Keynote speakers

Effect of Hydrogen on Wear, Friction, and Crack Initiation under Fretting Contact 

Prof. Masanobu Kubota from Kyushu University, Japan, is dedicated to conducting research at the International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I²CNER) as a Principal Investigator and to teaching in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He began his academic career in 1996 as an Assistant Professor at Kyushu University and received his doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering there in 2001. He was promoted to Professor in 2010. His main research topic is hydrogen embrittlement, with particular focus on the mitigation or promotion of hydrogen embrittlement by impurities contained in hydrogen gas. In addition, he enthusiastically studies creep in high-temperature hydrogen environments and hydrogen embrittlement under contact conditions. For these studies, he adopts an interdisciplinary approach that integrates chemistry, collaborating with chemists who apply quantum mechanical calculations. Prof. Kubota is consistently pursuing opportunities to promote international collaborative research. Currently, he has established strong collaborations with the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the United States and the University of Göttingen in Germany. 

From Contact to Crack: Recent Advances in Numerical Modelling of Fretting Fatigue

Prof. Magd Abdel Wahab is an Egyptian–Belgian professor of applied mechanics at Ghent University, Belgium, where he leads the Applied Mechanics Research Group within the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture. His research spans fatigue and fracture mechanics, computational and isogeometric analysis, structural dynamics, and the mechanics of functionally graded materials. He has authored more than 800 scientific papers, several books, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applied Mechanics (MDPI). Prof. Wahab obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Cairo University, his Ph.D. from KU Leuven (Belgium), and his D.Sc. from the University of Surrey (United Kingdom). Recognized among the Top 2% of Scientists Worldwide by Stanford University and Elsevier (2024–2025), he is also ranked among the leading mechanical and aerospace engineers globally by Research.com, ScholarGPS, and the AD Scientific Index.

The role of lubricants in decarbonisation and energy transition – ammonia as a carbon-free energy source

Ewald Badisch is the Managing Director of the Austrian Centre of Competence for Tribology (AC²T), located in Wiener Neustadt in the south of Vienna, Austria. In former times, he was a member of the scientific management of AC²T for several years. He is a key researcher for functional surfaces and materials for tribological applications. He graduated in materials science from the University of Leoben in 2000 and obtained his PhD degree in 2003. The PhD thesis was focused on “Tribological Investigations of Tool Steels and Low-Friction Coatings”. After finishing his PhD, he then joined AC2T research GmbH – Austrian Centre of Competence for Tribology – as a researcher. His research fields of interest are new technologies in tribology (e.g., diamond-like carbon coatings, solid lubrication via 2D materials), tribology under extreme conditions (CO2 corrosion, high temperature tribology), and tribology of alternative fuels like hydrogen and ammonia. In total, he has published more than 100 papers in various international peer-reviewed journals with about 3700 citations and a Hirsch index of 35 (Google Scholar).