THIRD SYMPOSIUM OF THE WEST AFRICA INTERPORE CHAPTER
Special Topic: Porous Media for Energy and Geoenvironmental Applications: Experiments, Modeling and Emerging Machine Learning Perspectives.
The West Africa InterPore Chapter (WAIC), a regional chapter of the International Society for Porous Media (InterPore), was founded in October 2022 by researchers from West African countries. The chapter aims to connect West African scientists, engineers, and lecturers working in the field of porous media with each other and with the InterPore community; help to improve the international visibility of West Africans in the field of porous media, and promote the mobility of young researchers as it pertains to international conferences or research-exchange programmes.
For its third annual meeting, the West Africa InterPore Chapter (WAIC) invites researchers and industry professionals to submit abstracts for the upcoming symposium. This edition highlights the Special Topic: Porous Media for Energy and Geoenvironmental Applications: Experiments, Modeling and Emerging Machine Learning Perspectives.
Porous media underpin a wide range of energy and geoenvironmental systems, and their study increasingly relies on the integration of experiments, physics-based modeling, and emerging machine-learning approaches. Combining experimental and numerical data (imaging, digital rock physics, in-situ sensing, field data) with physical constraints—from classical numerical simulation to physics-informed models (PINNs), data assimilation, and surrogate modeling—accelerates parameter inversion, multi-scale prediction, uncertainty quantification, and decision-making. Applications span hydrogeology and water quality, energy storage and conversion (including H₂ storage, geothermal and subsurface energy systems), CO₂ sequestration, remediation and filtration, geomechanics, engineered materials, and responsible mining and tailings management. The scope also embraces geotechnical and climate-resilience challenges of direct regional relevance, such as bio-inspired geotechnics, soil improvement with additives, erosion mitigation, climate-change adaptation frameworks for road infrastructure, and geo-engineering education.
This symposium aims to foster interdisciplinary discussions and collaborations among researchers, engineers, and industry stakeholders to explore the latest advancements of and potential applications of porous media science and engineering in the domains.
We welcome abstracts that address topics such as:
1. Porous media characterization — imaging, digital rock physics, in-situ and experimental methods
2. Transport phenomena — heat, mass, and reactive transport in porous media
3. Multiphysics–multiphase flow modeling and numerical simulation
4. Machine learning, physics-informed (PINNs), and surrogate modeling for porous media
5. Energy applications and reservoir engineering, H₂ storage, CO₂ sequestration, geothermal and subsurface energy systems
6. Process engineering and engineered porous materials
7. Contaminant transport, waste containment, and remediation strategies
8. Soil mechanics, geomechanics, and bio-inspired geotechnics
9. Soil improvement and erosion mitigation
10. Climate-change adaptation and geo-engineered earthworks
11. Geo-engineering education and other porous media applications
Join us in sharing expertise, research findings, and innovative ideas to address the challenges of porous media research and engineering for sustainable development.
