In Honor and Memory of Nobel Laureate Dr. Rudy Marcus
(Passed away on July 16, 2026)
(To Be Updated)
(Passed away on July 16, 2026)
(To Be Updated)
Dr. Florian Kongoli holds 3 degrees: a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science/University of Montreal, Canada and a Doctor of Science Degree/Tohoku University, Japan. Since 1996 he is CEO of FLOGEN Technologies Inc.,(www.flogen.com) a Sustainable High Tech applied research institute
Professor Cristovam Paes de Oliveira has been president of the Gorceix Foundation since October 2001. In 2015, he became Executive President, in accordance with changes statutory. He also serves as President of the FG Board of Directors.
Georgios N. Anastassakis is Professor at National Technical University of Athens, School Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, in the field of Mineral Processing. He graduated from NTUA and got his Doctoral degree in 1989. He started his career in 1989 as university teaching-associate by contract (1989-92), employed in LARCO GMMSA Ferronickel Co. (1992-94), and elected Lecturer in NTUA in 1994. Since then, he was successively promoted to Assistant, Associate and first-rank Professor in 2009. He served as Vice-Rector of the School (2014-2020), Head of the Division of Metallurgy and Materials Technology (2010-14) and member of several academic administrative committees. He has been involved in more than 40 research projects. The results of his research have been presented in more than 75 papers, published in referred scientific journals, Congress Proceedings volumes, and chapters of international books. He has served as reviewer of approximately 45 international journals, several Congresses Proceedings volumes, and reviewer of international research proposals.
Prof. Dr. Ljubiša Andrić, full member of AINS, principal research fellow at the Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials in retirement since 2022, was born on the 6th of April 1957, in Zemun. Ljubiša Andrić enrolled to the Faculty of Mining and Geology, from which he graduated in 1984. He defended his MSc thesis in 1993. Ljubiša Andrić defended his doctoral dissertation (PhD thesis) from scientific area of materials at the Center for Multidisciplinary Studies, University of Belgrade, in 1999. In 1986 he started his employment at the Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials, going through all phases of researcher’s titles (from year 2004 he has been a Principal Research Fellow) and manager positions (since 2009 until retirement he had been an Assistant Director and the Chief of the Sector for Mineral Processing and Inorganic Technologies). Since 2014, Ljubiša Andrić has been a Full Professor at the Technical Faculty in Bor, Faculty of Bor, at the Department for Mineral and Recycling Technologies. Due to his overall research activities and his scientific profile and affinities, Ljubiša Andrić has been involved in fundamental, developing, and applicable investigations in preparation of metallic and non-metallic mineral raw materials. During the period 1986-1990, he participated in wear-in of several industrial and semi-industrial facilities. During a period 1990-2022, in scientific and researching activities of the Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials, his work is aimed towards achieving and developing new scientific themes in preparation of mineral raw materials, and improving of the process of micronization, mechanical and mechano-chemical activation and their application on preparation of new materials. During that period, he accomplished important international collaboration with Slovakia (Mineral Processing, Institute of Geotechnics Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice), Russia (Institute of Inorganic Chemistry SB RAS Novosibirsk), Turkey (Mineral and Coal Processing Section-Mining Faculty, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul), Bulgaria (University of Mining and Geology, Sofia), etc. During the period 1986-2022, he participated and/or managed 38 projects funded by Ministry of Science, Ministry of Environmental Protection, etc., and on 83 pre-investment studies, projects, and project revisions. From projects in which he participated or which he managed, ten MSc theses and nine PhD theses have been produced. He is a co-author of 33 technical solutions. He participated in preparation of the books: “Mining Engineers in 19th and 20th century” (2004), and in 2006 he published a monograph under the title “Mica: Preparation and Application”, while in 2013 he published “Grinding Milling - Micronization, Mechanical and Mechanochemical Activation by Milling“, and in 2014 he was an editor of the chapter “Exploitation of non-metallic mineral raw materials” in the monograph “Serbian mining and geology in the second half of the 20th century”. He published a textbook under the title „Management and Waste Treatment“ in 2014. During the period 1998-2022, with his associates he published eleven chapters in Serbian and international monographs. Prof. Dr Ljubiša D. Andrić has published 410 scientific and technical papers in national and international journals, and in proceedings of the national and international conferences. He was an editor in chief of Proceedings of the XVI и XIX symposium of PMS with international participation. Since 2010 he is a full member of the Balkan Academy of Sciences for Mineral Technology, Istanbul, Turkey. Since 2012 he is full member of the Academy of Engineering Sciences of Serbia. He has been a member of the redaction board of the journal “Recycling and Sustainable Development” since 2008, and since 2010 he is a member of redaction board of the Journal of Mining and Metallurgy, Section A: Mining. Since 2011, he is vice-president of the Balkan Congress for Preparation of Mineral Raw Materials. During the period 2010-2022, he held seven invited lectures.
With over 30 years of experience in Materials and Metallurgy, and more than 100 published articles, he is a professor in the areas of Physics and Materials Engineering at UFOP (Federal University of Ouro Preto), conducting research in Geometallurgy, Metallurgy, Advanced Materials Characterization, Process Development, Byproducts, and Solid State Physics. He was the founder and coordinator of the Postgraduate Program in Materials Engineering at UFOP (REDEMAT/UFOP) and Founder and Director of the Research Department of the Gorceix Foundation. He holds a degree in Physics, a Master's degree in Physical Metallurgy, and a PhD in Materials Science from UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) with a project at the University of Florida. He has completed postdoctoral studies at USP (University of São Paulo) and CETEC (Center for Technological and Scientific Education). Currently, he also serves as General Coordinator of NanoLab UFOP, Director of the Engineering Research and Continuing Education Department of the Gorceix Foundation, Superintendent of the Victor Dequech Foundation, and President of the Soil and Tailings Technology Laboratory, CIALab.
Prof. Konstantinos Aravossis is Professor and UNESCO Chairholder on Green Innovation and Circular Economy at the NTUA (National Technical University of Athens) and Professor at the ATHENS MBA (NTUA - Athens University of Economics) since 1997. He is the Coordinator of the “Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development Research Group” of the Sector of Industrial Management and Operations Research of the Mechanical Engineering School.
VALENTIN ALEKSEEVICH Chanturiya, (Moscow, Russia, 1938). Mineral processing engineer, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Full Professor, Full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), recognized leader in the field of mineral processing. He completed his education in the field of mineral processing in 1962 at the Faculty of Non-ferrous and Rare Metals of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. Head of the Laboratory (1977-1993), Deputy Director for Scientific Work at the Institute of Comprehensive Exploitation of Mineral Resources (IPCON RAS) (1993-2003), Director of IPCON RAS (2003-2011), Chief Researcher at IPCON RAS and Adviser to the Russian Academy of Sciences (2011 – present).
Ioannis Chatjigeorgiou is a Professor in the School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (SNA&ME) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and since Nov 2023 he is the Rector of NTUA. He graduated from SNA&ME in 1990 and was awarded his PhD in 1997. He joined the faculty of SNA&ME in 2001. He was elected full Professor of NTUA in 2016. He teaches in both the Undergraduate and the Postgraduate programs of SNA&ME. His research interests include: linear and nonlinear hydrodynamics of floating structures, violent hydrodynamic slamming, hydroelasticity, wave-current interaction with structures, environmental loading on floating bodies, dynamics of slender structures, dynamics of pipes with internal flow, analysis and design of mooring systems, hydromechanic analysis of moored floaters and sustainable energy production systems from the sea environment. He worked as a Visiting Professor in NTNU (2016), Ecole Centrale Marseille (2008 & 2011), University of East Anglia (2014-2016). He was awarded the Marie Curie Research Fellowship for outstanding researchers (2014) and for 2020, 2021 and 2022, he was included in the list of the 2% of top researchers worldwide. He is a member of several national and international professional and scientific societies, member of editorial boards in international journals, reviewer in more than 70 journals and reviewer for book publishers. He has published more than 170 articles in scientific journals, conference proceedings and collective volumes. He authored the books, "Analytical Methods in Marine Hydrodynamics" (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and "Dynamics of Pipelines for Marine Applications (Springer International Publishing, 2023). He participated in the execution of numerous funded research projects. He is currently the Director of the Laboratory of Floating Structures and Mooring Systems. During Oct 2019 - Nov 2023, he was the Vice Rector of NTUA responsible for Research and Lifelong Education.
He is an associate professor in the Department of Control and Automation Engineering – DECAT.
Professor Gilberto Fernandes, PhD, has 45 years of experience in railway engineering works. He is currently the Coordinator of the Geotechnics, Road System, Highways and Railways Laboratory at the Gorceix Foundation. He was awarded the title of best doctoral thesis of the 2005/2007 biennium in Brazil by the Brazilian Association of Soil Mechanics – ABMS, and was named Outstanding Engineer of the Year 2019 by the Regional Council of Engineering and Agronomy, CREA-MG. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering - Geotechnics with an emphasis on Transportation Infrastructure, focusing on railway engineering with alternative materials in sustainability. His thesis title is "Behavior of Railway Pavement Structures Using Fine Soils and/or Iron Mining Waste Associated with Geosynthetics." [Minas Gerais] 2005. Master's degree in Geotechnics with emphasis on Characterization of Rock Masses, Natural and Alternative Aggregates. Specialization in Dam Design and Implementation and Construction of Dams with clay core, riprap and concrete phase. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering with emphasis on Unpaved Road Infrastructure, Mining Road Systems, Earthworks and Paving. He is a Retired and Volunteer Professor at UFOP, working in the Postgraduate Program at UFOP in NÙGEO. During his active career, he was an Associate Professor on the permanent staff, responsible for the following undergraduate courses: Railway Superstructure, Highway and Airport Superstructure, Roadways, Railway Maintenance, Construction Management, Planning and Administration of Works in the Architecture course. Responsible for teaching Master's and Doctoral courses in Pavement Mechanics, Pavement Materials, Geometric Design of Urban and Highway Roads, and Earthwork Design for Urban and Highway Roads and Railways. Currently working on applied research in the area of technological characterization of materials, waste, tailings, and waste rock for use in mining road systems, especially in projects with VALE, where he is developing research on reducing particulate matter in the air (dust) and mud during rainy periods using wheel load application equipment via a horizontal accelerator in order to anticipate intervention points on unpaved roads. At VALE, he also coordinates the quality contracts for crushed stone supplied for railway ballast and the verification of the load-bearing capacity of the EFVM (Estrada de Ferro Vitória Minas) railway platform, as well as the contract for a quality study of nickel slag at the Onça Puma plant in Ourilândia do Norte, Pará state. He works as a consultant in environmental education, sustainable buildings, and construction processes using sustainable technologies. He develops applied research in the area of infrastructure and superstructure of railway and road pavements, with an emphasis on cost planning and unit price composition, cost composition in tariff development, considering the productive costs of maintenance and operation. He develops research on the feasibility analysis of passenger transport in Brazilian cities. At the Materials Testing Laboratory for Road Systems, Railways and Highways of the Gorceix Foundation, he develops research work in partnership with VALE, Petrobras, Usiminas, ArcelorMittal and GerdauAços Minas; the laboratory works with undergraduate, master's and doctoral scholarship holders. Consultant in urban, road, and rail traffic engineering, member of the CB06 standards committee of the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT). Consultant in Railway Engineering, he was a member of the validation committee for the duplication project of the Carajás Railway (EFC); he was responsible for determining the current subgrade bearing capacity and dimensioning the superstructure of the Carajás Railway (EFC) pavement. He worked on the study to determine the ballast contamination of the Lima Metro for CNO; he worked on the granulometric range study for the Transnordestina railway in partnership with CNO, and participated in the ballast replacement study for the Amapá Railway (EFA). Professor Gilberto Fernandes has extensive professional experience in road and railway construction projects, working both nationally and internationally, particularly in the Amazon region. He has worked for large companies such as Mendes Júnior, Andrade Gutierrez, and Norberto Odebrecht, executing services including standard and special engineering works, earthworks, paving, surface drainage, and infrastructure and superstructure works for railways and paving;
Douglas W. Fuerstenau is P. Malozemoff Professor Emeritus of Mineral Engineering in the Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. He graduated in 1949 from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology with a B.S. degree in Metallurgical Engineering, followed by a M.S. degree in Mineral Dressing from the Montana School of Mines in 1950. He received his Sc.D. degree in Mineral Engineering in 1953, under Prof. A.M. Gaudin, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After teaching at MIT as an Assistant Professor and working in industry for Union Carbide as section leader in the Metals Research Laboratory and for Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Company as manager of Mineral Engineering, he joined the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley in 1959 to teach courses and conduct research on Mineral Processing and surface properties of materials. Through his inspiration, numerous students have achieved notable distinction in careers in academia, industry and government worldwide. Over the course of his academic career, he guided the thesis research of more than 70 M.S. students and more than 60 Ph.D. students.
He was one of the creators and responsible for the implementation of the mineral processing laboratories at the Gorceix Foundation, where he has worked for approximately 33 years as Project Director, developing applied research activities for the metallurgical/mining segment, including projects for major Brazilian mining players and their subsidiaries abroad, as well as the technical feasibility of several new medium and small-sized ventures.
Doctor and Master Science in Materials Engineering and Metallurgy by Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. Now is a Senior Researcher Professor at Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering Department of College of Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Engineering - FIGMM of the National University of Engineering-UNI and Chief of Ironmaking and Steelmaking Researcher Group FIGMM UNI. Prof. Gomez-Marroquin is the founding partner and the first president of the board of directors of Metallurgy, Materials and Minerals Peruvian Association-APMMM. Today, she is working in characterizations of different nature biomass such as biochar from olive stone and chicken eggshell for recovering heavy metals from mining wastes. Has been working on the following subjects: recovering metals of Linz Donawitz sludge (LDS), Electric Arc Furnace Dusts (EAFD), and Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) using techniques of self-reduction and carbothermic reduction. Also, she had worked in reduction by CO-CO2 mixtures gases of zinc ferrite pure and zinc ferrite present into Electric Arc Furnace Dusts - EAFD using different techniques as such: X-Ray Diffraction (using the Rietveld method), Transmission Electron Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. About ZF pure and present into EAFD, she has researches that had been onsets with the characterization of the compounds present in EAFD - Iron (III) oxide, zinc oxide & zinc ferrite - using techniques, methodologies, and equipment for thermal characterization (DTA-TGA), structural (XRD), microscopic (SEM-TEM coupled to EDS), physical (briquette porosity, specific gravity, average size & particle specific surface) and chemical analysis by Absortion Atomic and Fluorescence Spectrometer.
Formal Education/Degree
Vladko Panayotov (born 7 May 1950, Pavlikeni) is a scholar and Bulgarian member of the European Parliament who sits on the committee for the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. He is also a substitute for the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He is a member of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms party of Bulgaria and in the European Union he is part of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
Born in Barbacena, Minas Gerais, on October 3, 1955. Graduated in Metallurgical Engineering from the School of Mines of the Federal University of Ouro Preto (1978) and holds a doctorate in Structural Metallurgy from the University of Paris XI (Paris-Sud) (1986). Post-doctoral studies, as a CNPq fellow, at the Instituto Superior Técnico of the Technical University of Lisbon from 1995-1996. Visiting Professor at the University of Valenciennes - France (2003), the University of Bordeaux 3 - France (2005), the University of Seville - Spain (2009), and the University of Leoben - Austria (2017). Visiting intern at ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe (Duisburg, Germany - 2017). Directed the DEMET/EM/UFOP – Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering – from 2007 to 2011. He retired as a Full Professor from the Federal University of Ouro Preto in 2019, having worked at the School of Mines and REDEMAT, in undergraduate and graduate programs, respectively. In the undergraduate program, in addition to supervising Final Course Projects, he was responsible for several subjects in the curriculum, mainly "Materials Selection for Engineering Projects" and "Non-Destructive Testing". He continues to work as a Collaborating Professor at REDEMAT. His professional experience in the field of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy has an emphasis on Surface Engineering and Applied Tribology, particularly in the development and characterization of wear-resistant materials for the mining-metallurgical, metal-mechanical, and other industries. Founder of the "Laboratory of Surface Engineering and Related Techniques" - LESTA, established at the School of Mines of UFOP in 1995. In Brazil, he is one of the pioneers in research on the application of high-power lasers in the treatment of metallic, ceramic, and polymeric materials, initiating this research in the early 1990s. Throughout his academic career, he has published 5 books, one as co-author; 3 book chapters (1 as co-author); to date, he has published 48 scientific articles in referenced journals (national and international); and 75 complete works presented and published in the proceedings of technical-scientific events. To date, he has supervised 30 Master's dissertations and 7 Doctoral theses as principal advisor, 17 undergraduate final projects, and 15 scientific initiation projects. In partnership with UFOP, he holds 2 patents for Processes, 1 registered Software, and 1 registered Industrial Design. He has organized 20 scientific events (National and International). He is a reviewer of articles submitted to several international scientific journals: Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence; International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer; Optics & Laser Technology; Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science; Journal of Engineering Tribology; Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science: Part C. President of A3EM – Association of Former Students of the School of Mines of Ouro Preto (2013 – 2021). Advisor to the Gorceix Foundation. Currently, he is a Managing Partner at Spectrum Engenheiros Consultores Reunidos Ltda.
Julius Rubinstein is Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He graduated in 1962 from the Institute of Steel and Alloys of Moscow, Russia with M.S. and B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering. In 1967, he obtained his PhD from the Mining Institute of Moscow on Mineral Processing Research and Design. In 1982, he became Doctor of Sciences (Academic Degree for Post-Doctoral research) for his Dissertation on Flotation Process Modelling and design of Pneumatic Flotation Apparatus. In 1985, he became Professor of Sciences, which is Academic designation for scientific achievements. Since 1995, he has been Academician of the Russian Academy of Mining Science. Over the course of his academic career, he guided 23 Ph.D. students.
Holds a degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (1986). Awarded an MSc and a PhD in Metallurgical and Mining Engineering (concentration area: Extractive Metallurgy) by the Federal University of Minas Gerais (1990 and 1996). Completed a technical-scientific placement in Geometallurgy at Clausthal University of Technology, Germany, in 2002. Has served as a permanent member of staff in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the School of Mines of the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) since December 1989. Teaches on the postgraduate programme in Materials Engineering within REDEMAT. Former Director and Vice-Director of ABM - the Brazilian Association of Metallurgy, Materials and Mining (Minas Gerais Regional Section). Former Coordinator of the Postgraduate Programme in Materials Engineering - REDEMAT. Former Head of the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the UFOP School of Mines (2011-2013 and 2015-2019). Former Technical Coordinator of the ABM Annual Congress (2009). Invited by IAS (the Argentine Institute of Steelmaking) to lecture in 2009 on the subject 'A Geometallurgical Approach to Iron Ore Reduction and Agglomeration'. Under Secretary for Higher Education of the State of Minas Gerais (2013). Works in the fields of Geometallurgy, Iron and Steelmaking Processes, Ore Agglomeration and Reduction, Sustainability, and Virtual-Reality Technological Environments. Has published a wide range of papers in conference proceedings and scientific journals. Has held the rank of Full Professor at the UFOP School of Mines since 2016. Currently serves as Executive Coordinator of the Sesquicentennial Committee of the UFOP School of Mines and as Coordinator of the Iron and Steelmaking / Metallurgy Section of the Museum of Science and Technology of EMOP/UFOP. Curator of artistic and cultural exhibitions related to the sesquicentennial of the UFOP School of Mines.
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