Plenary Lectures

Robert Sekora received his diploma in Electrical and Communication Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Munich. In the beginning he was working as software engineer for developing antenna systems for communication satellites in the satellite business using numerical electromagnetic simulation programmes. After that he moved to military aircraft business unit of the Airbus Defence and Space GmbH taking over project management responsibilities for national and international R&T projects. With this position he was responsible for the development of technologies for structural integrated antennas for military aircraft applications for nearly 15 years. During these activities he was successfully involved to the realisation of several antenna demonstrators for laboratory or flight test demonstrations. Based on this experience he was co-publisher of patents and co-author of several conference papers in the area of his expertise.

Integration of Antennas in Aircraft Structures

Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University.
Ever J. Barbero, ASME Fellow and SAMPE Fellow, is recognized internationally for his work on material models for composite materials. He is the author of "Introduction to Composite Materials Design," Taylor and Francis (1st Ed. 1999, 2nd Ed. 2010), and "Finite Element Analysis of Composite Materials," Taylor and Francis (2007), several book chapters, over 100 peer-reviewed publications, numerous conference papers, and mentor of numerous MS and Ph.D. graduates currently serving leadership positions in academia and industry worldwide. He holds two US Patents, #6,455,131 (2002) and #6,544,624 (2003). He received the AE Alumni Academy Award for Outstanding Teaching (1999) and numerous research awards. As former department chair, he led the Department in accomplishing ABET accreditation twice, as well as substantial growth of all productivity including research expenditures, undergraduate and doctoral enrolment and so on. Eleven new faculty were added to the department in the period 2002-2009. He is currently engaged in several research projects in materials science.

Performance and Processing Simulation of Magnetoelectric Composites

Professor Costas Soutis FREng, is holding a Chair in Aerospace Engineering; he is the Director of the Aerospace Research Institute and Director of the Northwest Composites Centre at the University of Manchester, UK. Prior to this, Costas has held professorial appointments at Imperial College London and the University of Sheffield and visiting professorial positions in the USA, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of South Carolina, Chosun University in South Korea and ISMANS, Le Mans, France. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a leading authority in mechanics and failure of composite materials, with significant contributions on modelling damage and structural health monitoring using low frequency Lamb waves techniques. Professor Soutis is the author or co-author of over 400 archived articles and some 30 PhD students have qualified under his supervision and guidance.

Carbon Fibre Composite Materials and Hetero-structures with Built in Functionality

Dr. Simon Waite is the Senior Expert – ‘Materials’ at the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), currently working with composite materials and additive manufacturing processes. He started his career in aviation with British Aerospace as a Missile System Engineer. In 1989, he joined British Airways as an aircraft Technical Services Engineer and was mainly involved in the aging aircraft programme for the Boeing 747, major input hangar and stand support, composite workshop support, repair design, interior modification stressing (for the A320, B737, 757, 767, 777, and Concorde). He is also a member of the SAE Commercial Aircraft Composite Repair Committee (CACRC). In 1995, he joined the UK Civil Aviation Authority as an Aircraft Design Surveyor and was responsible for the aircraft design certification/ validation, modifications, continued airworthiness, design, production and material producer organisation approvals. In 2005, he joined EASA and functioned as both a Propulsion Materials and a Structures Expert. He is a member of the Composite Materials Handbook – 17 (CMH-17). Composite product Certifications include A350, LEAP engine, RF386 Propeller (A400M), Gamebird (aerobatic), Kopter (in progress), whilst Validations include B787, HBC4000. He holds a PhD from the UK City University and specialised in the use of embedded optical fibres for damage detection in composite materials. He held a PPL (22 years, including Multi and AMC), Skydiving A Licence, and was a hang-glider pilot.

EASA - Emerging Technologies and Aircraft Certification