MEMSEP & PERMEA - a thirty-year tradition of meetings
From the 24th to 26th July 2025, the Diamond Arsenal Palace Hotel in Chorzów hosted the fifteenth edition of the MEMSEP & PERMEA 2025 conference. For three days, Polish and international scientists, as well as representatives of companies, discussed many topics related to membranes. There was also an opportunity to express thanks, to remember and to give awards.
This event is a combination of two conferences - International Conference on Membranes and Separation Processes & Membrane Conference of Visegrad Countries, because that is their full name. The organizers are the Silesian University of Technology and Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The opening of the event was attended by, among others, Vice-Rector for Infrastructure, and Investment Prof. Dr Hab. Eng. Zbigniew Paszenda.
- The MEMSEP conference has been organized at the Silesian University of Technology for thirty years It usually takes place every two years. PERMEA in turn is organized by the Visegrad countries. This year we decided to join forces. This event continues the tradition of deepening knowledge and supporting cooperation in the field of membrane technologies and separation processes, i.e. techniques used to remove pollution from the environment, air or water – says the organizer of the event, Dr Hab. Eng. Gabriela Kamińska, Prof. SUT in the Department of Water and Wastewater Engineering at the Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering.
- The Silesian University of Technology, together with the Wrocław University of Technology, are the centres that initiated the topic of membranes in environmental protection. It has already been several decades of tradition, the Faculty was organized by the Department of Sanitary Chemistry and Membrane Processes, the head of which was Prof. Michał Bodzek. The first book “Membrane techniques in Environmental Protection” was also published, edited by Prof. Bodzek, Prof Krystyna Konieczny and Prof. Jolanta Bohdziewicz, which until today is the most serious compendium of knowledge on the subject of membranes - explains the Dean of the Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering , Prof. Dr Hab. Eng. Mariusz Dudziak.
The organizers invited many scientists and entrepreneurs to submit papers on membrane technologies, separation processes, pervapors, distillation, adsorption, filtration, membrane, and adsorbent preparation, as well as their characteristics and applications in environmental protection, medicine, and biotechnology. The event attracted great interest. Scientists from Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia took part in the event.
- We have done a lot of things about membranes, so participation in this event is valuable for us - says Dr Eng. Peter Bakonyi, senior researcher from the Pannonian University, who together with seven scientists represented the Hungarian university. - We develop and test membranes for innovative wastewater treatment processes, e.g. bio electrochemical systems. Our goal is to find the right membranes and materials that will allow to increase the electrochemical efficiency and wastewater treatment capacity of new solutions. The long-term goal is to implement these systems on a laboratory scale in an existing wastewater treatment plant.
- My research interests concern environmental engineering, particularly the field of wastewater treatment and waste management. It was a common point in the talks between me and professors from the Silesian University of Technology. I am happy to participate in this event, because most of the presentations are very interesting and innovative – says Prof. Noura Fathy Abdel Salam Mohamed of the University of Cairo in Egypt.
A special jubilee session was also held during the conference. It was an excellent opportunity to make memories and wishes on the occasion of the 70th birthday to Professor Marian Turek, from the Faculty of Chemistry of the Silesian University of Technology, specialist in electro membrane techniques, and a co-organizer of the event Prof. Dr Hab. Wojciech Kujawski from the Faculty of Chemistry of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, a specialist in current-free membrane techniques (pervaporation, membrane distillation).
-When we organized this event for the first time in 1995, the membranes were completely new. We wanted people involved in this topic to be able to meet and talk. The conference has changed, people are changing, but there are people like Prof. Wojciech Kujawski, who have participated in it since the first edition - recalls Prof. Michał Bodzek.
- The most important thing in this event are conversations and building contacts. For this reason, I always encourage students and PhD students to participate in conferences. The field of application of membranes is wide and very important for us. For example, their application in environmental protection engineering - membranes are useful, among others, in the purification of water from impurities, which makes it useful for drinking - explains Prof. Wojciech Kujawski.
They are also important in medicine. Artificial kidneys are nothing more than membranes that filter out toxins from the blood and thus people can live longer, - added Prof. Michał Bodzek.
The participants of the event emphasized that they were very valuable three days.
- We have a group of over a hundred people in Poland who deal with this subject. We exchange experiences with scientists from other countries, because there is a lot to do - membranes are useful in many fields of industry - explains Prof. Dr Hab. Eng. Marian Turek from the Faculty of Chemistry of the Silesian University of Technology.
