Chair's Message
Welcome to the Separation Science and Technology Technical Interest Group (SS&TG) web pages.
Separation technology is fundamental to most chemical production processes. The various techniques used are common to a whole range of applications, they are continuously developing and finding applications in apparently unrelated industries. Developments in one industry find applications in others. Techniques thought to be at the end of their development find new applications in cutting edge industries and laboratory techniques are scaled up to play a major role in new applications. Examples include chromatography, membrane separations and microfiltration once analytical techniques and now used in the production scale, ion exchange and solvent extraction now widely used in applications from water and waste treatment to metals recovery and food processes and many others. There is therefore a need for a forum for communication across the industrial and academic spectrum.
The purpose of the SS&T Technical Interest Group is to assist communication and exchange of ideas and technologies and it is the aim of the present Group Organising Committee to widen the range of industries served and to provide opportunities for members to network with chemists and engineers in the diverse sections of industry, commerce and academia. This networking is also extended to other SCI special interest Groups and kindred societies such as the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the Institute of Chemical Engineering (IChemE).
To fulfil the Group's purpose and achieve its objectives we organise and are involved in the organisation of local, national and international meetings and conferences. We strongly support the International Solvent Extraction Conferences (ISEC) which is held every three years and have organised the four-yearly International Ion Exchange Conferences (IEX) since the 1970's and Bioseparations/Biosorption conferences. Other technical areas in which we organise or are seeking to organise one and two day meetings and larger conferences include ultrapure water, contaminated land and waste water treatment, analytical topics, food industry separations and a wide range of other special topics.
The Group Organising Committee's future activities are aimed at widening the membership and scope of activities in separation sciences. In addition it is aimed to increase the opportunities for interaction and exchange of knowledge by networking with other members of SS&T and other speciality Groups including the Fine Chemistry Group via the SCI and Groups websites for the benefit of all members.
Dr Peter Levison
Chairman
Separation Science and Technology Group