Invited Speakers

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Prof. Eric McDonald
University of Texas El Paso - USA


Eric MacDonald, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he holds the Murchison Chair and serves as Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies for the College of Engineering. With a doctoral degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. MacDonald has a rich industry background, including roles at IBM and Motorola. He co-founded a CAD software startup later acquired by a Silicon Valley firm.


MacDonald's academic career includes prestigious fellowships at NASA›s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the US Navy Research, as well as a Fulbright Fellowship in South America. His research focuses on 3D-printed multifunctional applications and process monitoring in additive manufacturing, leveraging instrumentation and computer vision for enhanced quality. 


As a co-founding editor of the Elsevier journal Additive Manufacturing, he has contributed to its status as the highest-impact factor journal in manufacturing. Notable projects include the 3D printing of nano-satellites with embedded electronics, one of which orbited in 2013, and patent licensing to Sony and Toshiba from IBM. 
With over 100 peer-reviewed publications and numerous patents, MacDonald is 
a respected member of ASME, ASEE, and IEEE, holding a Professional Engineer registration in Texas.

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 Dr. Nesma Aboulkhair 
The Technology Innovation Institute (TII) – UAE


Dr. Aboulkhair is the Director of the Additive Manufacturing team at the Technology Innovation Institute’s Advanced Materials Research Centre TII-AMRC in the UAE. Formerly an assistant professor at the University of Nottingham, UK, she retains a visiting academic role with the institution. With a background in mechanical engineering and a PhD in Materials Engineering and Materials Design, she specializes in developing new materials and manufacturing processes, particularly in metallurgy and mechanical properties. 


Her work focuses on various metal additive manufacturing processes since 2013, with significant achievements including a robust publication record, substantial funding, and numerous invited talks. At (TII), she established a cutting-edge AM laboratory, facilitating collaboration with local industries and training a team of researchers. Dr. Aboulkhair has received prestigious awards, such as the Anne McLaren Fellowship, and actively contributes to scientific journals as an editor and reviewer.

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 Dr. Wang Hongze 
Shanghai Jiaotong University – China


Dr. Wang’s major research interests include innovative manufacturing processes 
and systems, particularly in the area of laser additive manufacturing and hybrid manufacturing. His work has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of the relationship among manufacturing process, microstructure of the material, and performance of the product. His research has integrated analytical and numerical simulation methods, control and sensors to manufacturing processes. He has published about 50 technical articles, including over 20 journal articles, and one awarded patent. He has given over 20 invited talks.

Dr. Ali Sardar

 Dr. Ali Sardar
University of Doha for Science & Technology (UDST)


Dr. Ali Sardar is a postdoctoral research associate at the Department of Chemical
Engineering, University of Doha for Science and Technology and a former senior
researcher at the Gas Processing Center, Qatar University. Dr. Ali obtained his PhD in
Chemical Engineering from Petronas University of Technology, Malaysia.


He has more than ten years of experience in academic and industrial research &
development with a special interest in chemical and catalytic processes incorporating all
aspects of CO2 capture, chemical sequestration of CO2, decarbonization and gas-toliquid
technology (GTL) processes. He is actively involved in research with more than 30
refereed journal papers, many conference publications in addition to four USA patents.
His current research interests at UDST include development of 3D-printed monoliths
for applications to water treatment and gas conversions.

Prof. Karen Abrinia

 Prof. Karen Abrinia
University of Tehran – Iran


Prof. Karen Abrinia is a specialized scientist in the field of Additive Manufacturing
and Metal Forming. He is the founder and head of the 3D Printing and Additive
Manufacturing Lab at the University of Tehran, with expertise spanning the printing of
semi-solid materials and various types of composites, as well as the development of
different areas of 4D printing applications.

Shaik Mohammed Thani Al-Thani.
Shell


Shaik Mohammed Thani Al-Thani has been working at Qatar Shell for 7 years with
a strong background in mechanical engineering. He has a wide range of experience
ranging from turnaround/shutdown, maintenance planning and execution, management
of change, contract management and leading the additive manufacturing in Pearl GTL.


His achievements include executing major turnarounds as a Field Coordinator, Plant
Coordinator, and Block Lead in a unit repair on-site safely and ahead of time. He moved
to the Reliability Department to work on innovative technology to improve site reliability
and was appointed as the Site Lead for additive manufacturing.


He has successfully completed the digital inventory review for the site inventory and
building the 3D printing inventory. He looks forward to what the future will look like
with the rise of new technologies.

Dr. Ehab Saleh

 Dr. Ehab Saleh
University of Doha for Science & Technology (UDST)


For the past ten years, Dr. Saleh has worked on developing digital manufacturing
processes for the fourth industrial revolution (IR4.0) utilizing multi-materials to form
integrated 3D structures containing metals, polymers and glasses.
He is currently an Assistant Professor in Smart Manufacturing at the University of Doha
for Science and Technology (UDST) and the Program Lead of its Bachelor›s Degree in
Smart Manufacturing program.


Dr Saleh’s current research activities span across multi-disciplines including the
development of manufacturing processes for printed electronics and energy harvesting/
storage applications, 3D printing of RF metamaterials and THz components, bioprinting
using medical-grade materials and digitally manufactured controlled release
pharmaceutics. He is regularly invited to deliver keynote talks on digital manufacturing
at international events such as the IEEE Workshop on Functional Additive
Manufacturing in Tokyo, Japan, CoInnovate Flagship in Cardiff, United Kingdom and TCT
Summit in Shenzhen, China.