By David Murphy

KAUST Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Gyorgy Szekely has been selected as one of the 2023 American Chemical Society (ACS) Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Lectureship Award winners. The award is jointly sponsored by the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (ACS Sustain Chem Eng.) and the ACS Green Chemistry Institute.

According to ACS Sustain Chem Eng., the Lectureship Awards celebrate “the research contributions of scientists working in green chemistry, green engineering and sustainability in the chemical enterprise, who have completed their academic training within the past ten years.” Award winners were selected for three regions: The Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa, and Asia/Pacific; Szekely was selected as the lectureship award winner from the Europe/Middle East/Africa region.

The British–Hungarian researcher was honored for his “demonstration of thought leadership in sustainable separations via the synergistic combination of outstanding materials science and robust chemical engineering.”

Szekely will receive his award during the 27th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, which will be held from June 13-15, 2023, in Long Beach, California, U.S.

“I am honored to receive the ACS-SCE Lectureship Award in 2023. It makes me feel good that so many people value our research and it motivates me to continue my work,” he emphasized. “I am grateful to all my students, colleagues and collaborators for their contribution to our research over the years. Through their contributions, we were able to conduct high-quality research and achieve international recognition.”

Innovation through scientific discovery
  
Throughout his career, Szekely has been committed to solving challenges related to membrane materials fabrication for harsh environments; and advancing the application of these membranes through process intensification.

He obtained his MEng ('09) in Chemical Engineering from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary, and his Ph.D. ('12) in Chemistry from the Technical University Dortmund, Germany.

The multidisciplinary nature of his work encompasses supramolecular chemistry, molecular recognition, molecular imprinting, process development, sustainable separations, waste utilization, nanofiltration and pharmaceutical purification.

Last year, Szekely received two notable recognitions for his significant contributions to sustainable materials science: the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research’s Class of Influential Researchers Award 2022 from the American Chemical Society and the International Association of Advanced Materials' Sustainability Award 2022. He was also elected as a council member of the European Membrane Society for his work in membrane science.