Section on Membrane Engineering
Welcome to the website of the EFCE Section on Membrane Engineering.
Current activities
NEWS
May 2025: The Section welcomes its new Chair, Dr. Alessandra Criscuoli.
EVENTS
4th International Workshop on Membrane Distillation and Innovating Membrane Operations in Desalination and Water Reuse
Grand Hotel San Michele, Cetraro (CS), Italy, 4-6 June 2025
Abstract submission deadline: 20 May 2025
JOIN US!
In Memoriam Professor Enrico Drioli
We are deeply sorry to announce that Prof. Enrico Drioli passed away on October 31, 2024. Known to all as a tireless "Ambassador" of membrane science and technology at a global level, he was co-founder (in 1982) and Honorary President of the European Membrane Society (EMS) and contributed to the establishment of prestigious scientific journals, such as the Journal of Membrane Science.
He also co-founded the Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM) located in Rende (CS) Italy, in collaboration with the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), one of the first institutes in the world entirely dedicated to the development and promotion of membrane technologies. During his directorship and in the years that followed, he guided and supervised researchers and students, worthy to mention PhD students of the European project "Erasmus Mundus Doctorate in Membrane Engineering (EUDIME)," which he coordinated. Among the many roles he held, Prof. Drioli served as Chair of the EFCE Working Party on Membranes, founded in 1986 and transformed into the EFCE Section on Membrane Engineering in 2007, promoting European cooperation and organising conferences/events on the subject.
His vision, passion, enthusiasm, and determination will be missed.
May he rest in peace.
EFCE-EMs Joint Excellence Award in Membrane Engineering 2024
The 2024 EFCE-EMS Joint Excellence Award in Membrane Engineering was presented to
Dr. Zhiwei Jiang
during a Special Session of EuroMembrane 2024.
Photo:
Presentation of the certificate at the award ceremony (from left to right): Elena Tocci (EMS President) Zhiwei Zhang (Award winner), Karel Friess (EFCE Section and EMS Council Member)
Spotlight TalkS
Challenges and opportunities of desalination
18 March 2024
Recording of the presentations on YouTube
Impact of membrane engineering on the process engineering progresses
21 April 2022
Recording of the presentations on YouTube
Business meeting
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Mission
The Mission of the Section on Membrane Engineering is as follows:
- to develop European cooperation and professional activity in the largely interdisciplinary areas of chemical engineering and related fields by preparing reports, investigating important problems, organising specialised events and addressing tasks complementary to those covered by the Working Parties;
- to attract to the Federation a large number of chemical engineers and/or specialists in related fields, willing to actively contribute to the activities of the Federation.
The sphere of proposed work is compatible with the objects of the Federation and it does not overlap with the fields covered by other Working Parties or Sections of the Federation. The Section on Membrane Engineering will also interact and will collaborate with any other existing organization acting in membrane engineering (The European Membrane Society, Network of Excellence (e.g., NanoMemPro), etc.).
Events organised by or in cooperation with the Section on Membrane Engineering
EuroMembrane 2024
Prague Czech Republic
More information can be found here.
Further events:
- Session on Membrane Engineering at ECCE12 & ECAB5, 15-19 September 2019, Florence (Italy).
- EU-CHINA Cooperation Conference on Membrane Technology Innovation, 9-10 July 2019, Weihai (China).
- Membrane and Electromembrane Processes Conference-MELPRO 2020, online, 8-10 November 2020
(Prof. Enrico Drioli, Chair of the Section, is the Chair of the Conference) -
Two Scientific Sessions on Membrane Engineering at the virtual 13th European Congress of Chemical Engineering (ECCE 13) 20th-23rd September 2021
- 11th Italy-Korea Workshop on "Membrane Technology for Climate Change", Sorrento (NA) Italy, 24th-26th November 2022
- 3rd International Workshop on Membrane Distillation and Innovating Membrane Operations in Desalination and Water Reuse, Sorrento (NA) (Italy), 23rd-26th April 2023
- Session on Membrane Engineering at ECCE14 & ECAB5, 17-21 September 2023, Berlin (Germ,any).
Excellence Award in Membrane Engineering
The Section is promoting the Excellence Award in Membrane Engineering, to be granted every three years. It recognises a PhD thesis or papers, which demonstrate an outstanding contribution to research and/or practice in Membrane Engineering.
Since 2018 the Award is jointly presented by EFCE and the European Membrane Society - EMS.
About EMS
The European Membrane Society, founded in 1982, is an international non-profit organization whose aim is to promote cooperation between scientists and engineers involved in Research and Development in the field of synthetic membranes and membrane processes.
EFCE-EMS Joint Excellence Award in Membrane Engineering 2024
The 2024 EFCE-EMS Joint Excellence Award in Membrane Engineering was presented to
Dr. Zhiwei Jiang
during a Special Session of EuroMembrane 2024.
Photo:
Presentation of the certificate at the award ceremony (from left to right): Elena Tocci (EMS President) Zhiwei Zhang (Award winner), Karel Friess (EFCE Section and EMS Council Member)
Publications / Documents
A short report on the presence of membrane operations at ECCE12-ECAB5
September 2019
The Section on Membrane Engineering is collaborating in the preparation of the EU-China Membrane Newsletter edited by the Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM-CNR, Italy). The latest issue is of July 2022.
Download the July 2022 issue of the EU-China Membrane Newsletter HERE
Previous issue: June 2019 issue of the EU-China Membrane Newsletter
A report on the progress of process engineering in China has been prepared in June 2019.
Download the report HERE
Previous activities
WORKING PARTY BUSINESS MEETINGS
- September 2019, Florence Italy
Minutes; List of Participants;A short report on the presence of membrane operations at ECCE12-ECAB5
LATEST ORGANISED EVENTS
- A Session on Membrane Engineering was held during the ECCE12 Conference, 15th-19th September 2019, Florence (Italy).
- EU-CHINA Cooperation Conference on Membrane Technology Innovation, July 9-10, 2019, Weihai (China).
- Prof. Enrico Drioli, Chair of the Section, has been appointed as Chair of the Membrane and Electromembrane Processes (MELPRO) Conference, held in Prague (Czech Republic) on May 13-16, 2018. He has been actively involved in the organisation of the event, that was very successful.
- Members of the Section have contributed to the Euromembrane 2018, held on July 9-13, 2018, in Valencia (Spain).