HMS WORKSHOP
Advanced Methods of Simulation and Characterization of Metallic Materials
Kalamata, Greece
Elite Resort Hotel
26th of June, 2025
9:00 a.m - 6:00 p.m
Aim
Tutorials of distinguished speakers in the international community, scientists (academia, industry) and commercial simulation software developers and/or open access developers on advanced methods for simulation/modelling and characterization of metallic materials at different length scales, that will aim in sustainable and cost-efficient component design with increased durability.
The tutorials will consist of lectures together with demonstration of calculation and simulation examples, therefore with high interest for researchers attending the Workshop, to have the opportunity to combine the theory with practical problems.
The methods will cover recent advances in the fields of simulation and characterization of metallic materials and will include novel simulation methods of material processes (e.g corrosion, recyclability, heat treatment, additive manufacturing etc.) and advanced characterization techniques of material microstructure and properties. The metallic materials will include high strength steels, advanced ferrous and non-ferrous alloys, light metals, nanostructured metallic materials and additive manufactured metals
Invited Speakers

Prof. Gregory Haidemenopoulos
Professor of Physical Metallurgy, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Thessaly, Greece
Title of Tutorial: “ICME approach for alloy and process design“
Biographical Note
Gregory N. Haidemenopoulos, serves as Professor of Physical Metallurgy and Director of the Laboratory of Materials (LoM) at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Thessaly, Greece, since 1992. He received his PhD in Metallurgy, MSc in Metallurgy, and MSc in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from MIT (USA).
His research is concerned with the application of computational alloy thermodynamics and kinetics (CALPHAD Approach) for alloy design with applications in the design of extrudable aluminum alloys, the design of medium-Mn steels and the microstructure evolution during welding. He has also been active in hydrogen trapping and embrittlement of high-strength aluminum alloys.
He has served, for several years, as an expert for the European Commission’s RFCS and HORIZON research programs.
He has published a textbook entitled “Physical Metallurgy: Principles and Design” (T&F – CRC Press), translated also in Chinese, 10 book chapters, 100 papers in refereed journals, and presented many keynote and invited lectures worldwide.

Prof. Ulrich Prahl
Institute for Metal Forming, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany
Title of Tutorial: “World of Bainite – recent challenges and new findings”
Biographical Note
1989 – 1996 Study course Techno-Mathematics at TU Clausthal
1996 Diploma thesis at Institute for Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology
2002 Doctoral thesis at Institute for General Mechanics at RWTH Aachen University
2002 – 2017 Post-Doc and Head of Material Simulation Group at Institute for Ferrous Metallurgy at RWTH Aachen University
Since 2017 Professor of Forming Technology at TU Bergakademie Freiberg
Since 2019 Director of Institute for Metalforming at TU Bergakademie Freiberg
Ulrich Prahl has authored and co-authored more than 380 scientific articles, chapters, books in the fields of forming, processing and manufacturing, microstructure-based modeling and characterization of process chains for the prediction of material flow as well as of the evolution of precipitations and microstructure, thermodynamic-kinetic and thermomechanical approaches for the quantitative correlations of microstructure and mechanical properties towards a systematically design of alloys and processes

Prof. João Pedro Oliveira
NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal
Title of Tutorial: “New Process Variants of Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing to Microstructure Control”
Biographical Note
João Pedro Oliveira is a Full Professor in the Materials Science Department at FCT-NOVA, where he coordinates the Materials Engineering bachelor program. He earned his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from FCT-NOVA in 2016, with research at the University of Waterloo, Canada and later worked as a postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University, USA. His research focuses on fusion-based welding and additive manufacturing of high-entropy alloys and shape memory alloys, leveraging electron microscopy, synchrotron X-ray diffraction and thermodynamic simulations. João has raised over €2.0M in research funding, published 180+ papers and holds an h-index of 67. He supervises 12 PhD students and 2 postdocs and is an Editor of Materials Science and Engineering: A, and on the editorial board of Materials & Design.

Dr. Andre Schneider
Senior Application Specialist, Thermo-Calc Software AB, Germany
Title of Tutorial: “Thermo-Calc Software´s Additive Manufacturing Module – From Printability Maps to Microstructural Evolution.”
Biographical Note
Andre Schneider is Senior Application Specialist at Thermo-Calc Software AB, Solna, Sweden, since 2023. He is a physicist and received his doctorate in 1998 in physical chemistry for his fundamental studies on the high-temperature corrosion process metal dusting of iron supervised by Profs. Gerhard Inden and Hans-Jürgen Grabke at Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung (MPIE) in Düsseldorf, Germany. Afterwards he worked on the development and characterization of new materials and high-temperature corrosion as a group leader at MPIE. During this time-period he also performed atom probe studies at Oxford University as an Academic Visitor of the Department of Materials for one year (2003/2004).
Andre joined the tube and pipe steel industry in 2005 and had various responsibilities in R&D at Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung GmbH, Benteler Steel/Tube GmbH, and Vallourec Deutschland GmbH. Since 2020 he is also Privatdozent (PD) at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, after having successfully submitted his Habilitation Thesis on Metal Dusting. Andre started using CALPHAD tools such as Thermo-Calc and DICTRA in 1995 and applied them for his earlier academic studies and industrial R&D works until today.

Dr. Florencia Malamud
Instrument scientist POLDI – Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging – Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
Title of Tutorial: “Neutron Diffraction and Bragg Edge Imaging Techniques for Engineering Materials Analysis”
Biographical Note
Dr. Florencia Malamud is an Instrument Scientist at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland, where she works on the POLDI time-of-flight engineering diffractometer. A graduate of the Balseiro Institute in Argentina, her research focuses on wavelength-resolved neutron transmission techniques, crystallographic texture analysis, and residual stress characterization in engineering materials. She has published over 30 peer-reviewed papers, developed innovative texture analysis methodologies using neutron diffraction and imaging techniques, and contributed to diverse applications, including in additive manufacturing, cultural heritage, and engineering materials.

Dr. Athanasios Vazdirvanidis
Head of Metallography and Electron Optics, ELKEME Hellenic Research Centre for Metals S.A., Greece
Title of Tutorial: “Electron Backscatter Diffraction applications and case studies”
Biographical Note
Athanasios Vazdirvanidis has studied Mining and Metallurgical Engineering in National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and he has earned MSc (NTUA, Dept of Civil Engineering) and Phd (NTUA, Dept of Mechanical Engineering). His PhD research was focused on the field of Mechanical Metallurgy and his Thesis was entitled “Study on the thermal treatment of 6xxx series extruded products for optimization of strength and energy absorbance capacity”.
He has been working in the field of optical and electron microscopy for 22 years and he is currently Head of Metallography and Electron Optics Dept of ELKEME (Hellenic Research Centre for Metals). His main research activities involve metallographic examination of industrial alloys, scanning electron microscopy, failure analysis and applications of EBSD in problem solving.
Program
- 8:30 | Welcome Reception / Registration
- 13:00 | Lunch Break
Materials Characterization
9:00 – 13:00
- 9:00 | Dr. Florencia Malamud, “Neutron Diffraction and Bragg Edge Imaging Techniques for Engineering Materials Analysis”
- 10:15 | Dr. Athanasios Vazdirvanidis, “Electron Backscatter Diffraction applications and case studies”
- 11:30 | Coffee break
- 11:45 | Prof. João Pedro Oliveira, “New Process Variants of Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing to Microstructure
Materials Simulation
13:45 – 18:30
- 13:45 | Prof. Gregory Haidemenopoulos, “ICME approach for alloy and process design“
- 15:30 | Prof. Ulrich Prahl, “World of Bainite – recent challenges and new findings”
- 16:45 | Coffee break
- 17:00 | Dr. Andre Schneider, “Thermo-Calc Software´s Additive Manufacturing Module – from printability maps to microstructural evolution””
Registration
Registration Fees
Contact
Mr Efthymios Polatidis, HMS
Email: sec@met.gr
Mrs Liana Iliopoulou, Convin
Email: leliopoulou@convin.gr
Phone: 0030-2106833600