Keynote Speakers 2024

Julietta V. RAU

 Professor PhD
Institute of the Structure of Matter, Italian National Research Council, Rome, ITALY

Julietta V. Rau (Dr., PhD, Prof.) is currently Associated Research Director, Head of the laboratory and research group at the Italian National Research Council (CNR, Rome, Italy). She is the author of more than 200 publications in International Journals and about 180 presentations and 45 Invited, Plenary and Keynote talks at International Conferences. She received several International Awards for her research achievements. Her present H-index is 40 (i10-index is 125, Citations about 5000. She is the CHAIR and organizer of the biennial BioMaH “Biomaterials for Healthcare” International Conference (https://biomah.ism.cnr.it) and the Member of the International Scientific Committees of various International Conferences in the field of Materials Science, Nanoscience, Biomaterials and Medical devices. She is Ambassador for Italy at the European Orthopaedic Research Society. She is Associate Editor of the Bioactive Materials (KeAi)and In Vitro Models (Springer) Editorial Board Member of FRONTIES in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, FRONTIES in Biomaterials Science, Scientific Reports, Coatings MDPI, Journal of Advanced Drug Delivery Research, Drug Design Development & Therapy, EC Orthopaedics, The Open Biomedical Engineering Journal.

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ION-DOPING STRATEGY APPLIED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTIMICROBIAL CERAMIC MATERIALS FOR BIOMEDICAL IMPLANTS

The essential requirements for implants include effective osteointegration, stability, and the capacity for bone regeneration. To fulfil these criteria, metallic implants are being enhanced with biomimetic functional ceramics, augmenting their properties and promoting integration with bone tissue. Critical aspect of implant development is imparting them with antimicrobial characteristics, crucial for minimizing the need for additional surgeries. Specifically, ion-substituted calcium phosphate bioceramics exhibit a wide range of functional properties, including antibacterial ones.
The developed nanostructured antimicrobial materials hold promise for tissue replacement and regeneration strategies. They ensure the necessary structural, chemical, morphological, and mechanical properties, enable controlled release of active agents, and improve the long-term stability and performance of dental and orthopaedic implants.

Carlos THOMAS

 Professor PhD
Universidad de Cantabria, Spain

Carlos Thomas, Ph.D. from the University of Cantabria, is a Professor at the Materials Department of the Civil Eng. School, focusing on the valorization of construction waste for recycled mortars and concrete. Over the past five years, he actively contributed to 20 R+D+i projects, leading 10, including three government-funded projects surpassing €500,000. These initiatives targeted steel slag valorization and the development of efficient concrete with recycled aggregates and steel fibers. With a track record of over 75 papers in indexed JCR international journals, Carlos is the lead author of the highly cited “Durability of recycled concrete.” His work garnered recognition in the 2021 Highly Cited Papers in Web of Science. In 2013, he received the Best Paper award from the Road Materials and Pavement Design journal. Carlos successfully supervised 8 cum laude doctoral theses, and his mentees have excelled in academia and industry. As the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Building Engineering (Q1, ELSEVIER), Carlos conducted research internships at international institutions. He gained industry experience through internships at Bosch-Siemens, Mercedes-Benz, and DaimlerChrysler in Germany, supported by the Leonardo Scholarship grant. 

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EXPLORATION IN THE USE OF RECYCLED AGGREGATES AND CONCRETE: NEW OPPORTUNITIES

The conference focuses on the utilization of recycled concrete made with recycled aggregates, from different sources, introducing sustainable practices for environmental conservation. An essential aspect are the construction and demolition wastes, the electric arc furnace slag and fine industrial wastes to produce recycled aggregates, studying their mechanical and durability properties in concrete. The research delves into the integration of industrial enamel dust waste into mortars and concrete, emphasizing the environmental and technical benefits of this by-product. The utilization of high-density siderurgical aggregate in concrete for ionizing radiation protection is another key topic, offering insights into its efficacy for applications requiring radiological protection. The conference also showcases diverse applications of recycled concrete, including artificial reefs, railway sleepers, track bed systems, precast elements for road infrastructure, foundations, and port dikes. By providing a concise overview of these experiences, the conference aims to contribute valuable insights to sustainable construction, fostering a deeper understanding of the practical applications and benefits of recycled aggregates and concrete in diverse construction contexts.

António GASPAR-CUNHA

 Assistant Professor PhD Habil.
Department of Polymer Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Minho, PORTUGAL

Antonio Gaspar-Cunha received a PhD degree in Optimization and Modelling of Single Screw Extrusion from the University of Minho, Portugal, in 2000, and the habilitation in 2014 at the same University. He is currently an Assistant Professor with Habilitation of Polymer Processing at the University of Minho. The main areas of scientific activity are the modelling of polymer extrusion-based processes and multi-objective optimisation using artificial intelligence techniques. He is the author or co-author of more than 190 works, including books edited, book chapters, papers published in international refereed journals, and more published in proceedings of international conferences. In 2015 was the general chair of the 8th International Conference on Evolutionary Multi-Criterion Optimization (EMO2015) and in 2019 was the general chair of the EUROGEN 2019 international conference, both held in Guimarães, Portugal.  

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USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES IN THE OPTIMIZATION OF POLYMER MANUFACTURING PROCESSES

Polymeric materials are transformed into final products using different processing techniques that depend mainly on the type of polymer used and on the product to be produced. These techniques include, only to nominate the most important, extrusion, injection moulding, blow moulding and thermoforming. The raw material, usually in solid granular form, needs to be initially melted to be possible to acquire the desired shape and, in the end, must be cooled to the form to be maintained. Given the special properties of the polymers, namely their low thermal conductivity and rheological behaviour, these tasks are not easy to accomplish. As a consequence, the geometry of the machines to be used and the operating conditions must be carefully defined. This work aims to present results concerning the use of numerical modelling software coupled with artificial intelligence and optimization algorithms to optimize the referred processes, i.e., design the machines and define the best operating conditions to use. For that, multiobjective optimization algorithms are coupled with artificial neural networks and data mining techniques are applied. Some results, showing the importance of the proposed methodology, are presented and discussed.