Davide Fabiani was born in Forlì, Italy, in 1972. He received the MSc and PhD in Electrical Engineering with honors in 1997 and 2002, respectively. Since 2014, he is Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical Electronics and Information Engineering of University of Bologna where he teaches the courses of “Innovative Electrical Technologies” and “Insulation Systems Design and Diagnosis”. Formerly, from 2005 to 2014, he was Assistant Professor at University of Bologna. His fields of research are mainly related to:

• Development and characterization of nanostructured materials for applications in electrical and electronic apparatus;
• Investigation of HV apparatus diagnosis mainly through partial discharge measurements;
• Evaluation of the effect of non-sinusoidal waveforms on reliability of components and insulation systems (in particular, induction motors fed by power electronic converters);
• Study of electrical conduction mechanisms and aging processed in high voltage insulation systems.

He was involved in several projects financed by public and private companies. He is author or co-author of about 280 papers, most of them published on the major international journals and conference proceedings. He is Associate Editor of IET High Voltage Journal as well as reviewer for several International Journals. He is a founder of the Research Group on Electrospinning (RGE) of University of Bologna. Currently he is President of IEEE Dielectric and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) from January 2024. He has been member-at-large of DEIS AdCom and Chair of the Meetings Committee from 2016 to 2019, DEIS VP Technical for 2020-2021 and VP Admin for 2022-2023.  He is member of the TC on Nanodielectrics of IEEE DEIS and of two CIGRE working groups on multifunctional material and insulating material diagnostics.

Horia Iovu is professor of polymer science and technology, chemist engineer, specialization in Composite Materials (Manchester Metropolitan University, U.K., 1994-1995),  PhD in Chemistry and Technology of Polymers (1995); full professor since 1999 (University Politehnica of Bucharest – Department of Bioresurces and Polymer Science);  Member of the National Council for Research in Higher Education (CNCSIS) (2005-2011); President of the National Council for awarding the universitary titles in Romania, the field of Chemical Engineering (since 2006); Vice-Rector / Director of Council for Doctoral Studies (since 2012); Full member of the Academy of Romanian Scientists; Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC); Fellow of the Romanian Chemical Society.

Professional experience: elastomers synthesis by polymerization of dienes with lanthanide-based catalysts, composite materials-synthesis and design, nanocomposite materials based on polymer matrices reinforced with silicates, nanocomposite materials based on polymer matrices reinforced with carbon nanotubes / graphene, carbon nanotubes – modification and compatibilization, biomaterials for scaffolds, collagen-HAP-synthetic polymers composites, polymer-based drug delivery systems.

Scientific activity: Group leader for the research group The Advanced Polymer Materials Group (since 2005) devoted to synthesis and characterization of new nanocomposites based on various polymers and reinforcing agents (www.apmg.pub.ro) for various applications including bioengineering, author / coauthor of more than 205 papers published in WoS – rated journals, 6 books published at national level and 5 book chapters at international level, Editor-in-chief  of “Materiale Plastice” journal. 

Cristian Mahulea is an Associate Professor and the Head of the Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, since July 2020. He obtained his Laurea and M.S. degrees in control engineering from the “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Romania, in 2001 and 2002, respectively, and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from the University of Zaragoza in 2007. His research traverses discrete event systems, hybrid systems, automated manufacturing, Petri nets, mobile robotics, and healthcare systems. Mahulea co-authored pivotal texts on Petri Nets and their applications in discrete event systems and cooperative mobile robots’ path planning. Additionally, he developed significant MATLAB toolboxes for Petri nets and mobile robots’ motion control. His editorial contributions span several prestigious journals, underscoring his authority in automation and control disciplines.

Mahulea’s global academic engagements include visiting positions in Italy, the U.K., the U.S.A., and France, enriching his research and teaching perspectives.

Professor Sorin Musuroi is a well-known and highly-appreciated personality of superior technical education not only in Romania but also in Europe. Since 2020, he is Vice Rector of Politehnica University Timişoara, being at the same time CNFIS Member and CNATDCU Member of the Electrical Engineering Committee. He is Corresponding Member of the Romanian Scientists Academy, being President of its Subsidiary in Timisoara. After defending his habilitation thesis in 2015, he successfully started his Ph.D. supervising activity. Among the multiple assumed responsibilities at the academic management level of Politehnica University Timişoara, the most important are coordination of the activities within the Department of Image and Communication, management of the relations with the economic environment and the public sector, coordinating the elaboration of the policies regarding the entrepreneurship activities, coordination of the Politehnica University Timişoara Library, coordination of the activities regarding the publications of the University and its Publishing House, coordination of the relations with the Steering Committee and evaluation of the supporting documentation for granting the PhD degrees and validation of the habilitation. By virtue of the dual perspective of PhD supervisor and vice-rector with duties regarding the multi-level development of the partnership with the economic environment and with the public sector, he was directly involved in the development of a framework that institutionalizes direct connections between doctoral research topics and requirements coming from the potential beneficiaries from all over Europe.

The numerous research contracts whose manager was Prof. Sorin Musuroi constitute support for attracting and training young researchers through PhD studies. As a member of several Editorial boards of scientific journals and publishing houses, he has been involved with great results in the development of bridges between industrial research activity and the publication of scientific papers.

Vincent Nierstrasz is a professor in Textile Materials Technology at the Swedish School of Textiles at the University of Borås since November 2011.

Prof. dr. ir. Nierstrasz was previously appointed at Ghent University in Belgium as senior researcher and Marie Curie fellow and at the University of Twente in The Netherlands as assistant professor. He holds a PhD degree from Delft University of Technology, and a MSc degree from Wageningen Agricultural University.

His research focuses on in surface modification and surface functionalization of textile materials for production functional and smart textiles (via e.g. catalysis, biocatalysis, coating, printing, 3D printing, inkjet), textile and polymer biotechnology. An important research domain of the research group Textile Materials Technology is resource effective processing. An example is the Erasmus Mundus program SMDTex (Sustainable Management and Design for Textiles), which has a focus on resource effective production of smart and functional textiles and the Crosstexnet project DigiFun. He was involved in several European (Crosstexnet, FP5, FP6, FP7 and H2020), nationally and industrially funded projects.

Assignments: Vice President for AUTEX, Association of Universities for Textiles.

Honorary assignments: Foreign member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW).

Maria Vamvakaki is a Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Technology of the University of Crete and an affiliated Faculty Member at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas. Prof. Vamvakaki holds a doctoral degree in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Sussex, UK. Next, she became a post-doctoral associate at the School of Chemistry, Physics and Environmental Science at the University of Sussex, and then a Visiting Assistant Professor in Chemistry at the Department of Physical Sciences of the University of Cyprus. She was also a visiting Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Technology of the University of Crete and a visiting scientist at the School of Chemistry, Physics and Environmental Science at the University of Sussex. Prof. Vamvakaki is leading the Materials Synthesis Group at the Department of Materials Science and Technology of the University of Crete and her expertise focuses on the synthesis and characterization of polymeric and organic/inorganic hybrid materials, polyelectrolytes/polyampholytes and microgels/hydrogels. Her current research interests include the synthesis of functional and stimuli-responsive polymeric materials and the self-assembly of macromolecules in aqueous media in solution and at a surface.