The Corrosion Center at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, co-organized and participated in its first Oil and Gas Corrosion Symposium. The symposium’s co-organizers included the corrosion team at the University of Manchester; Curtin Corrosion Centre at Curtin University; the Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology at Ohio University; and the Institute of Functional Surfaces at the University of Leeds. 

The two-day interactive virtual symposium featured speakers from all five universities and keynote speeches by corrosion experts from ConocoPhillips and the University of Virginia. More than 50 participants represented expertise from across the international oil and gas industry and the corrosion research community.  

The need to bridge the gap between the oil and gas industry and academia was discussed, and experts highlighted how industry demand-driven research conducted in universities can create viable solutions that reduce costs by using local resources. The event comprised discussions on some of the latest developments in corrosion monitoring, management, and modeling. Among these were the introduction of novel sacrificial coatings for the protection of structural alloys, as well as an approach for inhibitors’ optimization. Presenters from each university shared the advancements being made within their entities in these corrosion research areas.

“This type of event brings both industry leaders and researchers together to discuss matters that are crucial to the industry and can be more rigorously tackled when our forces are joined. When universities collaborate and work together, they maximize the benefits and learn from each other,” said Dr. Hanan Farhat, Senior Research Director of the Corrosion Center at QEERI and one of the event’s organizers.  

Dr. Marc Vermeersch, Executive Director, QEERI, added: “Knowledge-sharing and learning best practices from leaders in industry and academia are crucial to stay up to date in the world of research, development, and innovation. By working together, we can drive tangible solutions not just for the corrosion challenges that Qatar and the region is facing, but on a global scale.”

QEERI’s Corrosion Center was established in 2019 to support Qatar in tackling corrosion challenges in the country through research, development, and innovation. The center aims  to build human capacity in the area of materials and corrosion engineering. For more information about QEERI and its initiatives, please visit qeeri.hbku.edu.qa