Keynote Speakers

Prof. Matsuno is a Full Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at Tottori University, Japan. He completed his Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering at Kyushu University in 2005. Subsequently, he joined Nippon Steel Corporation, the largest steel industry in Japan, as a researcher. During his tenure at Nippon Steel Corporation until 2015, Prof. Matsuno made significant contributions to the research on shearing of advanced high-strength steel sheets for automotive applications. His primary achievements include developing techniques to suppress stretch-flange cracking and delayed fracture on sheared surfaces, as well as developing finite element shearing simulations as analytical tools for these failures. His work extended beyond forming technology research, as he was also involved in the material development of dual-phase steels, providing insight into microstructural ductile fracture via meso-scale damage simulation. Prof. Matsuno's expertise spans multiple disciplines. In 2013, while still employed at the steel company, he earned his doctor of engineering from Kyushu University with a dissertation on position and attitude control algorithms for spacecraft. In 2016, he transitioned to academia as an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at Tottori University. He continued his industry-related research while in academia and was promoted to Full Professor in 2022 in recognition of his accomplishments. Recently, Prof. Matsuno has been focusing on advancing simulations beyond mere prediction. His core research theme involves the integration of measurement and simulation techniques.Throughout his career, from his time as a industrial researcher to the present, he has main-authored 30 academic papers and is the primary inventor on 24 patents in Japan. Prof. Matsuno is a member of The Japan Society for Technology of Plasticity, where he serves on multiple boards, including as an editor for the society's journal.

Prof. Łukasz Rauch shares his scientific interests between computer science and its applications in modelling and design of industrial processes. Author of more than 250 scientific papers published in international and national journals, and presented during conferences or workshops. He participates in multiple scientific and R&D projects realized in cooperation with large companies as well as with SMEs, which resulted in several applications of scientific solutions in industrial practice. For last 20 years he has been employed at AGH University of Krakow, where since 2020 he has worked at the position of Deputy Dean for Research and Cooperation at the Faculty of Metals Engineering and Applied Computer Science. Between 2016 and 2020 he was employed as Head of Department of Applied Computer Science and Modelling.

Prof. Schmauder was educated in Stuttgart/Germany where he received his Diploma in Mathematics in 1981 at the University and where he finished his PhD in Materials Science in 1988 at the Max-Planck-Institute for Metals Research. Prof. Schmauder then did Postdocs at the University of Tokyo from 1989-1990 and at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) from 1990-1991. He returned back to Stuttgart where he became a group leader in Structural Mechanics at the Max-Planck-Institute from 1991-1994. He was nominated as full Professor for Strength of Materials and Materials Techniques in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Stuttgart in 1994. He has published 9 books and more than 500 scientific papers. Since 1991 he is the organizer of the annual international workshop on Computational Mechanics of Materials. His main research field is multiscale materials modelling from atoms to components. He is a guest professor in Tomsk (Russia) and Tokyo (Japan) and in 2017 he received an honorary doctorate from the Ovidius University in Constanca/Romania for his achievements in multiscale materials modelling.

Dr Jean-Philippe (JP) Thomas is Senior Technical Fellow for Manufacturing Process Modeling at Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut, USA. In this role for four years, he has been leading efforts to deepen the company’s capabilities in this technical area, broaden its application throughout the manufacturing engineering staff, and strengthen cooperation with other technical disciplines critical for aircraft engine development, production, and sustainment. His previous role was as Discipline Chief for Materials and Processes Modeling for four years. Prior to joining Pratt & Whitney, Dr Thomas worked for nine years with ATI Specialty Materials in North Carolina. Throughout projects for new product development, the qualification of new production equipment, and cost reduction initiatives, he drove the application of physics-based microstructure evolution modeling during ingot conversion of nickel-base superalloys and titanium alloys for aerospace, medical, chemical, etc. applications. In his last role as Principal Modeler, he extended the validation and application of these modeling techniques through the consumption of data streaming from forge presses and furnaces, contextualized via Manufacturing Execution Systems, and the comparison of simulation outputs to quality control databases, e.g. grain sizes. Such proficiency stemmed from Dr Thomas’ first occupation in the United States as a Research Scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio. During these three years, he developed recrystallization models for Waspaloy ingot conversion using multi-generation grain representations, and connected them to finite element cogging simulations. Dr Thomas’ exposure to thermomechanical processing of nickel-base superalloys and titanium alloys began during a couple of summer internships at Aubert & Duval in France. Dr Thomas further conducted his doctorate research with Aubert & Duval on modeling of dynamic and metadynamic recrystallization in superalloy 718 during disk forging. Dr Thomas has an Ingénieur Civil des Mines diploma from Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne. He has a Master’s degree in Materials Science from Université de Grenoble. Finally, Dr Thomas has a Doctorate in Materials Science from Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne.

Prof Brad Wynne is Director of the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), part of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, which is one of the 7 High Value Manufacturing Catapults in the UK. He is also Professor of Materials Technology and Head in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Strathclyde. Prior to coming to Strathclyde he spent 20 years at the University of Sheffield in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He is internationally recognised for his innovative microstructure characterisation and processing solutions, particularly for titanium, but also in steels and extreme environment materials. He received the 2012 Harvey Flower Titanium Prize. As Director of the AFRC his involvement spans from technical input on projects to strategic discussions with companies from SMEs to multinationals. Combined with his long track record of industry collaboration on low TRL research and doctoral training, particularly the aerospace and nuclear manufacturing, he has a unique knowledge of and network within the metals industry research and innovation landscape.