President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), Prof. Dr. Javier Garcia-Martinez came to Erzurum at the invitation of Atatürk University.

Within the scope of the Atatürk University program, Prof. Dr. Martinez, who first met with the students and faculty members of the Chemistry Department, both interviewed and shared his experiences and experiences by giving the conference titled "Circular Chemistry: How to Build a More Sustainable Future at Molecular Level".  In his speech, Martinez shared information about the mission of IUPAC and its activities on an international scale for the development of chemistry, and emphasized the importance of the development of entrepreneurship in science, especially for the implementation of innovative studies and discoveries made by scientists.

After the conference, Prof. Dr.  Martinez visited Atatürk University Rector Prof. Dr.Ömer Çomaklı  Vice-Rectors Prof. Dr. Ayşe Bayrakçeken Yurtcan and Prof. Dr.Mustafa Sözbilir. During the visit, in which was also present, Rector Çomaklı took a close interest in his guest and talked about the studies carried out within the university for basic sciences. Prof. Dr. Martinez, on the other hand, expressed that he was very impressed by Atatürk University's generally developed infrastructure, its contribution to the development of the city, and the research capacity of the Chemistry Department. Stating that he met many faculty members from Atatürk University and that he was aware of the scientific contributions of these faculty members to chemistry and chemistry teaching, Martinez stated that the programs organized within this scope were also very productive.

Rector Çomaklı, who stated that Atatürk University was determined as a research university and that chemistry is one of the two sectors determined by CHE in this context, thanks to its strong physical infrastructure and scientist potential in the field of chemistry, underlined that they are open to international cooperation in this sense and thanked IUPAC President Prof. Dr. He thanked Martinez and wished to meet more often.

Who is Prof. Dr. Javier Garcia-Martinez?

He is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Director of the Molecular Nanotechnology Laboratory at the University of Alicante (UA), leading an international team working on the synthesis and application of nanostructured materials for chemical and power generation.

Prof. Dr. Martinez has been President of the International Union of Fundamental and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) since January 2022. He received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Alicante in 2000 and did post-doctoral studies at MIT between 2001 and 2003.

The author or editor of seven books, including The Chemical Element (2011), Chemistry Education (2015), and Chemistry Entrepreneurship (2021).

He is the founder of the technology-based company Rive Technology, which markets the catalysts he developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Since 2012, catalysts that Rive Technology sells have been used in various refineries, significantly increasing fuel production and the energy efficiency of the process. In 2019, W. R. GRACE acquired Rive Technology.

He was invited as a Professor for three months at the Keller Center at Princeton University. He lectured, advised and mentored students and faculty members working on issues similar to his own projects.

In June 2014, the Queen of Spain presented Javier with the King James I Award. Javier received the Emerging Researcher Award from the American Chemical Society in 2015 and the Kathryn C. Hach Award in 2018 as the best US entrepreneur in the chemical industry. Javier is a member of the World Economic Forum's Council for Emerging Technologies, a Panel Member of the European Research Council, and a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Chemical Society.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIRECTORATE – 30.05.2022