Top US renewable energy scientist to speak at Green Building Forum

A leading US renewable energy scientist will speak at the Green Building Forum in Bahrain next month as part of campaign to encourage technology transfer in the Middle East in the area of photovoltaic and nano-development.

Dr Mowafak Al Jassim, Principal Scientist and Group Leader at the National Center for Photovoltaics, part of the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), will deliver a talk entitled ‘Sunny Future: How Buildings are Rapidly Becoming Energy Generators’ on May 5 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre (BIEC).

The award-winning scientist, a 26-year veteran of the Colorado-headquartered NREL, is one of the world’s leading authorities on solar energy materials, photovoltaic devices, thin film solar cells and nano structures. Dr Al Jassim plays a leading role at the NREL by supporting its critical market objectives to accelerate research from scientific innovations to market-viable alternative energy solutions. Over the course of his career Dr Jassim has had more than 300 pieces of research work published and has also won the NREL Chairman’s Award.

The NREL is the main renewable energy and energy efficiency Research & Development (R&D) laboratory in the US. It is managed on behalf of the Department of Energy (DoE) by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLC.
Jubran Abdulrahman, Managing Director of Forum co-organisers Hilal Conferences & Exhibitions (HCE) said: “It is testimony to the technical strength of the Green Building Forum panel sessions that we are able to attract a speaker of Dr Al Jassim’s calibre. He is a highly respected scientist whose work helps shape renewable energy policy in the US, so it is a real coup for us to welcome him to the Forum.”

Ahmed Suleiman, Partner at leading international event consultancy and fellow co-organisers North Star Associates, said: “The argument for tapping solar energy and photovoltaics technology is already a compelling one, particularly in the Gulf. We look forward to Dr Al Jassim presenting a further strong case for using solar and photovoltaic technologies to generate energy from buildings. NREL is a global partner for technology transfer in this field and Dr Al Jassim has been instrumental for NREL in its global technology partnerships in the area of photovoltaics. He is attending the Forum not only to share his knowledge in this field but also to look at potential partnerships in the region for NREL’s technologies.”

Other Forum speakers confirmed to date include HE Buyelwa Sonjica, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Republic of South Africa; Sir Michael Hopkins, founder of the award-winning UK firm Hopkins Architects; Robert Okpala, Middle East Director of consulting engineering firm Buro Happold and Professor Hans Haenlein, a leading expert in the planning of education and community facilities. The speakers will deliver presentations on a wide range of highly relevant topics under the general theme ‘Innovating to Protect the Environment’. Dr Hashim Hussein, Head, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) ITPO in Bahrain, is confirmed as a plenary session moderator.

The Green Building Forum will be held under the patronage of Bahrain’s Minister of Housing, HE Shaikh Ibrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa. It is supported by the Bahrain Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Emirates Green Building Council, the Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce, the British Council, British Expertise and The Middle East Association. It will run concurrently with the fifth gulfBID exhibition, the leading exhibition for the construction and interiors industry in the Northern Gulf, which will be held from 4 to 6 May 2010, also at the BIEC.