Sami Rtimi

Sami Rtimi has 18 years of experience in academia and Industry, He is an expert in responsive materials for environmental remediation and sustainability. is a microbiologist with a strong background in photochemistry and materials engineering. He was awarded a PhD in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL, Switzerland) and a Doctorate in Biological Sciences (environmental microbiology). He is investigating novel materials for microbial inactivation and emergent pollutants degradation. He is an expert in coupling semiconductor nanostructures to degrade microbial and chemical pollutants at the solid-air and solid-water interfaces. He published several articles in peer-reviewed journals, patents, numerous book chapters, and presented communications at international meetings. He was invited to the University of Rennes (France), Russian Academy of Science (Russian Federation), University of Milano (Italy), Techno-pole Borj-Cedria (Tunisia), Jyothy Institute of Technology (Bengaluru, India) and other universities. Sami is a reviewer for international peer reviewed journals, editor (books and journals) and guest-edited some special issues. Dr. Rtimi won the Outstanding research award in Photocatalysis (2018) and the Research Award on New Science Inventions (2021). He is listed by the Stanford University lists as Top2% active researcher in Physical-Chemistry. He is also an international grants reviewer for many countries (Switzerland, Spain, Canada, Greece, Qatar, Latvia, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Ireland…). Since 2019, he has been Director of Innovation and Technology at the Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health (Geneva, Switzerland). Concomitantly, he is actively serving as European Climate Pact Ambassador. He launched three start-ups and won grants, seed money, VCs, and prizes. He is continuously solicited as an innovation advisor for many hubs and a change-maker in sustainability.