace traditional liquid catalysts in fine chemicals synthesis.

Michael Cox / University of Hertfordshire

Michael Cox graduated from University College London with a PhD in inorganic chemistry (1962) in 1972 he was appointed Professor of Applied Chemistry at the University of Hertfordshire and currently has the titles Professor Emeritus and Fellow of the University. His research has led to the award of the Kurnakov Gold Memorial Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1992); the SCI/DECHEMA Carl Hanson medal for research in solvent extraction (2012), and the SCI Ion Exchange award (2016). He has contributed to the Cambridge IEx conferences since 1992 and was chairman of the organising committee in 2002.

Klaus-Dieter Topp / DuPont Water Solutions

Dr. Klaus-Dieter Topp completed his PhD in chemistry at the University of Paderborn in 1996. He has started his career in 1997 in the sales of ion exchange resins. At the end of 2004, he became technical manager for Catalysis applications in EMEA. In 2012, he also took over responsibilities in Chemical Processing.

Nicki Edwards / Purolite

Nicki is the Purolite Sales’ Office Manager for the UK/Northern Ireland and South African territories. She joined Purolite in 1985 as PA to the Managing Director, when the company was established in the UK. She went on to graduate from the University of Glamorgan in 1999 with a MBA (European Business).

Gareth Jones / Ovivo UK Ltd

Gareth Jones joined UKAEA as an apprentice in 1974.  During this time at UKAEA he gained a BSc in Mechanical Engineering.  He joined Rolls-Royce in 1985 working on Nuclear Decommissioning projects, during which time he became a Chartered Engineer and obtain an MBA from Newcastle University. In 1997  he was transferred to Kennicott (now Ovivo) as a Senior Manager overseeing the Installation and Commissioning Department, he is currently the Senior Manager for Ovivo UK Parts and Service.

Petra Raab / Lanxess Deutschland GmbH

Petra Sophie Raab started her career in Ion Exchange Resins in 1992 after a 3 years training in business administration at Bayer. In 2001 she joined the Biocides Business at Bayer - later Lanxess - as Sales and Key Account Manager before returning to the Ion Exchange Business in 2010. Petra is currently assuming various tasks as Sales and Project Manager for Ion Exchange Resins and Membranes in Europe.

Basu Saha / London South Bank University

Prof. Basu Saha is the Head of Centre for Energy and Environment Research in the School of Engineering at London South Bank University (LSBU). He completed his PhD in the area of ion exchange catalysis in 1996. He was a Visiting Professor in the University of Barcelona, Spain; Saga University, Japan and University of Burgos, Spain. Previously, he worked in the Chemical Engineering department of Loughborough University as a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Reader for about 14 years before joining LSBU in 2010.

Tuomo Sainio / Lappeenranta University of Technology

Prof. Tuomo Sainio completed his D.Sc. degree at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in 2005. He currently holds the professorship on Separation Processes at LUT focusing on adsorption, ion exchange, chromatography and liquid-liquid extraction. The applications of interest include metals separation and recycling as well as separation of biobased molecules.

Clive Thompson, SCI / ALS Laboratories (UK) Limited

K. Clive Thompson obtained his degree (Chemistry) and Ph.D. (Analytical Chemistry) from Imperial College and is Chief Scientist at ALS, Life Sciences UK. He is also Visiting Professor at East London University (Water Engineering). He has helped to organise a significant number of UK and international conferences; has published over 55 peer-reviewed papers; edited a number of books and was awarded the2003 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) Environmental Medal

Rob Terrell, SCI / Industrial Water Consultants Ltd

Rob Terrell joined ICI in 1975 having completed a PhD at the University of Nottingham. After 6 years in research and operations, he moved to become an internal consultant in water treatment before being appointed Company Water Technology Manager in 1989. Following the demise of ICI, he joined ABB Consulting, becoming an external consultant in industrial water treatment to a range of companies internationally. Rob established the IEX training course in 2008, before chairing the Organising Committee for IEX2016 and now IEX2020.