I joined the University in 2019 and was appointed Professor in Digital and Sustainable Metallurgy in 2024. I hold a PhD in Metallurgy from the University of Cambridge and an MEng degree in Aerospace Materials Engineering from Imperial College London.

My research bridges materials development and advanced manufacturing. The primary focus is on understanding material performance, the complex links between alloy chemistry and manufacturing in determining material properties, and the response of materials in service environments. I am particularly excited by the development of methods that incorporate our learning into accelerating alloy design and high-throughput testing using machine learning approaches for the design of high-performance engineering components such as those in the aerospace, automotive, and energy generation sectors and beyond.

Key research interests:

• Alloy design, Physical metallurgy
• Materials 4.0
• ML/AI in Material Development
• Additive Manufacturing
• Microstructural Control

Iulian-Emil Juhasz is an aerospace engineer, entrepreneur and CEO of Initium Space Consulting, with over 16 years of experience in aerospace and space technology. His expertise includes space structures and hardware, advanced materials, additive manufacturing, special manufacturing processes and product assurance. He has contributed to space projects using metals, ceramics and thermoplastics and advises space and defence startups developing additive and hybrid manufacturing technologies.

Efthymios Polatidis is a Tenured Assistant Professor at the University of Patras, where he leads the Materials Processing and Performance Group (MP2G). He holds a PhD in Materials Science from the University of Manchester and previously held research positions at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). Prior to joining the University of Patras, he was a tenured beamline scientist responsible for the POLDI neutron diffractometer at PSI. His research focuses on processing–microstructure–property relationships in advanced metallic materials, with particular emphasis on additive manufacturing, deformation mechanisms, phase transformations, residual stresses and hydrogen embrittlement. He has extensive expertise in advanced materials characterization using synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction, electron microscopy and in situ and operando experimental methods.

Mario Guagliano is a Full Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. His research focuses on fatigue and structural integrity of engineering materials and components, with particular emphasis on advanced additive manufacturing, surface engineering, residual stresses, and mechanical surface treatments.

His current research addresses advanced manufacturing processes and post-processing, including cold spray and laser-based additive manufacturing, and the relationships between processing conditions, microstructure, surface integrity, residual stresses, and mechanical performance. Particular attention is also devoted to post-processing strategies for improving the fatigue strength and durability of additively manufactured components.

Professor Guagliano has authored or co-authored more than 200 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has an h-index of 58 according to Scopus. He is listed among Stanford University’s top 2% most-cited scientists worldwide, serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Thermal Spray Technology and served the EASN Board of Directors for more than 15 years. In 2018, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Žilina, Slovakia.

He has coordinated and participated in numerous national and European research projects and has established extensive collaborations with academic and industrial partners worldwide.