Annabel Braem is associate professor in the Department of Materials Engineering at KU Leuven, Belgium, affiliated with the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering research group and the Laboratory of Complex Surfaces and Interfaces (Complexurf). Her research lies at the intersection of materials engineering and biomedical sciences, aiming to develop hybrid organic/inorganic biomaterials capable of delivering bioactive substances at implant surface across multiple time and length scales. Her work focuses on ceramic additive manufacturing and surface modification techniques for the controlled release and immobilization of biomolecules. She has authored >100 papers (h-index 32) and currently (co-)supervises 8 PhDs (in addition to 4 defended PhDs). She teaches courses on biomaterials in the master’s programmes of Materials Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at KU Leuven. Annabel serves as president-elect of the Belgian Ceramic Society and emeritus-chair of the American Ceramic Society Bioceramics Division. She is a member of the Advisory Editorial Board of Applied Surface Science.
Jürgen Stampfl studied applied physics at the University of Technology in Graz and obtained his Dipl.-Ing. degree in 1993. After receiving the PhD degree in materials science from the University of Mining and Metallurgy in Leoben in 1996. He worked as research associate at the Rapid Prototyping Lab at Stanford University, USA (1997–2000). In 2001 he joined the Institute of Materials Science and Technology, TU Wien, where he became associate professor for materials science in 2005 and full professor for Materials and Additive Manufacturing in 2017. Currently he is heading the research area Polymers and composites at TU Wien. His expertise lies in the field of lithography-based additive manufacturing technologies and materials development (polymers, ceramics). He is co-founder of two start-up companies (Lithoz GmbH and Cubicure GmbH) providing 3D-printing equipment and materials. From 2015 to 2023 he was managing director of Cubicure. In 2013 and 2019 he received the Houska price, Austria’s most important award for translating research results into industrial applications. Together with Robert Liska, he received the H.F. Mark medal in 2021, honouring the research in material development for 3D-printing.
Participation is encouraged from groups working in stimulus-responsive biomaterials, bioactive and multifunctional surfaces, soft and hybrid material systems, non-lamellar liquid crystalline systems, mechanobiology-guided design, micro- and nanoscale fabrication, computational or data-driven materials development, and related subfields. We also encourage submissions addressing sensing-actuation coupling, advanced characterization, modelling, manufacturing strategies, translational pathways, and integration with therapeutic or diagnostic technologies.
The aim of this symposium is to bring together diverse perspectives to highlight how intelligent material design, supported by AI-assisted design and optimization, can drive next-generation solutions for implants, regenerative systems, drug delivery, and healthcare-relevant interfaces.
