Keynote Speakers

Prof. Erasmo Carrera and Prof. Alfonso Pagani
Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Bio: Erasmo Carrera is Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Politecnico di Torino and a leading expert in advanced structural mechanics. He introduced the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), a general framework for the development of refined theories for beams, plates, shells, and complex metallic and composite structures. His research has also led to the development of Node-Dependent Kinematics finite elements. He has authored or co-authored about 800 scientific papers and has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in Engineering.
Professor Carrera has coordinated numerous national and international research projects funded by institutions and companies including the European Commission, European Space Agency, Thales Alenia Space, and Embraer. He is President of the Board of Directors of the Space It Up company and has held visiting positions at several universities worldwide, including the University of Stuttgart, Virginia Tech, RMIT, and Zhejiang University.
He is Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Aircraft and Spacecraft Science and Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures, and Section Editor of the Journal of Sound and Vibration. His distinctions include the J.N. Reddy Medal, the AIDAA Excellence Award, several best paper awards, and the title of Commendatore awarded by the President of the Italian Republic. He has also chaired and organized major international aerospace conferences, including IAC, ICAS, and AIAA events.

Bio: Alfonso Pagani is Professor of Aerospace Structures at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino. He holds PhDs from Politecnico di Torino and City University of London. His research at the MUL2 Lab focuses on Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), aerospace structures, space mechanisms, and advanced materials. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications and serves as Associate Editor for international journals in aerospace structures and dynamics.
He is Principal Investigator of the ERC Starting Grant PRE-ECO and Deputy Leader of Spoke 8 of the Italian Space Agency-funded “Space It Up!” partnership. His research experience includes appointments at Caltech, Purdue University, RMIT Melbourne, and the University of Porto. His work has received several distinctions, including a Wiley Best Paper Award and the Ian Marshall Award.

Prof. Yulong Li
Northwestern Polytechnical University, China

Bio: Prof. Yulong Li is a Professor and dean of the School of Aviation, Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) in China. He is also the leader of National Joint International Research Laboratory of Impact Dynamics and its Engineering Application (IDEA), leader of Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Impact Dynamics and its Engineering Application. He got Ph.D. degree in Solid Mechanics at Northwestern Polytechnical University in 1991. From 1988 to 1989, he was supported by Co-supervised Ph.D. program in the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. He also worked as visiting professor, research scientist for more than 6 years in The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and University of California, San Diego in USA, Université Pierre et Marie Curie -Paris 6 in France, Tokyo University of Science in Japan. His research interests include analysis, design and verification of aircraft structures under impact loading, mechanical behavior of advanced materials, experimental technique of materials and structures under impact loading. He has coauthored 6 scientific books and ~400 papers in peer reviewed international journals. His research accomplishments are recognized through 3 Ministerial and Provincial-Level Science and Technology Awards and 4 National Defense of Science and Technology Awards.

Prof. Zhanjun Wu
Jiangnan University, China

Bio: Zhanjun Wu, a national high-level talent in China, is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Dalian University of Technology/Jiangnan University, where he also serves as Dean of the School of Fiber Engineering and Equipment Technology. He has presided over dozens of national key projects, with his research results successfully applied in multiple key models in the aerospace field. Over the past five years, he has published more than 120 papers in journals including Nature Communications. As the primary achiever, he has been awarded First Prize of Liaoning Provincial Technological Invention Award, the Dalian Technology Invention First Prize, the China Composite Materials Society Science and Technology Award (Second Prize), and the China Composite Materials Young Scientist Award. He has also been selected for the Ministry of Education's "New Century Excellent Talents Support Program", and recognized as a high-level leading talent in Dalian, a Jiangsu Double Innovation Talent, and a leading figure of a Jiangsu Double Innovation Team.