Dr. Lau Phei Li, Dr Tracey Elliot, Professor Graham Kendall, Professor Martyn Poliakoff, Professor Stephen Doughty, Lee Ching Heong
The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) recently hosted the Royal Society’s Rutherford Lecture which was given by Professor Martyn Poliakoff Foreign Secretary and Vice-President of the Royal Society and Research Professor in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham, UK.
The lecture titled, “Engineering a Better World through Green Chemistry” attracted key decision makers in the chemical and petroleum industry, staff and students from UNMC. Professor Poliakoff explained that Green Chemistry was invented roughly 20 years ago and aims at finding ways to make chemicals in a sustainable way.
During his lecture Professor Poliakoff said, “World population is rapidly increasing and consumption has also increased and today we are better connected globally that ever before. However, 1.3 billion people remain profoundly poor and scientists across the world need to find more efficient ways of providing for these people. Green Chemistry offers a way to increase global access to chemicals and offers the means to do this more efficiently.”
Professor Poliakoff went on to explain that, “Researchers in green chemistry are finding ways to produce chemicals from non-food, plant based material so that we don’t use oil based feed stock, thereby avoiding waste of food supplies.”
His presentation also highlighted Professor Poliakoff’s recent efforts in setting up Driving Innovation in Chemistry & Engineering (DICE) which is a new partnership between chemistry and chemical engineering across the university.
Professor Poliakoff also touched on the success of his Periodic Table videos that have now had over 27 million views worldwide on YouTube.
The lecture was chaired by Professor Stephen Doughty, Vice Provost (Teaching and Learning) at UNMC. Professor Graham Kendall, Vice Provost (Research and Knowledge Transfer) also attended the lecture.
The University of Nottingham is renowned for its scientific excellence, with a broad portfolio of chemistry-based degree courses and engages industry partners in its research exercise. Recently, the University announced £12m (RM 58.8m) a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to establish a new laboratory to accommodate a Centre of Excellence for sustainable chemistry, and to construct an innovative carbon neutral sustainable chemistry laboratory in the UK.
About The Royal Society
The Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering, and medicine. The Society’s fundamental purpose, as it has been since its foundation in 1660, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity. The Society’s strategic priorities emphasise its commitment to the highest quality science, to curiosity-driven research, and to the development and use of science for the benefit of society. These priorities are:
- promoting science and its benefits
- recognising excellence in science
- supporting outstanding science
- providing scientific advice for policy
- fostering international and global cooperation
- education and public engagement
For more information on courses offered at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, please consult enquiries@nottingham.edu.my.
About Professor Martyn Poliakoff
Martyn Poliakoff CBE FRS is a Research Professor in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham’s UK campus (www.nottingham.ac.uk/supercritical). He is also the Foreign Secretary and Vice-President of the Royal Society (www.royalsociety.org) as well as a council member of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (www.icheme.org).
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is also the most popular university in the UK by 2012 application numbers, and 'the world’s greenest university. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2011, for its research into global food security.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest ever fund-raising campaign, will deliver the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.
Posted on 23rd October 2012