Invited Speakers 2019

Prof. Jesús Toribio, University of Salamanca, Spain

Plenary talk: “Fatigue & fracture crack paths generated by manufacturing-induced
microstructural & strength anisotropy in cold drawn pearlitic steels:
(a) In the conceptual frame of Maurits Cornelis Escher and
Johann Sebastian Bach; (b) An Orteguian approach and
a tribute to Fray Luis de León’s “decíamos ayer”

Professor Jesús Toribio graduated in Civil Engineering in 1982 and then in Mathematics in 1986. In 1987 he was awarded his PhD in the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and turned into Associate Professor in that Institution. In 1992 he became Full Professor and Head of the Materials Science Department of the University of La Coruña (at the age of 32, thus being the youngest Full Professor in the area of Materials Science in Spain). In 2000 he moved to the University of Salamanca (USAL) where is currently Full Professor of Materials Science and Head of the Fracture and Structural Integrity Research Group (FSIRG) of that Institution.

His research work is mainly concerned with fatigue and fracture mechanics, environmentally assisted cracking, stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement/degradation/damage of metals and alloys (mainly cold drawn pearlitic steel wires for civil engineering and austenitic stainless steels for nuclear engineering and energy applications), covering theoretical, computational and experimental aspects. He actively participates in International Conferences, very often being member of the International Advisory Committee, organising Special Sessions/Symposia, being Session Chairman or delivering Plenary/Keynote/Invited Lectures. Professor Dr. Jesús Toribio has published more than 500 scientific papers, most of them in international books and journals.

He is the Chairman of the Technical Committee 10 (TC10): Environmentally Assisted Cracking of the European Structural Integrity Society (ESIS) and has been Director (2013-2017) of the International Congress of Fracture-The World Academy of Structural Integrity (ICF-WASI), being responsible of launching the Ibero-American Academy of Structural Integrity (IA2SI). Prof. Toribio has been awarded a variety of scientific research prizes and awards including: (i) UPM Young Scientist Award of the Polytechnic University of Madrid; (ii) METROTEC Award for the best Technological Research Project; (iii) Honour Medal of the Spanish Group of Fracture (GEF/SEIE) in recognition of his research achievements in the field of fracture mechanics; (iv) Fellow of the Wessex Institute of Technology (WIT) in recognition of leadership and outstanding work in engineering sciences; (v) Top Reviewer 2011 in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the quality of the Elsevier International Journal Engineering Fracture Mechanics; (vi) Fellow of the European Structural Society (ESIS Fellow) for his outstanding contributions to the art, science, teaching or practice of fracture mechanics and his service to the society; (vii) Honorary Member of the Italian Group of Fracture (IGF) in acknowledgement and appreciation of his outstanding achievements in the research field of fracture mechanics; (viii) Best Paper and Presentation Award in the International Conference on Energy Materials and Applications (ICEMA 2017) held in 2017 in Hiroshima, Japan, with a paper entitled: Numerical Simulation of Hydrogen Diffusion in the Pressure Vessel Wall of a WWER-440 Reactor; (ix) María de Maeztu Scientific Award of the University of Salamanca (800th anniversary during 2018) in recognition of academic trajectory and excellence in scientific and technological research.

Prof. Xiaosu YI, University of Nottingham Ningbo, Aviation Industry of China, China

Plenary talk: “The Latest Development of Bio-sourced Composites for GREEN Aviation”

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Xiaosu YI, University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) and Aviation Industry of China (AVIC). He received his PhD (Dr.-Ing.) degree from the Faculty of Maschinenbau of University of Paderborn, Germany in 1986. Prof. Yi is actively involved in R&D of composite materials in academia and industry over 30 years.

Prof. Aleksander Sedmak, Belgrade University, Serbia

Plenary talk: “Micromechanical Modelling of Weldment Cracking”

Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Sedmak, graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering University of Belgrade in 1978, and received his D.Sc. from the Faculty of Mathematics, dept. of Mechanics, University of Belgrade, 1988. Since 1990 assistant professor, and since 2001 full professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering University of Belgrade. Visiting professor at Drexel Univeristy, USA, 1999-2002. Assistant Minister for Science and Technology Development 2003-2006. Vice-rector for international cooperation, University of Belgrade, 2006-2009. Director of Innovation Center of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade since 2006. Main topics of research and teaching are Engineering Materials, Welding, Numerical Methods, Fracture Mechanics and Structural Integrity. Advisor for more than 50 D.Sc. thesis, published several textbooks. He published 120 papers in WoS journals with more than 500 citations, 120 papers in other journals, mono­graphs and conferences, total more than 750 references, mostly in Fracture Mechanics, Welding and Material Science field. He is the President of Serbian Structural Integrity and Life Society, Editor-in-chief of Structural Integrity and Life Journal, and the Vice-president of European Structural Integ­rity Society (ESIS), since 2014. He is member of editor boards and reviewer of a number of prominent world journals in Fracture Mechanics, and the Chairman of European Conference on Fracture (ECF22), Belgrade, 2018.

Prof. Alexopoulos Nikolaos, University of the Aegean, Greece

Plenary Talk: “Corrosion susceptibility of aeronautical Al-Li alloys”

Dr.-Eng. Nikolaos Alexopoulos received his Ph.D. (2004) in Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics from the University of Patras, Greece. His Doctoral research focused on the development of a methodology to evaluate the quality of cast aluminium alloys for aeronautical applications by linking microstructural characteristics with mechanical properties. He conducted Post-Doctoral research (2005-2007) at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece regarding the structural integrity degradation of aeronautical aluminum alloys and structures due to corrosion funded by the Greek State Scholarships Foundation (Ι.Κ.Υ.). He has been a Research Associate at the Research and Development Department of Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) (2007 to 2010) gaining valuable Industrial experience. In 2012 he was elected at the University of the Aegean where he still serves as Assistant Professor of Mechanics of Materials. Research interests of Dr. Alexopoulos lies within the sector of experimental mechanics, mechanical behavior of engineering materials, fracture mechanics, casting of aluminum alloys, corrosion of aluminum alloys and steels, nanomaterials and nanocomposites. He has published more than 50 papers in scientific journals, presented more than 100 papers in conference proceedings and currently has a Hirsch-index = 17. He has participated in more than 20 National and European research projects; while he is an elected member of Board of Directors of the Greek Society of Experimental Mechanics of Materials (GSEMM) as well as of the EURopean ASsociation for Experimental Mechanics (EURASEM).

Prof. Professor Constantinos Soutis, Aerospace Research Institute, University of Manchester, UK

Plenary talk: “Structural integrity and durability of polymer composites: Achievements and challenges”

Professor Constantinos Soutis FREng is holding a Chair in Aerospace Engineering, and he is the Director of the Aerospace Research Institute and Director of the Northwest Composites Centre at the University of Manchester, UK. Prior to this, he has held academic positions at the University of Sheffield, Imperial College London, University of Leicester, University of Cambridge and visiting professorial posts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of South Carolina, USA. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and leading authority on mechanics and failure of composites, with significant contributions on modelling damage mechanisms and structural health monitoring using low frequency Lamb waves techniques. His industrial research and engineering experience includes work with the Structural Materials Centre of the British Defence Evaluation & Research Agency (visiting research fellow, 1995-2001), QinetiQ (Trusted Expert, 2001-2003), Cambridge Consultants, Dowty Propellers, Cytec Materials Engineering and ABB Research in Switzerland. Professor Soutis is the author or co-author of over 400 archived articles, which include more than 250 ISI listed journal papers; some 30 PhD students have qualified under his supervision and guidance. Professor Soutis is the Deputy Editor of Applied Composite Materials Journal, an Associate Editor of the RAeS Aeronautical Journal and served on the International Journal of SHM.

New book: Beaumont, Peter & Soutis, Constantinos. (2016). The structural integrity of carbon fiber composites: Fifty years of progress and achievement of the science, development, and applications. 10.1007/978-3-319-46120-5.

Prof. Oystein Grong, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Plenary talk: “Progress in Solid State Joining of Metals and Alloys”

Øystein Grong (born in 1956), received his PhD degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 1983. He has worked as a Research Scientist at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, Kjeller, Norway and as a Visiting Research Professor at Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado (USA). He was appointed Professor of Metallurgy at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 1987 by the King of Norway and the Prime Minister. Professor Grong has a broad interest and research experience in materials in general and microstructural modelling in particular. A significant part of this work is related to thermomechanical processing and welding of metals and alloys. He has educated 58 MSc and 22 PhD students and written 264 publications, including 94 major scientific papers in referred international journals. He is also the author of the well-reputed textbook Metallurgical Modelling of Welding, which formerly was ranked among the top ten books (best sellers) from the Institute of Materials in London. In addition, he holds seven patents and has received four international awards and one prestigious national award for his scientific contributions. Professor Grong is currently self-employed through his own company and fully engaged in the development of the Hybrid Metal Extrusion & Bonding (HYB) process together with industry partners and colleagues at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, NTNU.