Professor Young was educated at the University of Cambridge and became Professor of Polymer Science and Technology in Manchester in 1986. He was the founding Head of the School of Materials in the newly-formed University of Manchester in 2004, which is now the largest university materials department in the UK and the focus of major UK materials research initiatives. He is a Fellow of Royal Society (2013), Royal Academy of Engineering (2006) and Academy of Europe (2015). His main research interest is the relationships between structure and properties in polymers and composites. He has introduced of a number of revolutionary techniques that have given a completely new insight into the micromechanics of deformation in fibres and composites. In particular, he has pioneered the use of Raman spectroscopy for the analysis of deformation processes that take place at the molecular level. Over recent years he has extended this approach to the mechanics of deformation of graphene and other 2D materials in nanocomposites. His contribution in research has been recognised through numerous invitations to give Plenary and Keynote lectures at International Conferences and through the awards of the Griffith Medal (2002), Leslie Holliday Prize (2011), Swinburne Medal and Prize (2012) and Platinum Medal (2019) from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.
Keynote talk title: Dependence of the Reinforcement of Polymer-Based Nanocomposites upon the Nanofiller Geometry
Maria Laura Di Lorenzo is Research Director at Italian National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials (IPCB). She is the author of three books published by Springer, three patents, and more than 150 articles published in JCR journals that have received nearly 8,000 citations (Scopus). Dr. Di Lorenzo's main research interests focus on polymer crystallization and melting, bio-based and biodegradable polymers, crystallization kinetics, glass transition, polymer blends and composites. Since 2017 (first edition), Maria Laura Di Lorenzo is in World's Top 2% Scientists, the ranking developed by Stanford University and published in the Elsevier Data Repository (August 2025), DOI: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.8.
She is currently Coordinator of EIC-PATHFINDER "BORN" project (Biobased thermal-resistaNt food packaging), Coordinator of PRIN 2022 PNRR "DesiRe" project (Design for Recyclability: mono-material multi-graded semi-crystalline polymer foams), and head of CNR unit of PRIN 2022 "0DeF3" project (Zero-defect Fused Filament Fabrication).
Dr. Di Lorenzo is Senior Editor of Thermal Advances (Elsevier) and member of the Editorial Board of: Thermochimica Acta (Elsevier), Thermo (MDPI), Reviews on Advanced Materials Science (De Gruyter), Polymers (MDPI), International Journal of Polymer Science (Wiley), Advances in Materials Science and Engineering (Wiley).
J. González began his scientific career in 1992 at the Complutense University of Madrid, where he studied cyclodextrin inclusion complexes. He earned his PhD at the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M), specializing in glass fiber-reinforced polymers. He completed research stays at several institutions, including Tampere University, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), and NIST, focusing on polymer science and materials characterization. He currently leads the AFM Laboratory at UC3M. In 2006, he founded the Polymeric Composite Materials and Interfaces research group (an official UC3M group), dedicated to the development of multifunctional thermoplastic materials. He pioneered a high-energy ball milling method to achieve uniform nanoparticle dispersion, enabling the design of materials with unique electrical and antibacterial properties. He has extensive experience in advanced nanoscale characterization techniques and has established close collaborations with internationally recognized groups, including the University of Salerno, University of Aveiro, UCSB, CWRU, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, the University of the Basque Country, and the University of Navarra, among others. His current research focuses on developing polymer nanofibers via Solution Blow Spinning (SBS) for medical, electrical, and food packaging applications. He has published more than 125 SCI articles, led international, national, and regional research projects, and serves on several editorial boards in the field of polymer science.
Keynote talk title: Active Fibrous Materials Based on PLA/Magnetic nanoparticles Prepared by Solution Blow Spinning
Filomena Freitas is an Assistant Professor at the Chemistry Department of NOVA School of Sciences and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon (FCT NOVA), Portugal, and a Senior Researcher at the Biochemical Engineering Group (BIOENG), at UCIBIO, FCT NOVA. She has completed a PhD in Biological Engineering by FCT NOVA in 2004. She has developed research on the development of upstream and downstream processes for the production of value-added microbial products, including polysaccharides and polyhydroxyalkanoates, as well as intellectual property development and technology transfer. Special focus is also given on the biological valorization of agro-industrial wastes/byproducts, aiming at implementing sustainable bioprocesses. She has over 110 papers published in international peer review journals, book chapters and International Patents, which have recently been granted in several countries.
Prof. Dr. Violette Geissen is a Professor of Soil Degradation and Land Management at Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands. She studied Agricultural Sciences at the Universities of Giessen and Göttingen in Germany and completed her doctoral studies and academic qualification at the University of Bonn. Since 2009, she has been working at Wageningen University, where she was appointed Professor in 2016. Her research focuses on soil degradation, environmental pollution, pesticide residues, microplastics and their impacts on terrestrial ecosystems and human health. She has extensive international research experience, including her previous appointment as a visiting professor at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) in Mexico, where she investigated soil degradation and pollution. Professor Geissen has coordinated major international research initiatives, including the European SPRINT and MINAGRIS projects, addressing the environmental and health impacts of pesticides and microplastics. Her work contributes significantly to understanding the fate, transport and ecological risks of emerging pollutants in the environment. Through her scientific publications, international collaborations and research leadership, she has established an important contribution to environmental sustainability, soil protection and the assessment of emerging contaminants.