The Institute of Chemistry Ceylon (IchemC) held the 2nd international conference on Frontiers in Chemical Technology (FCT) at the Hotel Marino Beach, 590 Marine Drive, Colombo 3, recently.

The 1st international conference on Frontiers in Chemical Technology (FCT) in 2021 was a virtual event.

This conference was organized to be in line with the top ten emerging technologies recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC); sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations; and the theme of the 2023/24 Council year of the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon, “Chemical Science for Technological Advancement: Empowering the Future”. Accordingly, the sub-themes of the conference were identified as:

· Energy: Sustainable and cost-effective solutions.

· Environment: Climate Change, pollution, and green chemistry.

· Medicine: Chemistry, pharmaceutical, and herbal technology.

· Waste: Management, value addition, and circular economy.

· Food: Security, safety and quality innovation strategies in chemical education.

In addition, two breakout sessions were devoted to the chemical industry and academic research, and women in the chemistry profession. A pre-conference workshop was also held under the theme of low-cost laboratory approaches of chemical education, an integral aspect of moving toward advances of chemical technology.

The major objectives of the conference were:

· To introduce the latest technological innovations to the chemical industry.

· To provide chemical inventors a platform to commercialize their inventions.

· To provide economic benefits to the country.

· To update the chemical community with the frontiers in chemical technology.

· To provide an opportunity for early career chemists to update their knowledge.

· To provide opportunity for professional development of women chemists.

Dr. Ale Palermo, Head of Global Inclusion at the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK was the Chief Guest while Prof. Sabu Thomas, Chairman, Trivandrum Engineering Science & Technology Park, Mahathma Gandhi University, India, attended as the Guest of Honour. In addition to them, many Plenary Speakers and Keynote Speakers from Sri Lanka and abroad added value to the conference, delivering excellent presentations sharing their knowledge and experience.

The conference provided an opportunity for early career chemists to disseminate novel findings of their research. More than 110 technical presentations were delivered in-person in the five sub-themes within the three days, contributing to the upliftment of science. The best presenter of each session was identified by the panels of judges to encourage early career chemists to advance their research in the field of chemical science, said Prof. Namal Priyantha, the Chairman, the 2nd International Conference on Frontiers in Chemical Technology Institute of Chemistry Ceylon.