The 29th International Conference on Thermoelectrics (ICT2010) in Shanghai

The 29th International Conference on Thermoelectrics was held in Shanghai from May 30th to June 3rd, which is another grand gathering for industry and research following ICT Freiburg, Germany in 2009

As the first ICT held in Great China, ICT 2010 was organized by the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Science (SICCAS), Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) and Zhejiang University. Given that thermoelectrics is one of the most promising low carbon technologies, the conference attracted up to 500 experts from 31 countries and regions. With 152 oral presentations and 280 posters, conference session topics include exploration of novel TE compounds, design and fabrication of TE nanocomposites, theoretical research and modeling, system design and optimization, integration of TE devices and application etc.

Prof. Lidong Chen, the conference chairman and the vice director of SICCAS, presided the opening ceremony, and Prof. Hongjie Luo, the director of SICCAS and Dr. Thierry Caillat, International Thermoelectric Society (ITS) chairmen, gave the welcome addresses on behalf of the organization committee and ITS respectively, and afterwards, keynote speeches were delivered by Prof. Arun Majundar and Dr. John W. Fairbanks from Department of Energy (USA), Prof. H. J. Goldsmid from University of New South Wales, Prof. Toshiro Takabatake from Hiroshima University, and Prof. Qingjie Zhang, the vice president of WTU.

During the conference, four candidates were elected to fill the ITS Board Director openings for more active roles in the ITS business and promotion, and they are, Prof. Jeff Snyder from CalTech, Prof. Wenqing Zhang from SICCAS, Prof. Terry Tritt from Clemson University and Dr. Ryoji Funahashi from NIAIST. Also, Young Investigator Award, Goldsmid Award, Outstanding Scientific Paper Award and Outstanding Application Paper Award were granted, and Dr. Xun Shi from SICCAS won the Young Investigator Award.

This conference was sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the 30th International Conference on Thermoelectrics (ICT2011) will be held in July 2011 at Michigan State University, Traverse City.