Workshop at ECT2026: “Integrating Sustainability into Material Selection”

As part of its ongoing efforts to advance sustainable thermoelectric research and innovation, SUSTENET is organising on 14th September a dedicated workshop on “Integrating Sustainability into Material Selection” just before the start of the ECT2026, the 22nd edition of the European Conference on Thermoelectrics, that will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from Monday 14 to Friday 18 September 2026 .

Leveraging the link to ECT2026, the workshop will bring together researchers, industry representatives, and sustainability experts to explore how sustainability considerations can be effectively embedded into the development, assessment, and selection of thermoelectric materials. With increasing attention on resource efficiency, environmental impact, and circularity, the event will provide a valuable opportunity to discuss practical approaches for making sustainability a key criterion in material and device design.

The programme will feature contributions from members of Working Group 1: Scaling Sustainability through Artificial Intelligence and Working Group 2: Applications and User Cases, showcasing ongoing activities and emerging methodologies developed within the network.

Participants will be invited to engage in discussions around:

• Application-driven workflows that translate performance requirements into sustainable material choices.
• Artificial intelligence and digital tools for evaluating sustainability across the material selection process.
• Benchmarking approaches, assessment frameworks, and good-practice guidelines for greener thermoelectric technologies.
• Methods to improve consistency and comparability across materials, devices, and applications.
• Real-world use cases demonstrating how sustainability can be integrated into thermoelectric innovation and deployment.

The workshop is designed to be highly interactive, encouraging dialogue between different disciplines and stakeholder groups. It will provide a platform to exchange ideas, identify common challenges, and explore opportunities for future collaboration within and beyond the SUSTENET network. Thus, beyond the technical content, the event offers an excellent opportunity to connect with colleagues, strengthen collaborations, and contribute to the development of a more sustainable future for thermoelectric technologies.

A detailed programme and speaker line-up, featuring leading experts from across the thermoelectric community, can be downloaded here, and is summarised here below:

SUSTENET WG1 Workshop

Time: 13:30-15:00 (Monday, 14 September 2026)

Speaker	Affiliation	Presentation Title
Suneela Sardar	Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering, University of Lincoln	Application-Driven Materials Selection and Processing for Sustainable Thermoelectrics
Geoffrey Roy	Thermo Power Systems; UCLouvain	Beyond Sustainable Thermoelectric Materials: Eco-Design of Thermoelectric Systems for Industrial Applications
Johannes de Boor	Institute for Frontier Materials on Earth and in Space, German Aerospace Center (DLR); University of Duisburg-Essen	Standards and good practice guidelines for an efficient optimization and maturing of thermoelectric materials and devices

 

SUSTENET WG2 Workshop

Time: 15:30-17:00 (Monday, 14 September 2026)

Speaker	Affiliation	Presentation Title
Kornelius Nielsch	Professor of Metallic Materials and Metal Physics at Dresden University of Technology, Head of the Institute for Metallic Materials at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, Leading SUSTENET WG2	Overview of WG2 activities
Arne Stumpf, Matthias Helmich	German Aerospace Center (DLR)	Cryogenic Thermoelectric Generators for Commercial Vehicle Applications and Beyond
Johannes de Boor	Institute for Frontier Materials on Earth and in Space, German Aerospace Center (DLR); University of Duisburg-Essen	Thermoelectric generators for space applications: examples, opportunities and requirements
Kafil Razeeb Mahmood	Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork; University of Limerick	Micro-thermoelectric cooler for active thermal management of photonic integrated circuits

 

Register now! Join us on 14 September 2026 and take part in the discussions shaping the next generation of sustainable thermoelectric materials and applications. Secure your place today.

👉 Register for the workshop

Check out the other workshop running on 15th September, also in Edinburgh!