Plenary Speakers

Dr Navid Zobeiry

Associate Professor in the Materials Science & Engineering Department at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA

Bio: Dr. Navid Zobeiry is an Associate Professor in the Materials Science & Engineering Department at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA, and holds an adjunct appointment in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Advanced Composites Centre (ACC) at the University of Washington and is an Affiliate Faculty member at the Boeing Advanced Research Centre (BARC). His research lies at the intersection of materials science, data science, and advanced manufacturing, emphasizing three primary themes: (1) smart testing approaches that incorporate theory-guided machine learning to enhance conventional characterization methods, enabling rapid kinetics and failure characterization of composites; (2) smart manufacturing strategies that utilize automation, sensing, physics-based simulations, and machine learning, with applications such as real-time process optimization and defect mitigation; and (3) accelerated aerospace certification and qualification enabled by hybrid probabilistic machine learning, multi-fidelity, and multi-physics simulations. In collaboration with major aerospace and government entities—including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Toray Industries—Dr. Zobeiry’s group has developed patented technologies and AI software solutions specifically tailored for the aerospace sector. Several of these innovations have been licensed for exclusive use by industry-leading partners. In addition to his research, Dr. Zobeiry continuously develops and delivers specialized workshops and courses on physics-informed machine learning and data-driven applications, particularly for the aerospace industry.

Professor Adam Sobey

Programme Director for Data-Centric Engineering at The Alan Turing Institute, UK

Bio: Professor Adam Sobey is Programme Director for Data-Centric Engineering at The Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s National AI and Data Science Institute, and Chair of Data-Centric Engineering in the Maritime Engineering Group at The University of Southampton. He also acts as a Non-Executive Director at Theyr Ltd, a Voyage Optimisation Software provider to the marine industry, and AQ Live, providing data/AI assurance. His research focuses on the development of Reinforcement Learning, Evolutionary Computation and Machine Learning in the context of Engineering Applications. He completed his MEng in Aerospace Engineering with Astronautics in 2006 before moving to the Maritime Engineering group to do a PhD focusing on implementing AI approaches in design for manufacture of composites in 2010. He joined the group as a Research Fellow in 2009 to lead the LR/MoD Centre of Excellence in Marine Structures before moving to LRET funding to explore the use of Multi-Level Selection mechanisms within Evolutionary Computation. Between 2014-2017 he was a visiting Scientist at the Institute of High Performance Computing in Singapore investigating the design of composites risers. He returned to take up a lectureship at the University of Southampton 2018, Associate Professor 2020 and Professorship 2022. In 2019 he was asked to start the Marine and Maritime group within the Data-Centric Engineering programme at The Alan Turing Institute, before becoming director in 2023. He received the Royal Institute of Naval Architects Jeom Paik award for best Paper on Structures by an author under 30 in 2015 for work related to improving Structural Safety of Composite Ships. He is currently an Editor of Data-Centric Engineering and Associate Editor of Ship and Offshore Structures.

Dr. Pierre Yves Mechin.

Composites Apps R&D Development Senior Manager, Dassault Systems, France

Bio: Following his PhD in Composites and work on America’s Cup projects, Pierre-Yves joined Dassault Systèmes in 2017. He leads the Composites R&D team and is involved in SIMULIA apps. Under his guidance, the Composites R&D team has delivered many key improvements impacting the complete Composites End-to-End process, ensuring a continuous digital thread. Pierre-Yves worked within the Marine Engineering industry on racing yachts (60 ft boats IMOCA, VOR 70 ft, Ultime Boat, America’s Cup, & more) contributing to the structural design and material mechanical testing. Joining Dassault Systèmes in 2017 as part of the CATIA Composites R&D team, Pierre-Yves’s passion and vision was two-fold. He and the CATIA Composites R&D team’s goal was first improving the accuracy of virtual simulation, accounting for the composites microstructure, including potential defects and the impact of those defects on the structure. Furthermore, the goal of extending the composites end-to-end process with integrated design, simulation, and manufacturing on the Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. Since 2020, Pierre-Yves has led the Composites R&D team developing and extending the End-to-End process (Concept, Detailed Design, & Manufacturing). At the same time, Pierre-Yves has been involved with INEOS Britannia for mast design of a racing yacht for the next America’s Cup in Barcelona (as part of the Mercedes F1 Design Team). Additionally, Pierre-Yves is dedicated to continuing research on materials, focusing on publications, experiments, and lectures with several universities in France.

Professor Francisco (Paco) Chinesta

Professor of computational physics at Arts et Metiers Institute of Technology, Paris, France

Bio:Francisco Chinesta is currently full Professor of computational physics at Arts et Metiers Institute of Technology (Paris, France), Honorary Fellow of the “Institut Universitaire de France” – IUF- and Fellow of the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering. He was (2008-2012) AIRBUS Group chair professor and since 2013 he is ESI Group chair professor on advanced modeling and simulation of materials, processes, structures and systems. He received many scientific awards, among them the IACM Fellow award, the IACM Zienkiewicz award (New York, 2018), the ESAFORM award. He is author of about 440 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and more than 1200 contributions in conferences. He was president of the French association of computational mechanics (CSMA), being at present president of the French Association of Mechanics, as well as the director of the GdR I-GAIA on data and artificial intelligence based augmented engineering. Editor and associate editor of about 10 international journals, he received many distinctions, among them the Academic Palms, the French Order of Merit. In 2018 the Doctorate Honoris Causa at the University of Zaragoza (Spain) and in 2019 the Silver medal from the French CNRS. He is the director of the DESCARTES project on Hybrid Artificial Intelligence that the CNRS develops in its hub at Singapore (35 M€, 5 years and more than 160 researchers).