Special Speakers

Plenary Talk

Frank HENNING

Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT, Germany

Next-Generation Composite Technologies: Materials and Processes

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Henning is a leading expert in lightweight construction and composite technologies. Since March 2021, he is Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT in Pfinztal, following his role as Deputy Director from 2009 to 2021; he also heads Polymer Engineering since 2002. Since 2024, he serves as spokesperson for the Federal Lightweight Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. His international activities include managing the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform at Western University in Canada since 2011 and the Fraunhofer Project Center for Composites Manufacturing in Ulsan, South Korea, since 2016. Since 2008, he holds a W3 professorship for Lightweight Technologies at KIT, and since 2010 he serves as Adjunct Research Professor at Western University. After studying mechanical engineering at the University of Stuttgart, where he graduated with honors in 1996, he earned his doctorate with summa cum laude in 2001. A Fellow of SAMPE Global and SPE Global, he is also a member of the Executive Committee of Composites United e.V. since November 2025. Throughout his career, Prof. Henning has initiated and led numerous research and innovation projects. His work is characterized by a strong focus on the integration of academic research, industrial application and international collaboration.

He Chaobin

National University of Singapore and Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Singapore

Toughening Polymers and Gels via Entanglement

Prof. Chaobin He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, Cambridge University and his postdoc training at Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge University. Currently he is a professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, National University of Singapore and hold a joint appointment as a Principal Scientist at the Institute of Materials Research & Engineering (IMRE), A-star. An expert in polymer composites and nanocomposites, he is an author of over 440 journal papers. He led mission oriented research program and built up Singapore composite R&D ecosystem, which provides a platform (from pre-peg fabrication to thermal forming and modelling capabilities) to support fiber reinforced composite research and industries. He is a co-inventor of over thirty patents, and thirteen of them are either joint patens with industrial collaborators or licensed to companies. He is an academician of Asia Pacific Academy of Materials (APAM), and the President of Materials Research Society of Singapore (MRS-S).

Polymer Additive and Composite

Florian CAVODEAU

University of Upper Alsace, France

From vines to polymer additives - Extraction and modification of stilbenes for an application in flame retardancy

Assistant Professor since 2022 at the University of haute Alsace (UHA) and member of the CPCP team of the LPIM. Defended his PhD in December 2015 in Chemistry & Physical Chemistry of Polymers (C2MA-Mines Alès). Author of 8 papers, 3 patents, and with two additional papers under submission process. His current research includes surface characterization, coatings, synthesis of monomers, modification of molecules, fire retardants, biobased monomers/oligomers/polymers, structural characterization, polymer reactivity and formulation. Has experience in academic/industrial collaboration with significant companies (Soprema, L&L Products, TotalEnergies, ARC France…) mainly in the field of adhesives, coatings and monomer synthesis. His main current projects focus on the modification of biobased molecules extracted from wastes and biomass to obtain reactive monomers for polymerization, photopolymerization, to form biobased plasticizer and to develop new categories of flame retardants. His research activities also include an expertise in all related characterization techniques on monomers, polymers, materials and durability.

Gaëlle FONTAINE

Centrale Lille Institut, France

Fire resistance of materials: the case of geopolymers

Gaëlle Fontaine is Professor at Centrale Lille and researcher at the UMET laboratory. She holds a PhD in organic chemistry (University of Caen, 1998) and earned her Habilitation to Direct Research (HDR) in chemical engineering in 2013. Her research focuses on reaction and resistance to fire. She coordinates and manages national and international research programs, as well as industrial projects. Her work has led to over 110 scientific articles and four patents. To date, she has supervised 23 PhD theses and participated in 30 national and international juries. Currently, she is Associate Editor for the journal Polymer for Advanced Technologies and a Visiting Professor in Wuhan, China (2023–2026). Since 2024, she has also served as Director of Sustainable Development at Centrale Lille.

NAKAMURA Yuji

Toyohashi University of Technology, JAPAN

New methodology to measure the precise burning character of thermoplastic polymers

Dr. Yuji Nakamura is the Professor of Energy Conversion Engineering Laboratory at Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan. He has an expertise in fire dynamics in extreme environment especially in space fire and has also led various research projects on fire and combustion science utilizing the scale modeling concept. Prof. Nakamura received his degree from the Nagoya University in 2000 and previously worked at NIST as guest researcher, and Hokkaido University as Associate Professor in his early career, and became full professor since 2017. He is an Associate Editor of Fire Technology, Editorial Board of Fire Safety Journal, Editor-in-Chief of Progress in Scale Modeling; An International Journal, and awarded 2025 class of Fellow of Combustion Institute. He served a Management Committee Member (2021-2023), Trustee (2023-2026 and 2026-2029 (elected)) of International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) and international scientific expert in IEC TC89 and ISO TC61_SC4.

NAKASHIMA Erika

Chubu University, JAPAN

Image Analysis Methodology for Data-Driven Assessment of Polymer Combustion Dynamics in the Vertical Flame Test

Dr. Erika Nakashima is a senior assistant Professor in Applied Chemistry at Chubu University, where she earned her Ph.D. in 2012 for research on flame-retardant materials. Grounded in green chemistry, her research focuses on polymer flame retardancy to reduce environmental impact throughout the material lifecycle. In recent years, she has driven data-driven material development using Materials Informatics (MI). By applying advanced "4D combustion state analysis" and AI data analytics to complex polymer degradation, she establishes systematic, high-speed methods to predict and design optimal flame-retardant compositions.

Rosica MINCHEVA

University of Mons, Belgium

Solid-sate modification for improved flame retardancy

Dr. R. Mincheva, obtained her PhD in Polymer Science in 2006. Her thesis aimed at the synthesis of novel nanomaterials for biomedical applications from natural polymers and derivatives. In 2007 she moved to a postdoctoral stay at the University of Mons where she is now an associate professor and the leader of the NRE-BIOPOL group. Her current research covers macromolecular chemistry and engineering, physicochemical and thermomechanical characterization, preparation of micro- and nanostructured materials by different methods including reactive melt processing and solid-state modification of sustainable-by-design polymer materials for health, engineering and flame-retardant applications. She has also in supervising and co-coordinating national and regional projects, programs with industries and European Projects (H2020, FP7). She has more than 80 peer-reviewed scientific publications (including 7 book chapters), more than 100 personal communications at conferences, and is coinventor in 1 patent.

Rodolphe Sonnier

IMT Mines Alès, France

Fire propagation on cables

2002 Textile engineer at ENSAIT Roubaix 2006 PhD in Materials Chemistry, Montpellier University carried out at Centre des Matériaux des Mines d’Alès, IMT Mines Alès 2007-2008 Post-doc position at INSA-Lyon 2008-2012 Research engineer at Armines, Centre des Matériaux des Mines d’Alès, IMT Mines Alès From 2012 to 2024, assistant professor at IMT Mines Alès Since 2024, Full professor at IMT Mines Alès Supervisor of more than 20 PhD students Teaching in fire behaviour, flame retardancy, fire resistance in civil engineering, combustion, thermal properties of materials Manager of the research axis “Thermal properties and Fire” in IMT Mines Alès since 2024 Research field : fire behavior, flame retardancy, biobased materials, modification of polymers using ionizing radiations 174 papers and book chapters (from Scopus), 4362 citations Co-inventor of 3 patents Reviewer for more than 20 journals for Elsevier, Springer, MDPI

Serge BOURBIGOT

University of Lille, France

Fire Safety Beyond Earth: Fire-Retarded Polymers for Oxygen-Rich, Space-Like Environments

Professor Serge Bourbigot is a leading expert in fire science and polymer materials. After earning his PhD in 1993, he joined Centrale Lille Institut, where he became Full Professor in 2003. His internationally recognized research focuses on the reaction and resistance to fire of polymeric materials, with applications ranging from batteries and hydrogen fires to microgravity environments. He is the recipient of two prestigious European Research Council grants — an ERC Advanced Grant (FireBar Concept, 2.5 M€) and an ERC Synergy Grant (FireSpace, 14 M€) — reflecting the scientific impact of his work. Elected Fellow of the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) in 2020 and renewed in 2025, he continues to advance knowledge in fire behavior, materials processing (formulation, nanocomposites, reactive extrusion), and modeling (scale reduction, kinetics, pyrolysis).

Kazuaki Sanada

Toyama Prefectural University, JAPAN

Prediction of Thermal Conductivity of Particle-Filled Polymer Composites Using Representative Volume Elements

Dr. Kazuaki Sanada is currently a professor in the Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering at Toyama Prefectural University, which he joined in 2003. From 1999 until 2003 he worked as a researcher at Hitachi, Ltd. Sanada is primarily interested in the development of self-healing polymer composites and highly thermally conductive polymer composites.

YAMASAKI Yuji

Nissan Motor Co.,Ltd./Environmental and Polymer Materials Group, JAPAN

Future Trends of Flame Retardants in the Automotive Industry

2006 Joined Material Engineering Department, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
2014 Seconded to Calsonic Kansei (Current Marelli) Interior Design
2016 Appointed Chief of JAMA Flammability WG
2020 Seconded to Renault Nissan Technical Business Center India (RNTBCI) Materials group General Manager
2026 Nissan Materials Engineering department Deputy General Maneger

YOSHIMURA Akinori

Nagoya University, JAPAN

Contributing to sustainable future through composite material technology -- Initiatives of National Composites Center Japan, Nagoya University

Akinori Yoshimura is a professor in Department of Aerospace Engineering in Graduate School of Engineering in Nagoya University. He also serves as a Director of National Composites Center Japan (NCC) in Nagoya University.

He started his academic career at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) from 2007 to 2017 after earning a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo. He moved to Nagoya University in 2018, and he started to serve as a director of NCC in 2024. His research focuses on advanced composite materials like CFRP, crucial for aerospace innovations. Recent research topics of Prof. Yoshimura and NCC include recycling technology of carbon fiber recovered from CFRP, and its application to the aerospace and automotive structures.

TOKONAMI Ryoma

The university of Osaka

Design and Applications of Lead-Free Transparent X-ray Shielding Composites

Ryoma Tokonami received his Bachelor of Engineering in Polymer and Organic Materials Engineering from Yamagata University in 2022. He completed his Master of Engineering in 2023 through an accelerated program and earned his Ph.D. in Organic Materials Science in 2025, completing the doctoral program 6 months ahead of schedule. Since 2022, he has served as a Visiting Researcher at Hirosaki University. He was awarded the JSPS Research Fellowship (DC2) in 2024 and became a JSPS Research Fellow (PD) at Yamagata University in October 2025. In 2026, he joined at Flexible 3D System Integration Laboratory, SANKEN, the University of Osaka, as a Specially Appointed Researcher. His early research focused on the interfacial adhesion of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). Since 2023, his research has centered on radiation shielding materials, where he developed the world's first transparent, flexible, and lead-free X-ray shielding material combining high optical transparency with excellent X-ray shielding performance.