School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece;Dr. Topakas holds a distinguished degree in Chemistry from Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece, and earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Biotechnology from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in 2004. His academic journey includes impactful roles such as a Research Associate at the Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and the Biotechnology Laboratory at NTUA. In 2010, he served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Chalmers University, followed by his appointment as a Lecturer in January 2012 and subsequent promotions to Assistant Professor in November 2014 and Associate Professor in July 2019. As of December 2023, he holds the prestigious position of Professor in Industrial Biotechnology at the School of Chemical Engineering, Department of Synthesis and Development of Industrial Processes, NTUA. Since March 2015, Dr. Topakas has concurrently served as a Visiting Associate Professor in the Chemical Engineering Division of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Natural Resources Engineering at Lulea University of Technology, Sweden. This dual role has expanded his collaborative efforts and enriched his experiences in Northern Europe.

Carl R. Ice College of Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA;Dr. Keith Hohn is the Editor-in-Chief of Catalysts, an open access journal published by MDPI, and Associate Dean for Academic and Administrative Affairs and Professor in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering at Kansas State University. He received his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1999. He then joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at Kansas State University, where he worked for 20 years before moving to Miami University in 2019 as Department Chair and Professor in the Department of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering. He returned to Kansas State University in 2024. Dr. Hohn’s research interests are in heterogeneous catalysis, with an emphasis on energy applications. In particular, he has researched the conversion of hydrocarbons and alcohols to hydrogen and catalytic processes for converting biomass to fuels and chemicals.