Dr. John W. Sheffield, joined Purdue University in January 2015. He holds the title of Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology. Dr. Sheffield has a broad base of experience in energy technologies. He has served as one of the founding associate directors at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization - International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies (UNIDO-ICHET) during their first two years of operation in 2005-2006. He also served as the Associate Director of the National University Transportation Center at Missouri S&T. For more than forty years, he has served as an editor of the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. In August 2014, he completed a two-year assignment as a principal consultant at DNV GL - Energy supporting the evaluation, measurement and verification of energy efficiency programs and the response to the U.S. DOE Uniform Methods Project Protocol review of compressed air systems. In August 2015, he completed a 7-week National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program as an industrial mentor for a potential startup company based on the manufacturing of bio-inspired bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells. On 1 March 2019, he became the President of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, having previously served as the Executive Vice President. He has also served as a part-time Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University in Xi'an, China working in the summers with the School of Energy and Power Engineering on hydrogen energy technologies from 2019-2021 and teaching in the annual International Summer School offered by the State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering.
Rodrigo Martins is full professor at FCT-NOVA- Portugal, President of the European Academy of Sciences; President of the International Union of Materials Research Societies; Full Professor at FCT-NOVA. Member of the:
Rodrigo Martins is the founder and director of the Centre of Excellence in Microelectronics and Optoelectronics Processes of Uninova; leader of the Materials, Optoelectronics and Nanotechnologies group of I3N/CENIMAT and its sub-director; member of the nomination committee of the EIT KIC Raw Materials, Editor in Chief of the journal Discover Materials. He is expert in the field of advanced functional materials, nanotechnologies, microelectronics, transparent electronics (pioneer) and paper electronics (inventor), with more than:
- 1050 papers, from which 677 in the WoK
- 2 books; editing 8 books; 1 pedagogic text book in Portuguese (900 pages); book chapters 28.
- Patents: granted patents 43; 16 pending.
- Talks: about 600 talks, from which 100 as plenary/key note speakers, 200 as invited and 200 as regular in main international and national conferences, symposia and workshops.
- Posters: about 300 in main international and national conferences, symposia and workshops
He is Member of the:
Rodrigo Martins was decorated with the gold medal of merit and distinction by the Almada Municipality for his R&D achievements. ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1997-7669: Webpage: https://cemop.uninova.pt/ Click here for more details.
Lifeng Liu is currently the Leader of the Nanomaterials for Energy Storage and Conversion (NESC) group at INL. Lifeng Liu has a PhD degree in Condensed Matter Physics from Chinese Academy of Sciences and did his post-doctoral work at Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics during 2007-2009. Before joining INL in 2011, Dr. Liu was a staff scientist and group leader at Max-Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics. He is Associate Editor of Science Letters Journal, and Editorial Board Member of Advances in Nano Research, Journal of Nanomaterials Science, and Science Advances Today.
Dr. George Avgouropoulos graduated from the University of Patras with a diploma in Chemical Engineering (1997). Post graduate studies were carried out in Chemical Engineering Department of University of Patras in collaboration with Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes (FORTH/ICE-HT), under the supervision of Prof. Verykios and Research Director Dr. Ioannides, respectively. He received a MSc diploma in Energy and Environment (2003) and a PhD diploma in Chemical Engineering (2003) from University of Patras. Since July 2003 he works as a research associate at FORTH/ICE-HT. In June 2010 he was elected a Lecturer at the Materials Science Department of University of Patras in the field of “Materials engineering in microphase-nanophase or/and molecular or/and biomolecular materials or/and devices – experimental direction”. In the midterm he was a postdoctoral fellow of National Fellowships Foundation (2006-2007), assistant professor at the Technological Educational Institution of Kalamata in Greece (2005-2010) and fixed term Lecturer at the Materials Science Department (2008 – today). He has co-authored 36 research papers and has received more than 1600 citations. He has presented more than 50 research papers in scientific conferences, while he co-holds two international patents.
In addition, three of his papers have been recognised as "Top-50 most cited articles" by Elsevier. He has co-edited a book in RSC Catalysis Series. He has participated as senior researcher in several European projects dealing with catalysis and fuel cell. He has developed research activities in the development (synthesis and characterization) of nanostructured catalysts (mainly Cu-Ce mixed oxides and Cu-Mn spinel oxides, as well as precious metal-based catalysts such as Au/Fe2O3, Au/CeO2, Pt/CeO2 Pt/Al2O3, and carbon-based materials) for application in hydrogen technologies (methanol fuel processors and PEM fuel cells). Recent research activities focus on the development (reaction engineering, synthesis-characterization-testing of materials) of a methanol-fuelled power unit based on a methanol reformer and a high temperature PEM fuel cell. His expertise spreads across a variety of analytical characterization techniques required from the nature of nanostructured materials focusing on collection of information with respect to the morphology, microstructure, phase distribution, etc. These include N2 adsorption, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), electron microscopy (TEM, SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and temperature-programmed methods (TPR, TPD), isotopic measurements (SSITKA).
Mikhael BECHELANY (born in March 1979) obtained his PhD in Materials Chemistry from the University of Lyon (France) in 2006. His PhD work was devoted to the synthesis and characterization of silicon and boron based 1D nanostructures (nanotubes, nanowires and nanocables). Then, he worked as a post-doc at EMPA (Switzerland). His research included the fabrication of nanomaterials (nanoparticles and nanowires), their organization and their nanomanipulation for applications in different field such as photovoltaic, robotic, chemical and bio-sensing. In 2010, he became a Scientist at CNRS. His current research interest in the European Institute of Membranes (UMR CNRS 5635) in Montpellier (France) focuses on novel synthesis methods for metals and ceramics nanomaterials like Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), electrodeposition, electrospinning, 3D printing and/or on the nanostructuring using natural lithography (nanospheres and/or membranes). His research efforts include the design of nanostructured membranes for health, environment and renewable energy. End of 2021, he is the author and co-author of more than 270 publications, 13 book chapters and 6 patents (h-index = 51). He is also the co-founder of 3 Startups.
Aran Garcia-Lekue is an Ikerbasque Researcher at the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC). She holds a degree in Physical Sciences (Extraordinary Prize, 1998) and a PhD in Material Science and Engineering (European PhD, 2003) from the University of the Basque Country. She conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Liverpool (UK) and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley (USA). In 2007, she joined the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) through the Fellows Gipuzkoa programme and, in 2012, became an Ikerbasque Researcher. Since 2015, she has been teaching on the Master's in Nanoscience at the University of the Basque Country. She is involved in several international collaborations and has been a Mercator Fellow at the University of Kiel in Germany, as well as visiting researcher at the LBNL in Berkeley.
In her doctoral thesis (directed by Pedro Maria Echenique and Jose Maria Pitarke), she conducted theoretical research into the interactions between several metallic bodies. Her post-doctoral research focussed on the development and application of computational tools for simulating nanoscale quantum electronic properties. Her main areas of research over recent years have looked at molecular electronics and small-scale materials, particularly graphene nanostructures – highly promising materials for use in nanoelectronics or quantum computing. In 2018, her research group participated in a project on nanoporous graphene which won third place in the Cutting-edge Science Awards (Premio Vanguardia de la Ciencia) 2018 and was selected as Molecule of the Year 2018 by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Silke Christiansen is appointed full professor since 11/2013 at the Free University – Berlin in the physics department and is managing a research department for correlative microscopy and materials data at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramics materials and systems in Forchheim, Germany. She received several awards including the MRS student award, a research fellowship award by the Bayerische Forschungsstiftung for a research stay at Columbia University, NY, USA and a Feodor Lynen Fellowship awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to carry out research in silicon technology at TJ Watson Research Center of IBM, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA. Moreover, she is distinguished honorary professor at the Material Science Dept., Chungbuk University in Korea for 6 years (2014-2020). She has significant experience in the field of nano-materials, in particular energy materials and context microscopy and spectroscopy, bio-medical sensing, bio-technology and opto- as well as large-area electronics. She advances materials based on correlated microscopies and spectroscopies for which she operates a labs@location unit with Carl Zeiss Microscopy. She gained her scientific experience at various institutions in Germany and the US, e.g. IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY, USA, Columbia University, NY, USA, Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics and the Science of Light in Halle and Erlangen (group leader), Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy (institute director), Leibnitz Institute for Photonic Technology in Jena (department leader) and the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (PhD and habilitation). She has more than 370 peer-reviewed publications, more than 12 patents/- applications, more than 200 invited seminars, more than 120 invited, keynote and plenary talks at international conferences and ~ 14000 citations and an h-index of 61.
Claudia Espro received her MS Degree (110/110) in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Messina in 1998 with the thesis “Selective Oxidation of Propane into liquid oxygenates on superacid catalysts in a Three phase membrane reaction system. From 1998 to 2000 she has been a postgraduate student of the school of Chemical Process Technologies at the University of Messina. In 2000 she obtained the postgraduate qualification in Chemical Process Technologies. From 2003 to 2006 she has been a PhD fellow in Chemical Technologies and Innovative Processes at the University of Messina.
In 2007 she received her PhD from the University of Messina with the dissertation: “Development and Optimization of innovative Membrane Based Systems for the catalytic Conversion of Natural Gas and Light Alkanes”.
In 2003 she received a four-year research contract for the project theme: “Development of innovative catalytic systems for the conversion of natural gas and light alkanes into valuable products” at the University of Messina. The research contract has been extended for a further four years, untill 2012. In 2012 she received a one year research contract for the project theme:” Characterization and catalytic reduction of liquid and gaseous pollutants“. In 2013 she received a one year research contract for the project theme:” Technological and Processing Innovation for the Manufacturing Industry“.
Since 2014 she is Assistant Professor (RTD- A, ex Lgs 240/2010) of Chemical Foundations of Technologies (03/B2) working at the Engineering Department of the University of Messina. From 2016 she is member of the Committee of the Doctoral Course in "Engineering and Chemistry of Materials And Constructions” of the University of Messina. In 2017 she receives the National Scientific Qualification as Associate Professor of Chemical Foundations of Technologies (03/B2).
In 2017 she has been a visiting researcher at the University of Volos, Thessaly (Greece) performing research activity in the field of the environmental catalysis and delivering a series of lectures concerning the “design and development of new nanostructured catalysts for environmental purposes”.
Since 2014 she conducts her teaching activity in the “Laurea, BS” and “Laurea Magistrale, MS” Courses in Engineering at University of Messina. Claudia Espro conducts her research activity in the following areas: heterogeneous catalysis and development of novel catalytic green processes. In this area she is pursuing fundamental and applied research objectives The main topic of her scientific activity lies in the catalytic conversion of natural gas and light alkanes into intermediates, fuels and chemicals of higher added value. Her scientific activity is also devoted to other research subjects related to the conversion of renewable biomass for the production of bulk chemicals. She has participate to various research projects in the framework of national and international research programmes and R&D activities of chemical and petrochemical industries. She is author/co-author of about 107 papers (45 articles on SCOPUS/WOS indexed International journals, 62 communication and conference proceedings at National and Int. Congresses; 1 patent ). She is reviewer of international journals and conferences.
Aida Todri-Sanial received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Bradley University, IL in 2001, M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Long Beach State University, CA, in 2003 and a Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California Santa Barbara, in 2009. She received her French Habilitation (Habilitation a Diriger des Recherches) from the University of Montpellier in 2015. She obtained a post-graduate certificate in Entrepreneurship Programme for Women in Science, Technology and Engineering from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK in 2017.
Dr. Todri-Sanial is currently a Director of Research at the French National Council of Scientific Research (CNRS) attached to Laboratoire d’Informatique de Robotique et de Microélectronique de Montpellier (LIRMM). Previously, she was an R&D Engineer for Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, IL, USA. She has also held research positions at the Mentor Graphics Coorporation, Cadence Design Systems, STMicroelectronics and IBM TJ Watson Research Center.
Her research interests focus on nanometer-scale issues in high-performance VLSI design with emphasis on energy efficiency, power, thermal, signal integrity, and reliability issues as well as on circuits and systems for emerging technologies and nanomaterials. Currently, her research is focused on exploring 1D/2D nanomaterials for nanoelectronics devices and novel computing paradigms such as neuromorphic computing and quantum computing. Dr. Aida Todri-Sanial is the project coordinator of EU H2020 NeurONN 2020-2022 and workpackage leader for EU H2020 SmartVista 2019-2021 and EU H2020 CONNECT 2016-2018 projects, and chief scientist of the University of Montpellier Quantum Computing Hub supported by IBM Quantum Network and the Region of Occitanie, FR. She has co-authored more than 100 publications on VLSI design area and emerging technologies.
Dr. Todri-Sanial is featured as one of 100 Young Leaders that Make Montpellier. She is nominated as a Distinguished Lecturer by the IEEE Nanotechnology Council 2022. She is the receipient of the ACM SIGDA Meritorious Service Award 2020 her service as the co-Editor-in-Chief of SIGDA e-newsletter. Dr. Todri-Sanial is a laurate of the Franco-British Young Leaders 2018 from the Franco-British Council focusing on strenghthening the bilateral relationships in science and technology. Dr. Todri-Sanial was a Academic Visitor at the Cambridge Graphene Center and Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK during 2016-2017. She was the receipient of the Blatand Fellowship in 2017. Dr. Todri-Sanial was the receipient of the prestigous award CNRS Medaille de Bronze in 2016. Dr. Todri-Sanial is an ACM Distinguished Speaker 2016-2018. Dr. Todri-Sanial was the recipient of John Bardeen Fellow in Engineering at Fermilab in 2009.
Dr. Todri-Sanial currently serves as a nominated member of the French National Scientific Committee for CNRS Section 7. She regularly serves as Technical Program Committee Member for various international well-known conferences such as ISVLSI, NEWCAS, GLSVLSI, ISQED, EDSSC, and DATE. She also frequently serves as an Expert Evaluator for the EU Commission ICT program. Currently, she is an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on VLSI, Journal of Microelectronics Reliability and Microelectronics Journal. Dr. Todri-Sanial is the co-Editor-in-Chief for ACM SIGDA Newsletter and Editorial Advisory Board Member for Cambridge Scholars Publishing Ltd. She is an ACM member and IEEE Senior Member. She is a member of the European Platform of Women Scientists and a mentor for the Femmes & Sciences Montpellier.