David Eldridge, Editor, European Plastics News (Conference Chair)

Dr. Rick Beyer, Materials Engineer, US. Army Research Lab

Dr. Rick Beyer is a Materials Research Engineer in the Macromolecular Science & Technology Branch of the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), located at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, USA.  Dr. Beyer has been with ARL since 2001, after completing an American Association for Engineering Education post-doctoral research fellowship, also at ARL.  A native of North Carolina, Dr. Beyer studied Materials Science & Engineering at North Carolina State University before moving to Massachusetts in 1994 to study polymer physics.  In 1999, he received a Ph.D. in Polymer Science & Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst for his work on the effect of block copolymer architecture on morphology.

Dr. Beyer’s overarching research interest is in self-assembly behaviors in soft materials.  He has studied a variety of materials including block copolymers, ionomers, thermoplastic elastomers, polymer nanocomposites, polypeptides, polymer blends, and supramolecular assembly of metallopolymers.  Dr. Beyer is an expert in the use of small-angle X-ray scattering for the characterization of morphology in soft materials, recently reporting on the use of SAXS to characterize nanoparticles in polymer resins in Journal of Applied Crystallography, and on the structure of self-repairing metallopolymers in Nature. He has two patents on applications of reversible chemistry in polymers, 49 peer-reviewed publications, and 47 other technical publications.

Dr. Jani Kivioja, Research Leader, NOKIA Research Center, Eurolaboratory, Cambridge (UK)

Richard Michalitsch, Patent Examiner, European Patent Office

In 1994, Richard received his Diploma from the of the University of Vienna (Austria) in Chemistry. He has a PhD from the CNRS in Paris (France) Physical Chemistry/Nanotechnology and a Post-Doc at M.I.T.

In 2001 Joined the European Patent office. In 2003 Member of the Nanotechnology working group at the EPO and since 2008, Qualified as a European Patent Attorney.

Dr. Peter Kruger, Head of Bayer Working Group, Nanotechnology, Bayer MaterialScience AG

Since June 2006 Dr. Péter Krüger has been heading up the Bayer “Working Group for Nano¬technology” with the responsibility for the global coordination of nanotechnology activities at the Bayer Group.

In addition he is currently also the Head of the Physics Depart¬ment within the Business Unit Coatings, Adhesives and Sealants of Bayer MaterialScience. Since the beginning of 2008 he took over the leadership of the Germany based project cluster “Innovation Alliance Carbon Nanotubes –Inno.CT”, funded partly by the German government.

During his 18 years with Bayer he held several positions in R&D, starting as a research scientist for polymer physics of thermoplastics within the Physics Unit of the former Central Research. Later he took over the responsibility for the entire Polymer Physics Department within the Central Research and in Bayer Polymers.

Tie Lan, General Manager, Nanocor Inc. USA

Dr. Lan received his Ph. D. in Chemistry from Michigan State University. He joined Nanocor as a Research Scientist in 1996 and started his journey in commercialising nanocomposite technologies. In 2002, he was promoted to Technical Director. He holds more than three dozen patents in the polymer-clay nanocomposite areas.  He also published more than 20 papers in nanocomposite research from his academic work at Michigan State University. In 2006, Dr. Lan took the General Manager position at Nanocor.

Gunter Beyer, Lab Manager, Kabelwerk Eupen

Dr. Bojan Boskovic, CEO, Cambridge Nanomaterials Technology Ltd

Professor Geoffrey Mitchell, CfAM Director and Professor of Microscopy, University of Reading

Dr Dennis Cecchin, Research Group, University of Sheffield

Dr. Cecchin’s interests are cell, tissue engineering and protein delivery using nanostructured biomaterials. Those materials can be used in different ways to obtain systems that allows the characterisation of cells differentiation and proliferation. He joined the Battaglia research group in 2010 after a visiting period during his PhD in 2009. He was awarded a PhD in Tissue engineering and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Padova (2010). Prior to this he graduated from the University of Padova in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2006.

Dr. Anna Gergely, Director, EHS Regulatory, Steptoe & Johnson LLP

Dr. Anna Gergely is Director EHS Regulatory of the International Law Firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP, based in Brussels. In a role equivalent to partner, Anna is the firm’s Principal Scientist, with a PhD in analytical chemistry and quantum chemistry, and is a registered European patent attorney.

Her involvement in this field ranges from scientific and patent considerations to issues of corporate regulatory compliance and regulatory governance. She has been appointed as a member of the Scientific and Technical Council of the International Risk Governance Council, an independent organisation whose purpose is to help the understanding and management of emerging global risks that have impacts on human health and safety, the environment, the economy and society at large.

Before joining Steptoe & Johnson, Anna spent nearly 15 years as Scientific and Regulatory Advisor at other international law firms. Prior to that, she had an academic research career followed by an In-House Researcher position at the Monsanto Chemical Company in Belgium. Through her academic and industry background and established career as a regulatory consultant, Anna has developed in-depth technical and legal knowledge of all the relevant regulatory areas and is widely recognised as a leading regulatory expert.

Dr Sergey Gordeyev, Technology Analyst, Institute of Nanotechnology

Sergey has been involved in developing fibre reinforced composite and polymer based nanocomposites for over 25 years both in academic and industrial environment. He has authored more than 40 research papers. For the last 5 years he has been actively involved in the initiation and management of a number of European and UK national R&D projects aimed at developing commercially viable high performance materials. He is also engaged as an independent expert in the evaluation of EU FP7 proposals in the field of nanotechnology and materials.