A senior Scottish academic was appointed to a leading role in a committee on industrial energy conservation at a recent conference in Xi’an, China.

Dr Waheed Afzal, reader in chemical engineering at the University of Aberdeen, is the new vice-chair of the International Committee on Industrial Energy Conservation, Emission Reduction and Pollutant Treatment, part of the International Association for Carbon Capture (IACC).

Professor Xiangyang Liu, of Xi’an Jiaotong University, will chair the committee, which brings together selected academics, researchers and professionals from major industrial organisations working across energy conservation, emissions reduction, pollution control, carbon capture and industrial decarbonisation.

The committee aims to strengthen collaboration between academia and industry and support the development and deployment of technologies that can help major industrial sectors progress towards deep decarbonisation and net-zero operations.

The appointment was announced during IACC 2026, held in Xi’an, China, from 26 to 29 August 2026. The conference was co-organised by IACC together with Xi’an Jiaotong University, Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Surrey.

The University of Aberdeen also has a wider leadership role within IACC through Dr Yeshui Zhang, lecturer in the School of Engineering, who serves as the current chair of IACC. Dr Zhang was also a co-chair of IACC 2026, contributing to the organisation and delivery of the international conference.

During IACC 2026, Dr Afzal delivered a keynote lecture entitled “From Waste and CO₂ to Circular Products: Advances in Catalysis, Biohydrogen, Carbon Mineralisation and Sustainability by Design”. The lecture highlighted research on converting waste and CO₂ into useful products and discussed advances in catalysis, carbon utilisation, resource circularity and sustainable engineering.

Dr Afzal said: “This appointment provides an important opportunity to connect academic research more closely with the practical decarbonisation challenges faced by industry.

“I look forward to working with colleagues through IACC to develop collaborations that can help translate net-zero ambitions into practical technologies and implementation.”

Dr Zhang added: “IACC provides an international platform connecting researchers, academics and industry around the shared challenge of carbon capture and industrial decarbonisation.

“It is encouraging to see the University of Aberdeen playing an increasingly active role, and we hope to further strengthen international research and industrial collaboration.”