Nazarbayev University Research Conference 2024

From 19-21 September 2024, UNSW SMaRT Centre Director Prof Veena will be a key speaker at the first Annual Nazarbayev University Research Conference in Kazakhstan.

Veena will share her vision for a sustainable future, highlight the importance of creating a circular economy and how using waste as a resource must be at the centre of our manufacturing future and innovative decarbonisation efforts.

She will highlight that using innovations such as UNSW SMaRT Centre's recycling and MICROfactorie^TM technologies are central to help achieve the sustainability needed for the future.

Nazarbayev University says: "This Сonference celebrates the 125th anniversary of Kanysh Imantayevich Satpayev, the visionary founder of the Kazakh National Academy of Sciences."

"Conference Theme: Shaping the Future of Research in Kazakhstan: Working Together for Success underscores the collaborative spirit that drives innovation. By intersecting experts and researchers in diverse fields, the Сonference will create an intellectually stimulating space designed to foster collaborative solutions to both current and future challenges facing Kazakhstan."

Event website and registration

Veena's speech abstract:

"A smart vision for a sustainable future: SMaRT technologies and MICROfactories™ creating sustainable materials and products from waste".

To achieve future sustainability, essential materials must be harnessed from waste and used as feedstock for manufacturing, rather than being discarded. This shift to a circular economy aligns manufacturing and recycling, creating supply chains, local jobs, and significant environmental benefits. By using advanced technologies, waste materials can be re-manufactured into the components and infrastructure needed for the future, promoting prosperity and sustainability. This presentation highlights how "end-of-life" waste can be transformed into valuable materials for remanufacturing, with examples from advanced manufacturing and resource recovery industries. The UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre has developed innovative technologies, such as the Green Steel Polymer Injection Technology, which uses waste polymers to produce hydrogen and carbon for metal production, reducing the reliance on mined resources. SMaRT’s MICROfactories™ drive local solutions for hi-tech waste recycling, creating new supply chains and skilled jobs. These technologies offer a pathway to close the loop between waste and manufacturing, supporting the transition to a circular economy and the creation of value-added materials from waste resources.