Driving to future of clean combustion: Alasdair Cairns to present at SoAE Chile
The Director of the Powertrain Research Centre at the University of Nottingham will be one of the plenary speakers at SoAE 2026, where he will present the latest advances in ammonia engines and their potential for the global energy transition.
The 5th Symposium on Ammonia Energy (SoAE 2026) will take place in Chile from September 28 to 30, 2026, further consolidating its position as one of the leading international events focused on ammonia as an energy vector. In its fifth edition, Santiago will become a key meeting point for researchers, industry professionals, and decision-makers, placing Latin America at the center of the global energy transition dialogue. As part of its scientific program, the symposium will feature Alasdair Cairns, Director of the Powertrain Research Centre at the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom), as one of its plenary speakers.
Ammonia engines: advancing clean combustion
Ammonia is attracting increasing global attention as a sustainable fuel for internal combustion engines, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as maritime transport, off-road machinery, freight rail, and stationary power generation. In his presentation at SoAE 2026, Cairns will address the state of the art in ammonia-fueled internal combustion engines, with a focus on one of the key technological challenges: achieving clean and efficient operation using pure ammonia. Among the most relevant developments, he will present results from the UK-based EPSRC MariNH3 programme, which has demonstrated significant performance improvements through the integration of advanced spark-ignition strategies and on-board ammonia cracking systems. These advances represent an important step toward positioning ammonia as a viable solution for decarbonizing energy-intensive sectors.
A world-class scientific program
The participation of Alasdair Cairns is complemented by a distinguished group of international plenary speakers:
- Dr. Susana Córdoba de Torresi – University of São Paulo, Brazil
- Dr. Jonas Peters – California Institute of Technology, United States
- Dr. Kevin Rouwenhorst – Ammonia Energy Association, Netherlands
- Dr. Xin Zhang – University of Maryland, United States
- Dr. Yuyang Li – Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
SoAE 2026 marks a major milestone as it will be held in Chile for the first time, reinforcing the country’s role in advancing green hydrogen and its derivatives—such as ammonia—within the global energy transition.
For more information and registration, please visit:
https://soae.migacl.org/registration/
