Prof. Takahiro Namazu
Kyoto University of Advanced Science, Japan

Biography: Takahiro Namazu is a Professor with the Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University of Advanced Science (KUAS), Japan. He is currently engaged in studies on functional film materials, such as self-propagating exothermic materials, and their applications to micro/nano electro-mechanical systems (NMEMS). His research interests also include the development of material testing techniques for measuring the mechanical properties of micro/nanoscale materials, such as carbon nanotubes and silicon nanowires, which focuses on clarifying the nanomaterials' size effect phenomena and these mechanisms. The evaluation of the reliability of NMEMS and semiconductor devices is included as well in his interests for realizing the design of ultra-long life microdevices.
Dr. Namazu has earned over 20 research awards for his outstanding materials research results and his contributions to the evolution of the micro/nanoscale materials science field in the world.

 

Prof. Kwang Leong Choy
Duke Kunshan University, China

Biography: Kwang Leong Choy is a Professor of Materials Science and Co-Director of the Environment Research Centre at Duke Kunshan University (DKU). She holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford and a Doctor of Science from the University of Nottingham. Before joining DKU, she was a faculty member at Imperial College London and the University of Nottingham, and later served as a professor and the founding Director of the Institute for Materials Discovery at University College London (UCL).
Professor Choy has been awarded Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Mining and Minerals (FIMMM) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). Her outstanding contributions have been recognized with prestigious awards, including the Grunfeld Medal Prize and the Kroll Medal & Prize. With over 330 publications, four authored books, and 20 patents to her name, she is a prolific researcher and innovator.
Professor Choy has delivered more than 150 plenary talks, keynote addresses, and invited lectures at international conferences. Her work has earned her the Award of Excellence from the Association of American Publishers, and since 2019, she has been consistently ranked among the world's top 1% most-cited scientists by Stanford University. Her research focuses on the fundamental and applied studies of earth-abundant materials, eco-friendly processes, and sustainability, with a strong track record of translating cutting-edge technologies into real-world applications.

 

Prof. Hisaki Watari
Tokyo Denki University, Japan

Biography: Hisaki Watari is a Professor in Divion of Mechanical Engineering at Faculty of Science and Technology of Tokyo Denki University (Hatoyama Campus) since April 2015. From 2017 to the present, he served as Division Chair of the Division of Mechanical Engineering of the Faculty of Science and Technology at Tokyo Denki University. He received a B.Engng. from Kyushu University in Naval Architecture, 1985 in the School of Engineering at Kyushu University. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical System engineering from Gunma University in Japan, 2006. Since April in 1988, he worked at Oyama National College of Technology as a Research Associate, Lecturer and Associate Professor until November 2006. Between 1999 and 2000, he visited at UMIST as a visiting researcher of Japanese Government. From November 2006 to March 2015, he worked as a Associate Professor and a Professor at Gunma University. From April 2015 to the present, he has been working at Tokyo Denki University as a full-time Professor. He has served as a chair of the Japan Association of Aluminum Forging Technology since 2014.

His research interests span both manufacturing process and material science. Much of his work has been on improving the understanding, manufacturing, material processing, mainly through the application of casting of magnesium alloys and aluminum alloy, shaping such as cold roll forming and hot forging. In the roll casting of magnesium alloys, he has worked on characterizing the casting of rapid cooling of magnesium alloys by twin-roll casting. He is now the chair of the Japan Association of Aluminum Forging Technology. He has published a lot of research papers in journals and conducting works relating materials processing technology of light metals, such as aluminum and magnesium alloys.