PROGRAMME

Space Access in the New Space: scientific challenges for liquid rocket engines PROF. URBANO, Annafederica Isae Supaero Annafederica Urbano (ORCID: 0000-0002-7576-8685) is a full professor in Launchers and Space Systems at ISAE-Supaero. She teaches classes on rocket propulsion, launcher architecture and two-phase flows. She carries out her research activities in the Advanced Space Concepts team at the Department of Design and Control of Aerospace Vehicles (DCAS). She is an expert in space propulsion and space transportation systems. Her research areas of expertise are related with the numerical simulation of reactive and two-phase flows in liquid rocket engines: supercritical combustion, thermoacoustic instabilities, nucleate boiling in micro-gravity, two phase compressible flows, transcritical fluids. Part of her activity is also devoted to space system analysis (rocket engines and launchers): multi-disciplinary analysis and optimization, surrogate models from CFD and artificial intelligence. A. Urbano is responsible for the SaCLaB2 chair funded by Ariane Group and Airbus Defense and Space and she leads the research activities devoted to liquid propulsion and launchers. She is the coordinator of the ESA Topical team “Propellant management physics”. She is a member of the Space Propulsion Committee of the IAF.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Sensor Fusion in Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic Production DR. LIEBERS, Nico German Aerospace Center e. V. (Deutsches Zentrum Für Luft- Und Raumfahrt, DLR) Nico Liebers studied Mechanical Engineering with the focus of lightweight and plastics technologies at the Technical University of Dresden. During his study he completed an internship at the Airbus site in Toulouse. Since 2009 he works in the Institute of Lightweight Structures of German Aerospace Center (DLR). His research focus is process monitoring, sensor development, data processing, numerical modelling and digitalization. His PhD thesis was on ultrasonic flow front and cure monitoring.

State-of-the-Art Applications of Large Language Models in Aircraft Design MS. SHIN, Sooryun German Aerospace Center e. V. (Deutsches Zentrum Für Luft- Und Raumfahrt, DLR) Sooryun Shin is a research scientist at the Institute of System Architectures in Aeronautics, German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Hamburg. Prior to joining DLR, she worked at Samsung Electronics and Korea Institute of Industrial Technology. She received her master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University. Her research focuses on applying artificial intelligence (AI) to aerospace engineering, to pioneer the feasibility of using large language models (LLMs) for aircraft conceptual design and system architecture optimization.

Sustainable maintenance polices: a scalable approach for multi-component systems PROF. FECAROTTI, Claudia Eindhoven University of Technology Claudia Fecarotti is Assistant Professor in Reliability, Maintenance and Asset Management with the Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, at Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands. She is also a member of the 4TU Center for Resilience Engineering, the Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute (EAISI), and an associate member of the Resilience Engineering Research Group at The University of Nottingham. She holds a PhD in Reliability Engineering and Infrastructure Asset Management from The University of Nottingham, UK. Her research interests are in the field of reliability engineering, maintenance optimization and infrastructure asset management. She focuses on designing new methodologies to support the planning, operation and maintenance of complex safety-critical systems for improved sustainability performance and lower total cost of ownership. She aims at conducting rigorous and innovative research which is relevant to industry and society, and works closely with industrial partners to bridge the gap between purely methodological approaches and practical needs.

Industrial Symbiosis through AI-Driven Design DR. AKAY, Haluk TU Delft Haluk is an assistant professor of AI-driven computational design at TU Delft. His research develops tools and methods for transforming raw artifacts of the design process into structured knowledge representations for machine learning. Haluk holds a PhD and MSc from MIT and BSc from Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to TU Delft, Haluk was a postdoc at KTH in Sweden, and has industry experience in product design.  Recent publications • Akay, H., Capezza, A. J., Hoogendoorn, B. W., & Henrysson, M. (2025). Training a Foundation Model in Engineering Design Understanding. CIRP Design 2025. • Akay, H., Lee, S. H., & Kim, S. G. (2023). Push-pull digital thread for digital transformation of manufacturing systems. CIRP annals, 72(1), 401-404. • Akay, H., Capezza, A. J., Henrysson, M., Leite, I., & Fuso-Nerini, F. (2023). Language Models for Functional Digital Twin of Circular Manufacturing. Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing 2023. • Akay, H., Yang, M., & Kim, S. G. (2021). Automating design requirement extraction from text with deep learning. ASME IDETC 2021. • Akay, H., & Kim, S. G. (2020). Design transcription: Deep learning based design feature representation. CIRP Annals, 69(1), 141-144.

Challenges and Opportunities in the xEV Battery Remanufacturing Industry: Transforming Engineering Hurdles into Circular Economy Solutions MR. LEE, Sanguk POEN Europe GnbH Sanguk Lee is the Co-Founder of POEN, a Hyundai Motor Group spin-off specializing in xEV battery remanufacturing from 2021. Currently serving as the Managing Director of POEN Europe, he leads the company’s strategic growth in the global circular economy. With a career rooted in both engineering and strategy, Sanguk previously managed venture scouting and hydrogen energy initiatives at Hyundai Motor Group, following his experience as a Power Plant Engineer at Hyundai Heavy Industries. A POSTECH Mechanical Engineering graduate, Sanguk leverages his multifaceted expertise to transform complex engineering hurdles into profitable, sustainable business operations within the battery lifecycle.  Recent publications (e.g., book, journal paper, conference proceeding, patent, etc) • Lee, S. H., et al. (2022). Estimation system for remanufacturing battery system for electric vehicle and operation method of the same. (Registered in South Korea, , US, EU and China) • Lee, S. H., et al. (2023). Battery evaluation system that measures the remaining life of a battery using voltages on incremental capacity curves at different points in time. (Registered South Korea Patent) • Lee, S. H., et al. (2023). Battery evaluation system that measures the remaining life in a simple way using the internal resistance of the battery system. (Registered South Korea Patent)

ECOHYDRO: ECONOMIC MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF RECYCLABLE COMPOSITE MATERIALS FOR DURABLE HYDROGEN STORAGE PROF. PARK, Chung-hae IMT Nord Europe Chung-Hae PARK is a Full Professor at IMT Nord Europe (Institut Mines-Télécom), a position he has held since 2013. His research spans the full spectrum of fiber-reinforced polymer composites, encompassing manufacturing processes, numerical modeling and simulation, and material characterization. Before joining IMT Nord Europe (formerly called École des Mines de Douai), he held successive academic positions at the Université Le Havre Normandie from 2005 to 2013, progressing from Lecturer to Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor. Before his academic career, he worked as a Senior Researcher at LG Chem from 2003 to 2005. Prof. Park holds a BSc, MSc, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University. His doctoral work was distinguished by the award of a dual PhD from Seoul National University and École des Mines de Saint-Étienne, the first case of a dual PhD degree from Seoul National University. He also obtained the Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR) from Université Le Havre Normandie in 2011. Prof. Park is one of two coordinators of the research theme "Advanced Materials and Ecomaterials," a collaborative initiative bringing together all the IMT schools, including IMT Nord Europe, IMT Mines Saint-Étienne, IMT Mines Alès, and IMT Mines Albi. He also serves as an evaluation expert for major French and European research bodies, including HCERES (Haut Conseil de l'Évaluation de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur), ONERA (Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales), ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche), the Research Council of Norway, and Horizon Europe.

Jigsaw-Joint Adaptive Metastructure Design: A Hybrid Framework for Programmable Metamaterials PROF. JOVANOVA, Jovana TU Delft Jovana Jovanova is associate professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Her research is focused on adaptive (meta)structures, mechanisms and machines able to change their properties and/or functionality over time to improve performance, reliability, and efficiency. She explores concepts of smart structures, metamaterials, and soft robotics for the design of adaptive machines with applications in the maritime and transport technology.

Soft Intelligence for Artificial Intelligence: Reframing Soft Robots as Platforms for Embodied Data Collection DR. JEONG, Hwayeong Epfl