Professor Ranil Wickramasinghe is one of the two meeting organizers for the International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes 2017, held July 29 to Aug. 5 in San Francisco. The congress is the largest and most influential meeting on membrane research focusing on water, energy, food, and pharmaceutical applications.

This meeting is held every 3 years and rotates between North America, Europe and Asia. ICOM 2017 signaled a new level of international collaboration and synergy in membrane research and applications with more than 1,000 membrane technologists from all over the world attending the congress. Features of the meeting include over 400 oral presentations, 500 poster presentations (of which 250 were student presentations) and six workshops. The International Membrane Association was officially established during ICOM 2017. 

U of A students who attended the conference include:

• Mohand Kamaz, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemical Engineering, was awarded an Elias Klein travel supplement from the North American Membrane Society to attend ICOM 2017. North American Membrane Society together with the European Membrane Society and the Asian Membrane Society co-sponsored ICOM 2017. Kamaz gave an oral presentation titled Investigation of the degradation of endocrine disrupting compounds in a membrane bioreactor. He is co-advised by professors Xianghong Qian of biomedical engineering and Wickramasinghe of chemical engineering.

• Neda Mahmoudi, a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering working with associate professor Shannon Servoss, received a poster award at the 11th International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes meeting in San Francisco. Her poster was entitled, "Peptoid Grafted Polysulfone Hollow Fibers and Their Antifouling Behavior to Improve Biocompatibility of Fibers." ICOM is the preeminent global event for the membrane science and engineering community and is held every three years. ICOM 2017 focused on Enabling Membrane Technology to overcome the challenges to replacing conventional technology in separations, energy production, and other applications.