Anna D. Zervaki is currently an Assistant Professor of Metallic Materials and Welding at the School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece. She holds a Diploma in Mining and Metallurgical Engineering from NTUA and a PhD in the welding of Al alloys from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Thessaly (UTH). Prior to joining academia, she gained 12 years of industrial experience as a Research/Service Engineer at MIRTEC S.A. (Metallurgical Industrial Research and Technology). Her research interests lie in the fields of structure–processing–properties–performance relationships in metallic materials, computational alloy thermodynamics and kinetics, laser welding, friction stir welding (FSW), robotic welding, residual stresses, Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) for marine applications, failure analysis of mechanical components and structures, and materials for liquid hydrogen service. A co-author of more than 85 papers published in international journals and conference proceedings, she has also contributed to more than 600 failure analysis reports funded directly by industry. Her publication record includes 46 articles in peer-reviewed journals (h-index: 12 according to Scopus) and 70 papers in international and national conference proceedings, all focusing on welding and the behavior of materials in harsh environments. Her research activities include participation in numerous European and National research projects, with role as Scientific Coordinator for several of them. Her service to the international materials community includes membership on the Scientific Committees of numerous international and national conferences, as well as co-chairing two major international materials conferences (EUROMAT 2017 and EUROMAT 2025). She also served as President of the Federation of European Materials Societies (FEMS) during the 2022–2023 term.

Maria Cecilia Poletti studied chemical engineering at UNComa, Argentina. She earned her doctorate in titanium alloys in 2005 from TU Wien in Austria. She served as a university assistant before joining TUGraz in 2011 as a tenure-track professor at the Institute of Materials Science, Joining and Forming. By 2013, she became the leader of the Modelling and Simulation group and deputy head of the institute, directing research in both applied and fundamental aspects of solid-state and additive manufacturing of metallic materials. Her research focuses on understanding the physical phenomena during alloy processing, such as solidification, plastic deformation, and phase transformation. From 2017 to 2025, she led the Christian Doppler Laboratory for high-performance alloy design through thermomechanical processing. At TUGraz, she teaches materials science-related topics, supervises master’s and doctoral theses, and actively participates in scientific and teaching committees.