Symposium Sessions

Please contact the symposium organizers with questions.

Consumer electronics offer the potential to improve quality of life and broaden education and access to information. Unfortunately, the rapidly growing demand of consumer electronics has led to unsustainable amounts of waste electrical & electronic equipment (WEEE), which contain hazardous substances that pose health and environmental concerns. On the other hand, the presence of valuable metals in the WEEE stream constitutes economic opportunities for the recycling industry. Based on the foregoing, we propose a symposium along three main thrusts, as follows: (i) Tackling the urgent WEEE issue through Recovery and Recycling of components from existing WEEE; (ii) Incorporating Sustainability Principles in Current practices; (iii) Re-envisioning Electronics Design. We will therefore feature talks (both invited and contributed) on Sustainable urban mining practices and plastic waste treatment to recover and recycle materials found in WEEE; Opportunities, within Current Practices, for the Development of New Circular Processes in the Electronics Industry, towards more energy-efficient and green chemistry principles-based processes; New Eco-Centric Paradigm for Electronics Component and Device Design. According to the Ellen McArthur Foundation, new electronics must be designed from the get-go for sustainability. These strategies can range from “designing for durability” to “designing for adaptability and repairability”. One sustainable technology platform of particular interest for IoT, smart packaging, flexible and wearable electronics is based on biodegradable materials.

Topics will include:

• Sustainable (Green) Electronics
• Powering Elements (e.g. Batteries and Supercapacitors)
• Electronic Materials
• Device Performance
• Eco-Design
• Life Cycle Analysis
• Critical Materials
• Greener Microfabrication
• Green Chemistry
• Eco-Toxicity
• Circular Materials
• Biodegradability
• Recycling
• Urban Mining
• Health Effects of Informal Recycling

• A tutorial complementing this symposium is tentatively planned.

Invited Speakers:

• Callie Babbitt (Rochester Institute of Technology, USA)
• Zhenan Bao (Stanford University, USA)
• Cinzia Casiraghi (The University of Manchester, United Kingdom)
• Jamal Chaouki (Polytechnique Montréal, Canada)
• Tomislav Frišcic (McGill University, Canada)
• Praveena Gangadharan (Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad, India)
• Carol Handwerker (Purdue University, USA)
• Gerardo Hernandez-Sosa (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany)
• Maria Holuszko (The University of British Columbia, Canada)
• Rongrong Hu (South China University of Technology, USA)
• Xian Huang (Tianjin University, USA)
• Mihai Irimia-Vladu (Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, Austria)
• Leo Kenny (Intel Corporation, USA)
• Hamid Kharbasi (Conestoga College, Canada)
• Mario Leclerc (Université Laval, Canada)
• Manuele Margni (Polytechnique Montréal, Canada)
• Tobin Marks (Northwestern University, USA)
• Paul Meredith (Swansea University, United Kingdom)
• Audrey Moore (McGill University, Canada)
• Thuc-Quyen Nguyen (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA)
• Ange Nzihou (IMT Mines Albi, France)
• Jujun Ruan (Sun Yat-sen University, China)
• Tatiana Scarazzato (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, USA)
• Eleni Stavrinidou (Linköping University, Sweden)
• Bozhi Tian (The University of Chicago, USA)
• Cristina Trois (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
• Lan Yin (Tsinghua University, China)

Symposium Organizers