Developing the Innovative Materials Future
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Plenary Lecture

Dr. Thomas Weißgärber

Advanced powder metallurgical techniques and additive manufacturing for innovative soft magnetic materials

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Weißgärber is head of the Dresden branch of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM and a member of the institute’s management. He has held the professorship of Powder Metallurgy at TU Dresden since 01.04.2022. His expertise lies in the areas of powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing. He has worked on various material groups such as metal matrix composites, dispersion-strengthened materials, high-temperature, and lightweight materials and has published more than 200 articles and been involved in more than 18 patent applications. In 2018, he was awarded the “Skaupy Award”, the highest honour in the German-speaking world in the field of powder metallurgy and 2022 he received the EPMA Fellowship award.

Prof. Soon Hyung Hong
(KAIST, Korea)

Progress and Prospect on Multifunctional Metal Matrix Nanocomposites
Academic Background
B.S. Seoul National University, Korea 1976
M.S. KAIST, Korea 1978
Ph.D. Nothwestern University, US 1984
Professional Experience

Prof. Soon Hyung Hong received Ph.D. on Material Science and Engineering of Northwestern University, USA in 1984. He has been worked for R&D as a professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science of Technology (KAIST) since 1986. Prof. Hong has been carried out innovative research and development as a global leading scientist in areas of nanomaterials and nanocomposites. He had founded and served as Director the KAIST Institute for NanoCentury (KINC) to lead advanced researches on nanoscience and nanotechnology at KAIST.
Prof. Hong had been adjunctly appointed as Managing Director to plan and manage national R&D programs on materials and components at the Office of Strategic R&D Planning (OSP) in Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) of Korea. He also appointed as Director of Basic Research and planned and managed national funding programs to support universities and institutes at the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea. He had been elected as Presidents of Korean Powder Materials Institute (KPMI), Korean Society for Composite Materials (KSCM) and Society for Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) Korea. Prof. Hong is currently appointed as Director of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) and Director of the Korea Carbon Industry Promotion Agency (KCIPA).

Prof. Tohru SEKINO
(The University of Osaka, Japan)

High and Low Temperature Sintering of Ceramics: Advanced Multi-task Functions and Innovative Processing
Academic Background
B.S. of Eng. Tohoku University 1988
M.S. of Eng. Tohoku University 1990
Dr. of Eng. Osaka University 1997
Professional Experience
Position Institution/Organization Years
Research Associate ISIR, Osaka University 1990 – 1999
Associate Professor ISIR, Osaka University 1999 – 2007
Associate Professor IMRAM, Tohoku University 2007 – 2014
Professor ISIR (SANKEN), Osaka University 2014 ~ present
Director SANKEN, Osaka University 2020-2024
Research Interests

– Design & development of ceramic-based nanocomposites and their eco-friendly fabrication processes.
– Design and tuning of multifunctional semiconductor oxide nanostructures for energy, environmental and various functional applications.
– Room-temperature crack healing of ceramics using electrochemical protocols.

Prof. Yukiko Ozaki
(Joining and Research Institute, Osaka University, Japan)

Materials Informatics Approach for Evaluating the Effects of Pores in Powder-Based Materials via 3D X-ray CT and Persistent Homolog
Academic Background
Degree Institution Year
Bachelor of Science Hokkaido University 1982
Master of Science Hokkaido University 1984
Docter of Science Hokkaido University 1987
Professional Experience
Position Institution/Organization Years
General manager
(Executive Assistant)
Steel Research Laboratory/ JFE Steel Co. -2015
Professor Materials Engineering, Kyushu University 2016-2024
Guest Professor Joining and Research Institute, Osaka University 2024-
Part-time lecturer Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University 2024-
Prof. Yuntian Zhu
(City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

Materials Informatics Approach for Evaluating the Effects of Pores in Powder-Based Materials via 3D X-ray CT and Persistent Homology
Academic Background
Degree Institution Year
Ph.D Mater. Sci. Eng. The University of Texas at Austin 1994
M.S Mater. Sci. Eng. Oregon Graduate Inst. Sci. Tech. 1991
B.S Metallurgy, Hefei University of Technology, China 1983
Professional Experience

Yuntian Zhu joined the City University of Hong Kong in 2020 as a Chair Professor, before which he was a Distinguished Professor in North Carolina State University, where he worked from 2007 to 2020. He worked as a postdoc, staff member and team leader in Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) until 2007 after obtaining his Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1994. In recent years he has focused on the deformation mechanisms at dislocation level and mechanical behaviors of heterostructured materials and nano/ultrafine-grained materials. He is an experimentalist with a primary interest in fundamental aspects of materials research and also in designing materials with superior strength and ductility. He and his colleagues are pioneers of the emerging field of heterostructured materials. He recently received the Institute of Metals Lecture and Robert Franklin Mehl Award , ASM International Albert Sauveur Award, IUMRS Sômiya Award, TMS SMD Distinguished Scientist/Engineer Award, and TMS Leadership Award. He has been elected to the Academia Europaea, European Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Inventors (US), as well as Fellows of five academic societies: TMS, MRS, APS, ASM, and AAAS. More information can be found in his personal website: http://www.hsm-lab.com/

ISIMP 2025 Secretariat
Room 706, The Korea Science Technology Center The first building, 22, Teheran-ro 7 Gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Korean Powder Metallurgy & Materials Institute    Registration No.: 220-82-02141