Ho Won Jang is a Full Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU), where he leads a research group focused on pioneering novel materials and advanced electronic devices.He received his Ph.D. from the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in 2004. Prior to joining the SNU faculty in 2012, he expanded his expertise as a Research Associate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and as a Senior Research Scientist at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).Professor Jang’s research portfolio spans solar fuel generation, high-performance chemical sensors, nonvolatile memory, and neuromorphic computing systems, frequently leveraging phenomena such as plasmonics, ferroelectrics, and metal–insulator transitions. An internationally recognized leader in materials science, he has authored over 800 peer-reviewed publications and serves as an Associate Editor for leading journals, including Exploration (IF: 30.4) and EcoEnergy..

Rui A.L. Miguel is Professor“Jubilado” at Faculty of Engineering (FE) of University of Beira Interior (UBI). He holds a PhD (2000) and a bachelor (1985) in Textile Engineering from UBI. He worked for 8 years in wool industry. He joined UBI in 1987 in the areas of Textile Engineering and Fashion Design. He was researcher at CSIC in Barcelona in the area of "engineering design", with a grant from F.C. Gulbenkian. He was member of UBI General Council andFE Scientific Council, President of Textile Department, Director of PhD programs in Fashion Design and Textile Engineering. He supervised numerous PhD and master's theses.He is researcher at FibEnTech of UBI and CIAUD of FA/UL R&D Units.He is co-author of approximately 300 scientific articles, including journal papers, book chapters and conference presentations.At UBI, he was responsible for several research projects in partnership with textile companies, with external funding, namely the PRR projects "be@t - bioeconomy for textiles" and "GIATEX - Intelligent Water Management", with a UBI budget of approximately €1 million.He was consultant to Portuguese Air Force for design and performance of fabrics.He wasmember ofAdvisory Board of ATP – Portuguese Textile and Clothing Association.

Dr. Zhixun WANG received his B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Central South University, and his Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Nanyang Technological University. He is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
His research interests encompass the development of devices in fiber and fabric form factors for diverse applications, including sensing, actuation, energy harvesting, power supply, and data processing. His work has a highly interdisciplinary nature, combining materials, electrical, and mechanical engineering in the design, fabrication, and integration of fiber devices into system-level architectures. He has authored multiple peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Nature, Nature Biomedical Engineering, and Chemical Society Reviews. His work on semiconductor fibers has been recognized in a Nature editorial and featured by media outlets including Physics World and Tech Xplore.

Prof. Di Wei works to define iontronics as a new technological paradigm by programming ion-electron interactions for energy, information, chemical reactions and intelligent systems. He serves as the Principal Investigator at BINN and heads the Iontronics Laboratory. As Member of European Academy of Sciences and Arts), Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences, Life Fellow of National Academy of Inventors USA, External Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, Foreign Member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in Finland and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, he has published about 200 papers including Nat. Energy, Nat. Commun., Sci. Adv., PNAS, Joule, Matter, Adv. Mater., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Energ. Environ. Sci., Chem. Soc. Rev. etc. as the first/corresponding author. Wei also has a portfolio of over 200 international patents (including PCT). Notably, 120+ patents have been successfully granted, many of which have been transferreds. Additionally, Wei has edited 6 English books, published by Wiley, Nature Springer and Cambridge University Press etc., focusing on nanotechnology for energy and information technology. His achievements have been recognized by the first prize of the Nokia Global Innovation and Excellence,and Brian Conway Prize from the International Society of Electrochemistry etc.

Yashwant Pathak received his PhD from Nagpur University, India, Executive MBA and Masters in Conflict Management, Sullivan University, Louisville, USA. He has over 45 years’ experience in Academia and Industry. Presently, he is Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at Taneja College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, Tampa, USA. Yashwant has published over 400 research papers, reviews and chapters with close to 5000 citations in Google scholar. He edited over 70 books in Nanotechnology, Nutraceuticals, Drug Delivery Systems, Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Neural Network. Her has keen interest in Conflict management and edited several books, Organizational conflict management, Handbook of organizational conflict management, Eastern and Indigenous perspectives in conflict management, RSS way of resolving conflicts and these two volumes on nonprofit organizations conflict management. He is recipient of several International and national awards including Fulbright Senior Scholar 2016-2017 at Indonesia for 6 months, Fulbright Specialist Scholar 2019 at Witwatersrand University, South Africa, Adjunct Professor, Witwatersrand University, South Africa, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia, Fellow of American Association for advancement of Sciences (FAAAS), Fulbright Specialist Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogota Colombia, 2023,Fulbright Senior Scholar, Masaryk University, Czech Republic 2024. He is actively involved in many nonprofit organizations including HSS.org, ICHRRF.org, IACDSC.org Uberoi Foundation for Religious Studies and so on.

Professor Tomáš Polcar received his PhD from the Czech Technical University in Prague in 2005. Following a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, he returned to Prague, where he founded the Advanced Materials Group. He subsequently joined the University of Southampton, UK, where he became a Professor of Materials Science and Tribology and led the National Centre for Advanced Tribology at Southampton (nCATS).
His research has pioneered the understanding of high-temperature tribological behaviour of protective coatings, as well as the friction and wear mechanisms of two-dimensional materials and solid lubricants. More recently, his work has expanded into the bottom-up design of advanced materials for both fusion and fission nuclear systems, combining atomistic modelling with advanced materials characterisation to develop radiation-tolerant materials. In addition to his academic career, he has founded several technology start-ups and university spin-offs and is an active investor in research-driven deep-tech companies, helping to translate scientific discoveries into commercial technologies.

Prof. David Cardwell is Professor of Superconducting Engineering and, until September
2024, was Pro-Vice-Chancellor responsible for Strategy and Planning at the
University of Cambridge. He was also Head of the Engineering Department between 2014 and 2018. Prof. Cardwell, who established the Bulk Superconductor Research Group at Cambridge in 1992, has a world-wide reputation on the processing and applications of bulk high temperature superconductors, having authored over 400 technical papers since 1987. He is actively involved in international education, primarily in China, and has been a member of the Hong Kong University Grants Committee (UGC) since 2021. Prof. Cardwell was elected to a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2012 in recognition of his contribution to the development of superconducting materials for engineering applications.

Prof. Robert Pullar is an Associate Professor at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy, were he has been a permanent Professor of Chemistry for 5 years.

He studied for a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry at the University of Leicester, MSc in Inorganic Chemistry at Bangor University, and a PhD in Materials Engineering from the University of Warwick, all in the UK. He also worked as a Research Associate in the Warwick Manufacturing Group, and then as a Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow at London South Bank University and Imperial College London in the Department of Materials. He then had a Marie Curie Research Fellowship in Nanomaterials at IESL / FORTH in Heraklion, Crete, Greece, followed by 11 years at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, as a Principal Investigator.
He works in the area of Materials Science and Chemistry, focussing on ceramics, biomaterials, 3D printing of ceramics and oxides, sustainable materials and wastes valorisation, and nanomaterials made from green and aqueous synthesis methods. He has published >200 papers, as well as five book chapters as sole author, and also co-authored eight further book chapters. He has a large number of citations (>10,600), an h index of 52 (Scopus), an h10 index of 13 and a g index of 97. He has presented at over 130 conferences on five continents (>115 oral, >40 invited), and has given 40 invited lectures in the UK, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Morocco, USA, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Dubai and India.

Prof. Joao Labrincha is Full Professor at the Materials and Ceramic Engineering Department (University of Aveiro). He is an expert in ceramics processing and implemented a research line on Wastes Recycling and Sustainable Use of Resources, teaching disciplines on related topics.He supervised several Ph.D and MsC theses, participate/d in >30 R&D projects (9 as leader/responsible) and in >20 Contracts financed/in cooperation with industries.
João Labrincha has 22 patent applications (two of those as International PTC), and published >420 papers (Science Citation Index). He has >17400 citations and h = 68 (Scopus).He is Associate Editor of Journal of Sustainable MetallurgyandACerS - International Journal of Ceramic Engineering and Science.He is author/co-author of 8 book chapters and co-editor of 7 books.Recently he co-authored a book entitled “Materiais e Sustentabilidade”.

Madalena Rocha Pereira is an Assistant Professor of Textile Department at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), Covilhã, Portugal, where she has taught since 1991. She currently serves as Head of the Department of Textile Science and Technology. She has also taught Textile Materials and Technologies at the School of Applied Arts (ESART) of the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco.Throughout her academic career, she has emphasised the role of materials knowledge and materials innovation in fashion design education, with a particular recent focus on sustainable materials and sourcing in Project Fashion Design subjects. Her research is interdisciplinary and lies at the interface between textile materials engineering and fashion design. Over the past five years, she in a team have concentrated on the study, development and application of recycled textile materials for value-added products, supporting circular-economy strategies in the textile and clothing sector and skills for this subject for the students and industry, with your PhD students. She has been involved in around ten R&D projects, both as a team member and a principal investigator. She has authored approximately 100 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and conference proceedings, and has supervised around 60 master's and doctoral students. She is an integrated member of the Fiber Materials and Environmental Technologies Research Unit (FibEnTech-UBI) and a collaborating researcher at Design R&D UNIDCOM/IADE.She was involved in the creation and reformulation of several study cycles in public higher education and public-private partnerships (1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles).He was an evaluator for A3ES, ANI and in database evaluator of several international activities of scientific committees and projects.

Clemente Pinto is an Assistant Professor of Structural Mechanics at the University of Beira Interior (Covilhã, Portugal) and a researcher in the field of new construction with natural stone. He began research on this topic in 2006 with a master’s thesis entitled Conception and Structural Analysis of a New Type of High-Strength Granite Pillar, and he completed his PhD in 2015 with the thesis Contribution to the Design of New High-Strength Granite Structures. His research is mainly focused on the mechanical behaviour of natural stone in civil engineering structural applications under high compressive stresses, the design and behaviour of end zones and joints, and the conception of new structural solutions using stone. Since 2023, Clemente Pinto has coordinated the organization of the International Symposium on New Construction with Stone, a multidisciplinary event that includes discussions and “hands-on stone” activities specially designed for graduate and secondary-school students, in which participants assemble and test structural stone elements to failure.

Lawrence Cho is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, USA, and a faculty member of the Advanced Steel Processing and Products Research Center (ASPPRC). He also holds an associate research appointment at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-Boulder. Previously, he was a Research Assistant Professor at the ASPPRC and a Materials Research Engineer at NIST through the NRC Research Associateship Program.As a recipient of the 2026 NSF CAREER Award, his research focuses on applying fundamental steel science to practical challenges in the development of advanced steels for industrial applications. His recent interests include the design of cost-effective materials and energy-efficient processing routes to advance sustainability in the steel industry, with particular emphasis on industrial electrification, hydrogen service applications, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), and steelsfor extreme service conditions.

Dr. Qadir Bux, widely known as Imran Latif Qureshi, was born on 8th October 1982 in Pakistan. His academic voyage began with a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering from QUEST, Pakistan in 2005. Nevertheless, the pinnacle of his educational journey was a PhD from UTHM, Malaysia in 2012, where he delved deep into the study of penetration scabbing and perforation of hard projectiles on concrete blocks. Over the years, Dr. Imran Latif has served academia with distinction. Currently, he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nizwa, Oman. His past associations include institutions such as the University of Buraimi, Oman, COMSATS Pakistan, and UTHM Malaysia. In addition to his professorial roles, Dr. Imran Latif is an integral part of various professional bodies, including IAPS, IAENG, and IFERP, among others. He's been an influential member of the staff Advisory Council at UON Oman and an active contributor to the Academic Advisory Committee of the Pakistan School in Oman. Furthermore, Dr. Imran Latif’s editorial insights are valued in journals like MDPI journal and UTHM's IJSCET. He’s also a sought-after reviewer for journals in his field. Acknowledgment of his hard work and dedication has come in various forms. Notable among his accolades are the Best NSEFYP Committee Member, the Best PhD FKAAB UTHM in 2012, and the International Student Scholarship from UTHM.

Dr. Ragab Abd El-Tawab Abd El-Latief is an Assistant Professor of Applied Chemistry (Polymers in the Petroleum Industry) at the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI). He earned his B.Sc. in Chemistry with a "Very Good with Honor" degree from Cairo University (Fayoum Branch) in 2004, followed by an M.Sc. from Fayoum University in 2012, and a Ph.D. from Ain Shams University in 2016. Dr. Ragab has extensive research experience spanning over 18 years at EPRI, focusing on sustainable asphalt modification, green road construction, waste recycling for advanced nanomaterials, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR). He has authored numerous high-impact peer-reviewed papers in international journals and contributed multiple book chapters with leading publishers like Springer and Taylor & Francis. In addition to his academic achievements, he is an active contributor to national development projects, climate change dialogues, and holds leadership certifications in executive management.

Dr. Vesna Žepič Bogataj is Head of the Laboratory for Applicative Materials at TECOS Slovenian Tool and Die Development Centre, where she has worked since 2011. She holds a PhD in Biosciences, specialising in lignocellulosic-based biocomposites, awarded in 2015. Her expertise encompasses sustainable materials, biocomposites, bioplastics, circular material solutions, and the valorisation of renewable resources and industrial waste streams.
She leads and contributes to national and European research and innovation projects focused on developing sustainable materials and translating scientific advances into practical industrial applications. Her work covers material formulation, processing, characterisation, and product development, with a particular emphasis on connecting material properties with real-world performance requirements.
Her technical expertise includes FTIR, NMR, SEM, thermal analysis (TG/DSC), DLS, XRD, rheology, and mechanical testing. Her current research interests include bio-based and biodegradable materials, circular product design, industrial waste valorisation, and the development of functional recycled polymers with enhanced thermal properties and more sustainable flame-retardant solutions. Through collaboration with industrial partners, she works to advance circular economy principles from material concepts to viable, application-oriented products.

Name: Sandra Marlene Ribeiro Freire Ferreira
Student of Industrial Engineering and Management´s PhD at University of Beira Interior; The area of the thesis focuses on the sustainability and development circularity of textiles, particularly in terms of waste of Wool companies in the region of Beira Interior of Portugal. Bachelor in Textile Engineering, more specifically in clothing branch. The master in the same area, namely in product development.
For 24 years, worked in a clothing factory and now has an FCT research scholarship, being involved in a Be@t project. This project is dedicated to the sustainability and circularity of textiles, and it supports the industry in training stakeholders. This project belongs to the DCTT department at University of Beira Interior, in Covilhã, Portugal, which supports me by offering equipment and textile machines to carry out the tasks of the project and also the doctoral thesis, which are all related.

Dr. Salamat Ali is currently serving at the School of Materials and Energy, Lanzhou University, China. He received his Ph.D. from the School of Materials and Energy at Lanzhou University in 2025. His research focuses on supercapacitors and batteries, with expertise in both experimental electrochemistry and density functional theory (DFT) simulations using the Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package (VASP). He obtained his master’s degree in physics from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in 2019.
Dr. Ali has published over 60 SCI-indexed (h-index 26) research papers in reputable international journals, contributing significantly to the fields of energy storage materials and computational electrochemistry. His work bridges experimental and theoretical approaches, enabling a comprehensive understanding of material properties and electrochemical performance for next-generation energy storage devices. In addition to his research activities, he actively serves as a reviewer for several international journals, contributing to the peer-review process and supporting the advancement of scientific research in materials science and energy-related fields. His research interests include the design and development of advanced electrode materials, particularly 2D materials, for high-performance supercapacitors and batteries.

Dr. Masood Mohandes is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southampton. His research focuses on structural health monitoring, structural dynamics, vibration-based damage identification, and the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to civil infrastructure. His current research develops autonomous, real-time monitoring frameworks for ageing railway bridges by integrating advanced signal processing, statistical learning, and numerical and experimental methods. His work aims to improve the safety, resilience, and service life of critical infrastructure through intelligent monitoring technologies. Before joining the University of Southampton, he held a postdoctoral position at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. He holds a PhD in Structural Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kashan.He has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed journal publicationswith over 800 citations to his research and has received several competitive research awards, including a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship.

Dr Yong Yi currently works as a Professor-level Senior Engineer in China Southern Power
Grid Co Ltd. His researches focus on battery energy storage system, novel dielectricmaterial for application of electrical power system; condition monitoring for smart electrical
grid; machine learning for high-temperature polymer-based dielectrics; conductor aginginsmart electrical grid; high voltage engineering. He is a reviewer of about 20 international
Journals. He is editorial members of 4 international Journals. He was 5 conference chairs. He authored and co-authored over 80 journal publications. He is a senior member of IEEE. He has attracted more than 1 million dollars in research grants from industrial partners, National Natural Science Foundation of China, etc.

Eva-Maria Salvanu-ELKAN has degree in medicine form the Universitaty of de Medicineand Pharmacy „Iuliu Hațieganu” Cluj, and training in residency at University of Medicine and Pharmacy „Victor Babeș” Timișoara, Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children „Louis Țurcanu” from Timișoara.
She workes at the County Emergency Hospital from Buzău and she made lectures at the disciplines of Physiology and Pathophysiology from the Department of Morphological and Functional Sciences from the Universității „Dunărea de Jos” University of Galați. She studied a Master in Security Management in International Relations at “Danubius International University” of Galati.

Dr. Israel C. Ribeiro is a dedicated Computational Chemist and Data Scientist with extensive expertise in materials discovery through first-principles simulation, high-throughput screening, and machine learning. His professional background includes significant experience in both academic research and industrial R&D, where he has successfully bridged the gap between theoretical DFT-based design and experimental synthesis. Currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at UMONS (Belgium), Israel specializes in the development of neural network interatomic potentials (NNIPs) and ML-driven structural search algorithms to model complex organic-inorganic interfaces. He is recognized for his technical proficiency in automating large-scale HPC simulation workflows and his ability to translate computational outputs into actionable insights for materials synthesis teams. With a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry and an MBA in Data Science & Analytics, he is committed to accelerating the development of advanced materials for energy and environmental applications through innovative, data-driven approaches.

Amiya Mandal is a Research Scholar in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee), India, working in the Smart Materials Research Laboratory under the supervision of Prof. K. L. Yadav. He is pursuing his PhD in Physics with a research focus on ‘lead-free perovskite ceramics for environment-friendly energy storage’, particularly dielectric and ferroelectric materials for advanced capacitive applications. His research interests include structure–property relationships, relaxor ferroelectrics, dielectric behaviour, energy-storage performance, and advanced materials characterisation.He is a recipient of the Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF) and has qualified for GATE and JEST with national ranks.
His research has resulted in publications in reputed international journals, including Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Small, Chemical Engineering Journal,Journal of Energy Storage, Batteries &Supercaps, Ceramics International, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C and Journal of Alloys and Compounds. His recent work explores the development of lead-free dielectric ceramics with enhanced recoverable energy density, efficiency, and low-field energy-storage capability. He has also presented his research at several national and international conferences, including ICMAT-2025 in Singapore.