The 28th Annual Saudi-Japan Symposium was held at KFUPM Dhahran Techno Valley on November 12 and 13, 2018, jointly hosted by 4 entities: Saudi Aramco, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), The Japan Petroleum Institute (JPI) and JCCP.
In the opening, honorable guests presented their remarks. Notably, H.E. Dr. Sahel Abuduljauwad, Rector of KFUPM, Mr. Ahmed Al-Khowaiter, CTO of Saudi Aramco, Mr. Eiji Hiraoka, Senior Executive Director of JCCP and Dr. Koichi Eguchi, President of JPI and Professor, Kyoto University Graduate School of Engineering.
The symposium attracted unusual large audience of more than 130 researchers, students and Japanese companies’ representatives in the region. The symposium theme of this year was “Technology in Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals” and there were 24 presentations (of which 8 were made by Japanese presenters sent for this symposium, 2 were by JCCP dispatched visiting researchers). The symposium covers new fields ranging from clean fuels, hydrogen technology, IMO regulations, and Petroleomics etc. Among the lecturers, the firstever female researcher made a lecture, a noteworthy event in the symposium’s long history. Between presenters and audience, many bustling questions and answers were exchanged.