Plenary Speakers

AI-assisted design of functional polymers for a sustainable world

Prof. Ramprasad is the Regents’ Entrepreneur, Michael E. Tennenbaum Family Chair and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in the School of Materials Science & Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His area of expertise is the development and application of computational and machine learning tools to accelerate sustainable materials development aimed at energy production, storage and utilization. He is also the co-founder of Matmerize, Inc., a company that offers AI-based software solutions to help accelerate polymers and formulations development. Prof. Ramprasad received his B. Tech. in Metallurgical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, an M.S. degree in Materials Science & Engineering at the Washington State University, and a Ph.D. degree also in Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Prof. Ramprasad is a Fellow of the Materials Research Society, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, and the recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship and the Max Planck Society Fellowship for Distinguished Scientists. He has authored or co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles, 8 book chapters and 8 patents, and has delivered over 300 invited talks at Universities and Conferences worldwide. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of npj Computational Materials, ACS Materials Letters and Journal of Physical Chemistry A/B/C. He created and chaired the inaugural 2022 Gordon Research Conference on Computational Materials Science and Engineering.

Conundrum of Polymers 

Academician Seeram Ramakrishna is a world-renowned professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He is among the top four scientists of Singapore. He is named among the World’s Most Influential Minds (Thomson Reuters) and a Highly Ranked Scholar (Scholar GPS) with more than 500 Q1 journals papers with 217 H-Index and about 221,000 citations. His contributions also appeared in journals such Nature, Nature Reviews Methods, Nature Communications, Matter, so on. Highest professional distinctions include Fellow | Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering; UK Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng); Singapore Academy of Engineering; Indian National Academy of Engineering; ASEAN Academy of Engineering & Technology; International Academy of Engineering and Technology; and International Academy of Bionic Science. He is also an elected Fellow of AAAS, ASM International, ASME, AIMBE, USA; IMechE and IoM3, UK; ISTE, India; and IUBSE (FBSE). Besides, he is also a Senior Chartered Engineer (Sustainability) of the Institution of Engineers Singapore in 2025. He received a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK, and TGMP from Harvard University, USA. He received advanced research experiences from MIT and Johns Hopkins University, USA and KIT, Japan. He is a Chair Professor of Tsinghua University and Xinghua Distinguished Chair Professor, China; Distinguished Professor of IIT Hyderabad, India; Everest Chair of MBUST, Nepal, and Vice-Chairman of World Artificial Consciousness Association (WACA). Out of three decades of working at the National University of Singapore (NUS), about 15 years of senior academic leadership includes NUS Vice-President (Research Strategy); Dean of NUS Faculty of Engineering; Director of NUS Enterprise; Director of NUS Industry and Technology Relations Office (INTRO); Director of NUS International Relations Office (IRO); Chairman of Solar Energy Institute of Singapore (SERIS); Director of NUS Bioengineering Initiative; and Director of NUS Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Initiative (NUSNNI).

Mike holds a PhD and BSc (Honors) from the University of Western Ontario, in Chemistry (Inorganic, Organogold & Organoplatinum). He received numerous post-graduate scholarships, including an NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) Post-Graduate Scholarship and the Ontario Centre for Materials Research Graduate Scholarship.

Dr. Irwin has served on numerous boards, including the Ontario Phonics Consortium, University of Western Ontario Technology and Commercialization, the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance and a Council member of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Mike joined 3M Company in 1997 and held numerous positions over 25 years. He was previously Executive Director Research & Development, 3M Canada, Technical Director, 3M Purification and Vice President Research and Development, Electrical Markets Division.

In 2021 Mike left 3M to join Woodbridge Foam Corporation. With corporate headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and automotive headquarters in Troy, Michigan, USA, Woodbridge has more than 7,500 teammates in over 50 locations across 10 countries. The company offers material technologies for applications in automotive, commercial, recreational, packaging, healthcare and building products.

John Spalding is the Senior Director of Vision Care R&D Process Engineering at Bausch & Lomb, where he leads a multidisciplinary team dedicated to advancing ophthalmic device technologies. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology and his Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Rochester.

With 20 years of extensive experience in research, process innovation, and product development, John has contributed to the design and commercialization of a diverse range of ophthalmic products, including intraocular lenses, inserters, refractive surgical systems, packaging components, and contact lenses. His work spans from concept through scale-up, with a focus on enhancing performance, usability, and manufacturing efficiency.

One current area of focus is guiding sustainability initiatives within the contact lens development teams. His efforts focus on conducting comprehensive life cycle analyses to guide the creation of more environmentally responsible products and collaborating with external partners to identify and integrate biodegradable resins suitable for medical device applications.

Olaf Dolfin is CEO of the New Packaging Group and experienced entrepreneur with decades of experience in the plastic industry. Known for his strategic vision and ability to translate market trends into industrial opportunities. In recent years, Olaf partnered with a private equity firm to execute a strategic growth plan. Completing five acquisitions that together formed the New Packaging Group. Today the group comprises four manufacturing sites equipped with more than 60 plastics processing machines containing extrusion- Injection- and thermoforming- lines. The group generates an annual turnover of approximately USD 70 million. This industrial platform enables large scale production as well as agile innovation, particularly in the development of next generation biodegradable packaging materials. Beyond his roll for the New Packaging Group, Olaf also serves on the board of NRK packaging in the Netherlands, where he contributes to industry wide strategies and regulatory engagement. His current focus is on introducing non fossil based plastics with commercially viable, environmentally responsible alternatives. Working closely with research institutions, customers, and policymakers to shape the packaging of the future.

Kim Ragaert is full professor at Maastricht University, holding the key domain chair of Circular Plastics within the department Circular Chemical Engineering (CCE). She leads a research group on Brightlands Chemelot Campus with 2 associate professors,  4 assistant professors, 5 postdocs and 16 PhDs.  Research topics include concepts of quality for recycling, the macromolecular interactions in complex mixes, the effects of contaminations and degradation, design for & from recycling and the balance between different recycling pathways. Interdisciplinary topics include circular data, systems thinking for plastics, cost calculation in recycling and how to connect technical quality to LCA.

Kim 's 2017 review paper on plastics recycling has been cited over 2500 times, she was the 2020 European Plastics Recycling Ambassador and a 2024 royal finalist of the Prins Friso Engineer of the Year award. She is a founding member of Brightlands Circular Space, a member of the Impact Committee of the ReOcean investment fund and sits on several steering and expert boards for industry and academia alike.

John Torkelson is a Walter P. Murphy Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. He earned his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota, respectively. Throughout his career at Northwestern, he has done research in polymers and plastics. His research has also included topics in sustainability as well as nanoscience and nanotechnology. As a research mentor/advisor, he has graduated 68 Ph.D. students and 34 M.S. students, and he has advised dozens of undergraduate researchers. He is the co-author of nearly 300 refereed research articles and more than 25 awarded U.S. patents. According to Google Scholar, his research has ~25,000 citations, with an h-index of 84. Scholar GPS named John a 2024 “highly ranked scholar” in three topic areas, ranking him #1 in “transition temperature”, #3 in “glass transition”, and #95 in “polymers.”

Torkelson has served Northwestern University as Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, and as Director of the Materials Research Center and the NSF-MRSEC at Northwestern University. He served the broader community as Chair of the Division of Polymer Physics of the American Physical Society (APS) and Chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Division (MESD) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). He has been recognized for teaching excellence with three-year terms as the Bette and Neison Harris Professor of Teaching Excellence and as the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence. He has been recognized for research excellence as the winner of the Polymer Physics Prize (awarded by the Journal of Polymer Science, Part B: Polymer Physics) and the Charles M.A. Stine Award from the MESD of the AIChE.

Jan-Georg Rosenboom, PhD, is Chemical Engineer with a focus on Polymers for People and the Planet. He is a co-founder of MacroCycle Technologies, which commercializes a new chemical recycling process for PET packaging and textile polyester, and a research affiliate with MIT's Langer Lab. He obtained a PhD from ETH Zurich specializing in Ring-Opening Polymerization first for PEF and then for PET polyesters, which formed the basis for MacroCycle’s technology. He worked with SULZER ChemTech on process scaleup of the PEF synthesis technology after his PhD, until moving to MIT for postdoctoral work with Prof. Robert Langer before spinning out MacroCycle. He has produced 20 papers, 4 patents, and served as a plastics consultant for Apple, Henkel, and venture capital firms. He has won science outreach and public speaking awards, and gave 2 TEDx talks, including one on MacroCycle's technology: “Why plastic recycling is broken - and how to fix it”.

Nicolas Cottenye, Ph.D., serves as the Vice President of Research and Development at UpSolv. He earned his doctorate in Chemistry from the Universities of Basel (CH) and Haute Alsace (FR) in 2010. With over a decade of experience in industrial R&D, he has authored 7 inventions. Following the completion of his doctoral studies and a postdoctoral fellowship in the field of polymer-biological interactions, Nicolas embarked on a career at Bioastra Technologies, where he dedicated himself to develop smart polymers. There, he honed his skills in managing research and development, collaborating extensively with industrial partners in both B2B and open innovation settings. In 2022, he joined UpSolv (formerly Polystyvert) to lead research and development in polymer recovery from the recycling process using dissolution-based technology. With his extensive experience in polymer interfaces and particle-polymer interactions, Nicolas has led the development of ABS recycling and purification in collaboration with Dr. Roland Côté, the inventor of the original PS dissolution process.