On October 18^th 2010, Dr. Husni Odeh, instructor at the Chemical Engineering Department of the Faculty of Engineering at An-Najah, participated in the Second International Conference on Chemical Engineering which was organized by the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Jordan (UJ). Attendees included Her Highness Princess Sumaya Bint El Hassan, President of the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) and El Hassan Science City. The conference was opened by Professor Adel Tweissi, President of the University of Jordan on behalf of the Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai.

 

Dr. Odeh mentioned that the conference aimed to shed light on the role of chemical engineering in economical development, finding solutions for water scarcity, alternative energy and environmental crises, and in encouraging studies and scientific research in the field of chemistry. It also aimed to give experts and practitioners in the field of chemistry a chance to exchange views and ideas which would positively impact the educational process and reinforce chemical industry.

Experts and academics from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq, Bahrain, Tunisia, Oman, Iran, France, Spain, Palestine and Jordan have participated in the conference.  They discussed several issues and topics including: Safety of engineering operations, environment, energy, computer-generated operations, biotechnology issues, systems, and operations' control. Other topics included mining, minerals' extraction and excavation, as well as Jordanian medical and food industries.

 

During the conference, a number of Jordanian industrialists presented a summary of some of the Jordanian industries in addition to the inauguration of an exhibition that displayed the UJ's students' projects. On his part, Dr. Odeh, together with Dr. Muhammad Al-Nori from the Department of Chemistry at An-Najah, presented a work paper titled "Extracting Natural Compounds to Treat Cancer". In their research, Dr. Odeh and Dr. Al-Nori explained that An-Najah succeeded in preparing some compounds that were tested on prostate cancer cells in humans and proved their ability to kill those cells. Those tests and experiments were conducted at the Genes Lab at An-Najah under the supervision of Dr. Ayman Raddad.

 

Dr. Odeh has also succeeded in conducting a number of studies and scientific research in the filed of chemical engineering and has been working for ten years on a research that focuses on the treatment of cancer using natural compounds.