Alexander Schramm studied materials engineering and industrial engineering at TU Bergakademie Freiberg. He is currently working on his PhD, which deals with the thermo-mechanical characterization of MgO-C refractory materials based on recyclate. He is employed in the Research Training Group GRK 2802, a research project funded by the German Research Foundation.

Ali Şanlı is an R&D Specialist at Kümaş Manyezit A.Ş., Turkey's largest refractory producer. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Eskişehir Technical University. He also completed his Master’s studies, focusing on glass-ceramic materials at same department and university. Mr. Şanlı previously served as an R&D Project Specialist at Karcan Kesici Takım Sanayi A.Ş., Turkey’s largest domestic cutting tool producer company, where he was involved in the application and conducted process of numerous national and international projects. He also worked as an R&D Specialist at Akgün Seramik A.Ş., has conducted to the ceramic tile industry.

Andrea is a CESAREF doctorate candidate in ceramic engineering. He is affiliated to Vesuvius Plc and the Institute of Research for Ceramic (IRCER) in Limoges. He is passionate about science and all that concerns research and discovery. He holds a BS and MS in Materials Science from the University of Milano-Bicocca.

Academic education:
2015-2020 study program: Ceramic Science and Engineering at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences
completed with a master’s degree in engineering
workplace and expertise:
since 2020 research assistant at Koblenz University of applied Sciences, managing research projects focused on the factors influencing the development of hydrate phases in CAC bonded castables during their first heating and their impact on drying behavior and spalling resistance

Buket Polat is a chemical engineer and has been working as an R&D specialist at Çimsa for about 3 years. Her area of expertise is calcium aluminate cement.

Cristian is a metallurgical engineer and a researcher in the European CESAREF project. He is pursuing his PhD at Montanuniversität Leoben, focusing on hydrogen's effect on the thermomechanical properties of refractories. He has also been a visiting researcher at the Ceramic Research Center at Tata Steel Netherlands.

Before joining RHI Magnesita in 2012, Dr. rer. nat. M.Sc. B.Sc. Daniela Gavagnin studied and worked at different universities in Europe in the field of Inorganic Chemistry and Materials Science supported by national and EU grants. Her focus at RHI Magnesita has always been on innovative materials and new technologies that foster sustainability and technical progress. Within R&D she has led strategic and disruptive projects and programs. Currently she is Head of Pioneer Research and responsible for the global coordination of Hydrogen technology in the company.

As a research group leader at the Chair of Ceramics at Montanuniversität, his main research interests are in the testing and simulation of the thermomechanical behaviour of refractories.

Dominika Madey is a Researcher and Associate Professor at AGH University of Krakow and head of the REFRACTORIES RESEARCH GROUP at the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, Department of Ceramics and Refractories: http://kcimo.pl/en/grupa/Grupa-Materialow-Ogniotrwalych

She is a Member and the Secretary of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Ceramic Sciences Commission) and a Member of The Association of Refractory Materials' Producers in Poland.

She obtained her Habilitation qualification in 2021 with a work on "Obtaining and properties of a new hydraulic bond in cement-containing and cement-free materials intended for high-temperature applications". She is the author or co-author of over 80 scientific publications in journals and 39 patents applications and patents granted.

Sience & Technology Director for the Refractory Producers segment at IMERYS with more than 3 decades of experience in the field of refractories, raw materials and calcium aluminate binders.

Edina Alibasic is a Laboratory Manager and a group leader of R&D team with more than 20 years of experience in refractory field. As a group leader of R&D team at Höganäs Borgestad AB her main interest is in the Quality & Process Control of Refractories and development of the new refractory products. Together with R&D team, she works on a project to develop a new generation of Cr-free refractories for the Ferro alloy industry.

Erwan Brochen studied material science and ceramic engineering at the ENSCI (Ecole nationale supérieure de céramique industrielle) in Limoges (France), and received, in addition to his engineering degrees (M. Sc.), the FIRE ALUMNUS certificate (Federation for International Refractory Research and Education) after spending a study semester abroad at the university of Leoben in Austria.

Since 2008 he has been working as research associate at the Forschungsgemeinschaft Feuerfest e. V. in Germany. In parallel, he defended his PhD Thesis at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany in 2011.

His research activities include fracture mechanics and the thermomechanical characterization of refractory materials.

Academic education:
Ceramic Science and Engineering at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences
completed with a master’s degree in engineering
Workplace and expertise:
Research assistant at Koblenz University of applied Sciences, managing different research projects in the field of unshaped materials/ refractory castables

Bachelor's in Ceramic Engineering from IIT BHU and Pursuing PhD from IIT Kharagpur.
Experience of 13 Years in Quality & Process Control of Refractories at Calderys.

Henk Visser studied Chemical Technology at the University of Twente. He has been working for Hoogovens, Corus, Tata Steel in IJmuiden, the Netherlands since 1988. He currently is Improvement Consultant of the Centre of Expertise Refractories of Tata Steel in IJmuiden, the Netherlands and consults on refractory materials for the converters of the steel plant.

Dr. Hong Peng is a senior research scientist and project manager at Elkem Silicon Products Development, Kristiansand in Norway. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Department of Material Science and Engineering at Zhejiang University in China, and her Ph.D. from Stockholm University in Sweden. Her doctoral project utilized spark plasma sintering techniques for Si3N4-based ceramics.

Throughout her career, she has gained extensive knowledge and expertise in ceramics and refractory research through various roles, including lecturer and researcher at Zhejiang University, guest researcher/teaching assistant at Stockholm University, and postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Planck-Institute for Metals Research in Germany. She has published over 100 papers in well-established scientific journals and conferences, such as Nature, the Journal of the American Ceramic Society, and the Journal of Materials Research. She is also a member of the American Ceramic Society and a steering member of the education board of FIRE.

Currently, she is responsible for monolithic refractory technology and new product development for refractory as a senior research scientist and project manager at Elkem Silicon Materials R&D.

Hugues Lemaistre is a Ceramic Engineer from the school of Limoges and obtained his PhD in the GEMPPM Laboratory of Insa Lyon on the thermo-mechanical behaviour of refractories materials. He is in charge of Numerical Simulations at Calderys since 2010.

Dr Ilona Jastrzębska is an Assistant Professor at AGH University in Krakow, in Poland; She is a winner of the Gustav Eirich Award in 2018. She serves as a teacher, mentor and supervisor of Master's and PhD students. She is an author of over 50 publications, 2 patents, and 2 European patent submissions. Currently, together with her team, she works on a project to develop a new generation of Cr-free refractories for the copper industry.

Izak Cameron is a research and development scientist at Elkem Silicon Products specializing in the use of microsilica and other constituents in refractory materials. He attained his PhD at the University of Pretoria specializing in taphole clay materials, specifically replacing pitch as a binder under supervision of Prof. Andrie Garbers-Craig. He held several positions within refractories one of which includes refractory development engineer at Vesuvius South Africa for 4 years where he was responsible for product development in AlSi, basic monolithics and taphole clay materials.

Jasper Neese has a master's degree in "Ceramic Science and Engineering" and is currently doing his doctorate at the University of Koblenz. He is Head of Research and Development for shaped and basic materials at Refratechnik Steel GmbH.

Scientific researcher in the R&D division of Intocast, Krefeld, Germany

Kwasi Boateng is a doctoral candidate whose research focuses on microstructure design to enhance the thermomechanical properties of refractory castables. His work is part of the EU-funded CESAREF project, aimed at promoting the sustainable application of refractories and reducing carbon emissions in the iron and steelmaking industries. He conducts his research at the Institute of Research on Ceramics (IRCER) in collaboration with Imerys as his industrial partner.

Mr. Ludwig obtained his PhD in refractories at AGH University of Science and Technology with a dissertation titled ,,Receycled aggregate as raw material in MgO-C technology''. He is currently working as Technologist at ArcelorMittal Refractories in Krakow, Poland with resin-bonded MgO-C refractories.

Studied Materials Science and Engineering, Metallurgy, at IKIU in Iran, and completed a Master’s in Ceramic Science and Engineering at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, where she now works as a Research Associate, focusing on unshaped refractory castables.

Martin Wirtscher studied Geosciences/Mineralogy at Jena University Jena. He previous worked at ZGU Ilmenau, a specialist for glass analysis, and is Head of Laboratory at WZR ceramic solutions.

Milena Amábilis Ribeiro Gomes is a PhD candidate at RWTH Aachen University in the CESAREF project, dealing with the effect of hydrogen on refractories. She has previously been working in R&D at RHI Magnesita in the areas of Flow Control and Basic Bricks.

Patrick Gehre studied Ceramics, Glass and Construction Materials at TU Bergakademie Freiberg, where he also obtained his PhD and postdoctoral lecture qualification in the field of refractories. He is currently working as chief engineer at the Institute of Cramics, Refractories and Composite materials at TU Freiberg.

Sandra Abdelouhab earned her PhD in 2005 from the Laboratory of Chemical Solid Materials (LCSM) in Nancy, France. Following that, she worked for ArcelorMittal at their research center in Maizière-les-Metz (France) from 2005 to 2006, and subsequently for Glaverbel (now AGC) at their research center in Jumet (Belgium) from 2006 to 2007. Since 2008, she works for the Belgian Ceramic Research Centre (BCRC) in Mons, being the Programme Manager for Refractory and Clay Materials.

Her researches focuse on the development of circular refractory materials, the advancement of the 3D printing process in this field, and the characterisation of these materials to further support these innovations.

Sarah Badioli is a doctoral candidate within the CESAREF doctoral network under the supervision of the University of Liège and Saint-Gobain Research Provence. After the BS in Civil Engineering, she obtained a MS in Environmental Engineering. Her thesis focuses on the quantification of the environmental performance of refractories through the Life Cycle Assessment.

Sebastian Klaus studied mineralogy at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany and obtained his PhD on the "Quantification of CA hydration and influence of its particle fineness during early hydration of calcium aluminate cement" in 2015. Since then he has been working at Almatis, first as an Application and Market Development Engineer for refractories and since 2020 as Technical Manager Europe for refractories, responsible for product development and technical customer support.

Simon Horn has been manager for innovation and application development at Budenheim for more than 10 years with experience in working with both domestic and global refractory manufacturers. He's experienced in both shaped and monolithic refractories with a focus on special binders and additives that offer not only performance but also sustainable advantages.

Sougata Roy completed his B.Sc. in Chemistry and his Post B.Sc-B.Tech with specialization in Ceramic Engineering from University of Calcutta and PGDBM in marketing Management from NMIMS-NGASCE Mumbai. He has a total professional experience of 7+ years in Research & Development, currently working as a Manager in Technology at TRL Krosaki refractories Ltd. and looking after the development and improvement of Monolithics and PCPF items. He has special knowledge in development of high strength castable for DRI applications, ultralow cement castables for metal and slag runners, basic gunning mass for BOF and RH Snorkel and dry vibratable mass for Tundish working linings.

Stefan Heid is a graduate engineer in material sciences for non-metallic inorganic materials with a specialization in glass, ceramics, and binders (TU Clausthal/Germany). Since 2006, he has been working at the Technology Centre of RHI Magnesita in Leoben, Austria. He started as a project manager in the R&D department for basic refractory bricks, focusing on the development of new binding systems for magnesia carbon bricks. Since 2009, he has also gained extensive expertise in the field of recycling raw materials and technologies. In 2014, he moved to the Pioneer Research department, where he is the responsible project manager for various strategic and fundamental projects in the development of new binding systems and the development and introduction of new recycling technologies.

Sudipta Palit has completed his post graduate Degree in Ceramic Engineering after his bachelor degree in Chemistry Honours from Calcutta University. He has Joined TRL Krosaki in 2014 and has been working in different departments like Technology and Manufacturing. He has overseen the manufacturing of RH snorkels, dolomite-basic bricks, flow control products and continuous casting refractories. He is presently working as a technologist in charge (designated Assistant General Manager) of Continuous Casting Refractories at TRL Krosaki Belpahar Plant.

I am a research associate at Forschungsgemeinschaft Feuerfest e. V. in Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany, working on refractory castables and the thermomechanical properties of refractories. In the past I studied materials science and engineering, and ceramic science and engineering.

Vahit Ersin Imren is a Chemical Engineer and has been working as R&D Executive in Çimsa Cement, a producer of white cement, gray cement and Calcium Aluminate Cement. He is responsible for national and international projects.

Vanessa Hopp is a PostDoc at the University of Koblenz in the Research group for Technical Chemistry and Corrosion Science, where she focuses on binder systems for refractories. Previously, she obtained her PhD at the University of Koblenz with a thesis on waterglass binders for refractories.

Veli graduated from Eskisehir Osmangazi University in Turkey with a BSc in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and obtained an MSc in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University in USA. Back in Turkey, he worked for TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey), Marmara Research Center (MRC), and Material Institute as a senior researcher. Then, he moved to the steel industry and worked as Chief Refractory Engineer in one of the Turkish mini-mills. He then held an R&D Executive position at KUMAS, where he worked on refractory materials for the steel industry. Finally, he moved to Calderys as a Science and Technology Manager.