Invited Speakers
Prof. Seema Agarwal
Academic Director and Professor at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.
Short Bio: Seema Agarwal is an Academic Director and Professor at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. Her research interests include biopolymers, smart and functional polymers, and fibers with special morphologies. She has published over 260 peer-reviewed articles and is an Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Fellow. She received the Hermann-Schnell Award from the German Chemical Society for her research on biodegradable polymers. Additionally, she is a Henriette-Herz AvH Scout and holds a foreign faculty position at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. She also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of e-Polymers.
Dr. Vassilis Drakonakis
Managing Director
Advanced Materials Design & Manufacturing Limited
Short Bio: Dr. Vasileios (Vassilis) Drakonakis is an expert in the development, processing, and characterization of advanced polymer composites. He earned his Diploma in Mechanical and Aeronautics Engineering from the University of Patras in 2008 and completed his PhD in Industrial, Processing, and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington in August 2012.
Dr. Drakonakis has gained extensive international and multidisciplinary experience, working as a scientist in world-renowned research laboratories, including PCL (Seattle, WA, USA), NECST at MIT (Cambridge, MA, USA), Hephaistus NRS at UCY (Cyprus), and CMG and AML at the University of Patras (Greece). His research has been published in over 20 peer-reviewed journals and presented in more than 40 conferences, alongside multiple invention disclosures. Read More
Dr. Jose María Lagarón Cabello
Group Leader, Novel Materials and Nanotechnology for Health Applications Group, IATA, CSIC
Leader of the Research Joint Unit CSIC-University Jaume I in “Polymer Technology”
Founder/Owner: Bioinicia
Short Bio: Dr. Jose Maria (Chema) LAGARON is currently Founder and Group Leader of the group Novel Materials and Nanotechnology for Health Applications at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA) of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) located in Valencia, Spain. He is also Head of the CSIC-University Jaume I Join Unit in “Polymer Technology”. According to Scopus he is author in 361 peer reviewed publications, inventor in 75 patents and has an h-index of 77. Read More
Dr. Antonella Macagnano
Senior Research Scientist at the National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research
Short Bio: Dr. Antonella Macagnano is a Senior Research Scientist at the National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research. She graduated in Biological Sciences and got her Ph.D. in Sciences, Technologies and Biotechnologies for Sustainability. Mainly, her research activities have concerned the study, design, characterization and optimization of chemical (nanostructured electrospun polymers and ceramics, metallo-porphyrins, MIPs and metallo-oligomers) and biological membranes (oligopeptides, biopolymers) for selective interactions with both gases and volatile organic compounds. She has been involved in several international and national research projects focused on the design, improvement and implementation of sensor devices for health, environment and agri-food industries.