The 3rd International Online Conference on Metals

Department of Laser Processing and Structural Assessment, Institute of Material and Process Design, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Geesthacht, Germany;
Fatigue Life Prediction and Enhancement of Laser-Processed Ti-6Al-4V in the High-Cycle Fatigue Regime
Dr. Nikolai Kashaev concluded his studies in energy-related mechanical engineering with the advanced subject of electrical aerospace engines and power plants at the Bauman University of Technology in Moscow in 2001. Subsequently, he worked as a scientific employee at the Foundation Institute for Materials Technology in Bremen for four years. In 2005, he obtained his doctoral degree in materials engineering. After various activities in industry, he has been the head of the Laser Processing and Structural Assessment department at the Institute of Material and Process Design at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon in Geesthacht (Germany) since 2010. His research interests are laser welding and processing of lightweight metallic materials, residual stress engineering, laser shock peening, damage tolerance assessment, fatigue life prediction of welded and additively manufactured components and structures.

Department of Applied Science and Technology (DISAT), Polytechnic University of Turin, Turin, Italy;
Surface Modification of Metallic Biomaterials: Tailoring Reactivity and Biological Response from Bioactivity to Biodegradation and Infection Control
Sara Ferraris is an associate professor at the Department of Applied Science and Technology (DISAT) in Polytechnic University of Turin. She obtained the PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2010 from Polytechnic University of Turin and worked as fellow and researcher in materials science in the same institution. Her main research interests are surface modification and characterization of metallic materials and biomaterials, bioactive, natural and protective coatings and sustainable materials. She participated to more than 20 national and international projects, supervised more than 50 students in their master degree thesis and 5 in their PhD ones. Sara Ferraris is author of 163 papers on international journals and 6 patents, she has 5032 total citations and H-index of 37 (data from Scopus). She is also active in dissemination and communication activities for the general public such as Researchers’ Night and activity for primary schools.

Materials and Surface Engineering Laboratory (LAMIS), Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture (DPIA), University of Udine, Udine, Italy;
He currently works at DPIA as an associate professor in metallurgy where he deals with research topics aimed at improving the resistance to mechanical and chemical degradation of metal alloys, especially steels (stainless, high T and low alloy steels) and titanium alloys. He has also been a type B researcher in the metallurgical field carrying out research aimed at improving the resistance to environmental degradation of metal alloys used in the iron and steel industry, a subject also carried out as part of his position as researcher A in materials science and technology. Technical manager of the materials science laboratory session mechanical tests, he is actively involved in technical-scientific collaboration activities with steel companies, and others, in the area. He has been scientifically responsible for several regional projects in collaboration with companies in the area. Member of the Italian metallurgy association in which he plays an active role in CoMET as a researcher representative with secretarial functions. Author and co-author of over one hundred different international scientific publications. He is on the editorial board of the journal Materials Today Communications.

Department of Metallurgy, Technical University of Leoben, Leoben, Austria;
Volume-Averaged Modelling of Multiphase Flow Phenomena During Alloy Solidification
Dr. Menghuai Wu is a professor of Computational Metallurgy at the Technical University of Leoben, Austria, with internationally recognized expertise in the numerical modeling and sim-ulation of solidification and related metallurgical processes. He earned his Master's degree from Northwestern Polytechnical University (China), his Ph.D. from RWTH Aachen Universi-ty (Germany), and his Habilitation from the University of Leoben (Austria). Since 2010, he has been the Head of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Advanced Process Simulation of Solidi-fication and Melting at the University of Leoben. His research focuses on the development of advanced multiphase models for solidification and melting phenomena, with applications to continuous casting, semi-continuous casting, ingot casting, electroslag remelting (ESR), vacu-um arc remelting (VAR), and other metallurgical processes. He has successfully coordinated numerous national, European, and international research projects, while maintaining close collaborations with leading industries, including Primetals Technologies, voestalpine, INTECO, and RHI Magnesita, etc. He has authored or co-authored more than 210 peer-reviewed journal articles and 200 conference papers, with a h-index of 40 and over 6,000 citations.

Department of Mechanical System Engineering, Jeju National University, Jeju, Republic of Korea;
Incremental Sheet Forming for Sustainable Metal Manufacturing: Achievements, Open Problems, and the Role of Artificial Intelligence
Professor Dong-Won Jung is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Jeju National University, Republic of Korea. His research spans metal forming, advanced manufacturing, and computational mechanics, with particular expertise in constitutive modeling under hot-working conditions, incremental sheet forming, cold and hot roll forming, stamping, sheet-metal formability, and friction stir welding. He is widely recognized for integrating rigorous material modeling, finite-element analysis, and emerging artificial-intelligence approaches to improve process prediction, optimization, reliability, and sustainability. His work bridges fundamental mechanics with industrial applications in transportation, energy, aerospace, and precision manufacturing. Professor Jung has published extensively in international peer-reviewed journals and has been repeatedly recognized in the Stanford–Elsevier list of the world’s top 2% scientists. He also contributes actively as a reviewer, keynote speaker, conference organizer, educator, and mentor, advancing both scholarly excellence and the next generation of engineers.

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Pittsburgh, USA;
Materials Design in Additive Manufacturing through ICME-Guided Multi-Material Printing
Prof. Wei Xiong is Director of the Physical Metallurgy and Materials Design Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh, where his research advances CALPHAD-based ICME (Integrated Computational Materials Engineering) approaches to materials design and process optimization. A leading voice in materials design for additive manufacturing, he combines phase equilibria, phase transformations, and data-driven modeling to accelerate the development of advanced alloys and printable materials. Prof. Xiong has authored more than 150 publications and seven invited book chapters, and serves as Section Editor of the CALPHAD journal and as Associate Editor for the Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion and for Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. His honors include the NSF CAREER Award, the CALPHAD Young Leader Award, the TMS Early Career Faculty Fellow Award, and the ASTM AM CoE Young Professional Award in Additive Manufacturing. Supported by NASA, AFOSR, ONR, NSF, DOE, and DARPA, his work bridges fundamental science and real-world engineering.

Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom;
Hot deformation and dynamic recrystallization mechanisms in multi-phase steels
Dr Nima Haghdadi is an Associate Professor of Metallurgy in the Department of Materials at Imperial College London. He joined Imperial in 2024 and also holds an adjunct academic position at UNSW Sydney, where he worked from 2019 to 2024. He previously conducted research at Deakin University, the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung in Germany, McGill University and UBC in Canada, and earned his PhD from Deakin University in 2017. Dr Haghdadi has received several awards, including the TMS Young Innovator Award in Materials Science of Additive Manufacturing, the TFS Cowley-Moodie Award, Victoria Fellowship, and the Acta Materialia Student Award. His research bridges fundamental metallurgy and industrial applications, focusing on microstructure–property relationships, interface and grain boundary engineering, and advanced manufacturing, including electron-beam, laser-based and wire-arc additive manufacturing. His group investigates steels, Ni, Al, Ti, Cu and high-entropy alloys for applications spanning aerospace, automotive, mining, energy and biomedical industries.