Program
LUT University reserves the right to make changes to the schedule
Keynote speakers
Professor Prosun Bhattacharya
Prosun Bhattacharya holds a PhD in Sedimentary Geochemistry from University of Delhi, India (1990). Besides KTH, he also held an Adjunct Professor at University of Southern Queensland, Australia between 2016 and 2019. Since January 2020, he is appointed as Affiliate Scientist at the KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands.
His primary research interests address the challenges with arsenic, fluoride and geogenic contaminants in groundwater and drinking water treatment in different parts of the world. He has collaborative research engagements with several universities and research organizations across the world. He is leading the Sida funded bilateral Research Capacity Building programs between Sweden and Tanzania as well as Sweden and Bolivia, focusing on drinking water contamination from groundwater sources and treatment. He has coordinated the prestigious Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency supported action research and implementation project “Sustainable Arsenic Mitigation-SASMIT” Community driven initiatives to target arsenic safe groundwater as sustainable mitigation strategy in Bangladesh (2007-2017).
In addition, he has led the project in collaboration with UNICEF-Bangladesh on “Enhancing private sector capacity for scaling up access to safe drinking water - policy, systems strengthening and sustainable service delivery” and currently leading a project on “Enhancing private sector capacity and digital data management for arsenic risk reduction in Bangladesh" in collaboration with UNICEF-Bangladesh and DPHE, Government of Bangladesh. Since March 2020, he is actively working with the global initiative on the wastewater-based epidemiology as a global collaborative effort to maximize contributions in the fight against COVID-19 and other emerging viruses which involves the academic, government, research institutions and the Community based organizations.
His primary research interests address the challenges with arsenic, fluoride and geogenic contaminants in groundwater and drinking water treatment in different parts of the world. He has collaborative research engagements with several universities and research organizations across the world. He is leading the Sida funded bilateral Research Capacity Building programs between Sweden and Tanzania as well as Sweden and Bolivia, focusing on drinking water contamination from groundwater sources and treatment. He has coordinated the prestigious Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency supported action research and implementation project “Sustainable Arsenic Mitigation-SASMIT” Community driven initiatives to target arsenic safe groundwater as sustainable mitigation strategy in Bangladesh (2007-2017).
In addition, he has led the project in collaboration with UNICEF-Bangladesh on “Enhancing private sector capacity for scaling up access to safe drinking water - policy, systems strengthening and sustainable service delivery” and currently leading a project on “Enhancing private sector capacity and digital data management for arsenic risk reduction in Bangladesh" in collaboration with UNICEF-Bangladesh and DPHE, Government of Bangladesh. Since March 2020, he is actively working with the global initiative on the wastewater-based epidemiology as a global collaborative effort to maximize contributions in the fight against COVID-19 and other emerging viruses which involves the academic, government, research institutions and the Community based organizations.
Mikko Laitinen, Vice President, Operation Services and CFO in Operon Group Ltd
Mikko Laitinen has been in integral role in building a growth platform for Operon companies which are core part of Auroora Yhtiöt Plc’s Water Treatment Segment. He holds a M.Sc. (Tech) in Industrial Management from Tampere University of Technology.
His professional background is from global stock listed companies in chemical and steel industry, in which he has been in various leadership roles including Sales, Sourcing, Supply Chain Management, Business Control and Strategy. He has been in Water Treatment Operations business for a decade and building a growth path for a private service provider towards municipalities and industrial companies. The unifying factor in his career has been change management and building partnerships.
Due to numerous transformation projects, his specialty area is improving the performance of processes that cross functional boundaries through implementing changes in operating methods as well as implementation of processes and tools that support operations.
His professional background is from global stock listed companies in chemical and steel industry, in which he has been in various leadership roles including Sales, Sourcing, Supply Chain Management, Business Control and Strategy. He has been in Water Treatment Operations business for a decade and building a growth path for a private service provider towards municipalities and industrial companies. The unifying factor in his career has been change management and building partnerships.
Due to numerous transformation projects, his specialty area is improving the performance of processes that cross functional boundaries through implementing changes in operating methods as well as implementation of processes and tools that support operations.
Dr. Mohamed Ateia Ibrahim
Dr. Mohamed (Moha) Ateia Ibrahim is Group Leader with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER). Moha combines his expertise in environmental chemistry and materials chemistry to develop and evaluate innovative water treatment technologies to remove and/or degrade emerging contaminants, such as PFAS and microplastics. In parallel, Moha has initiated and is currently leading a multi-agencies project to evaluate the environmental impacts of PFAS-replacement chemicals and formulations in firefighting foams and consumer products.
He is a member of the Weapons Systems and Platforms Technical Committee of fluorine-free foams (F3) for the U.S. Department of Defense’s SERDP-ESTCP Program. Moha is also an Adj. Assistant Professor at Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department, Rice University. Prior to joining the US EPA, he was a Research Associate in the Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Postdoc at Clemson University, and Visiting Researcher at the University of Copenhagen. Moha received his B.S. degree from Alexandria University, Egypt, and his M.S. degree and Ph.D. degree from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan.
He is a member of the Weapons Systems and Platforms Technical Committee of fluorine-free foams (F3) for the U.S. Department of Defense’s SERDP-ESTCP Program. Moha is also an Adj. Assistant Professor at Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department, Rice University. Prior to joining the US EPA, he was a Research Associate in the Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Postdoc at Clemson University, and Visiting Researcher at the University of Copenhagen. Moha received his B.S. degree from Alexandria University, Egypt, and his M.S. degree and Ph.D. degree from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan.
Scientific Committee
Susana Rodriguez Couto
Full professor (tenured)
Separation Science
Shakil Regmi
Senior Lecturer at South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk)