Nicholas Spencer was born in the UK, and educated in Cambridge before leaving to the USA for a postdoc in Berkeley and a decade in the US chemical industry. For the last thirty years he has been Professor of Surface Science and Technology at ETH Zurich, working on topics ranging from hip implants, through polymer brushes to lubricant additives. He is Editor-in-Chief of Tribology Letters, and the winner of the 2018 Tribology Gold Medal.

Professor Hugh Spikes is Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Investigator in the Tribology research group. He has published over three hundred refereed papers and patents in the field of Tribology, spanning many aspects of liquid lubricant behaviour ranging from boundary to hydrodynamic lubrication. In 2004, Hugh Spikes was awarded the three major medals that are bestowed internationally for contributions to Tribology, the International Award of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, the Mayo D. Hersey Award of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Tribology Trust Gold Medal. With his research students he has also received twelve best paper awards, from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Dr. ALI ERDEMIR is a Professor and Halliburton Chair in Engineering in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA. In recognition of his research accomplishments, Dr. Erdemir has received numerous coveted awards and such honors as being elected to the US National Academy of Engineering, European Academy of Sciences and Arts, World Academy of Ceramics, The Science Academy of Turkey, and the presidency of the International Tribology Council and STLE. He is also a Fellow of AAAS, ASME, STLE, AVS, and ASM-International. Dr. Erdemir has authored/co-authored more than 300 research articles and 18 book/handbook chapters, co-edited four books, presented more than 200 invited/keynote/plenary talks, and holds 34 U.S. patents. His current research focuses on bridging scientific principles with engineering innovations towards the development of new materials, coatings, and lubricants for a broad range of cross-cutting applications in manufacturing, transportation and other energy conversion and utilization systems.

Dr Kalin’s areas of research are the wear and friction mechanisms of advanced materials, nanoscale interface phenomena, and boundary films for novel green-lubrication technologies, including his recognized contribution to the lubrication of DLC coatings. He has given 60 invited lectures world-wide and has published over 170 peer-reviewed journal papers with over 4000 citations and an H-index of 36. He also published 10 book chapters, 3 books and holds 11 patents, including USA and EU patents. In his career he has led 40 large, 3-year projects, half of them international. He also collaborated in industrial projects with renowned companies in Europe, Japan and the USA in over 150 R&D projects. He has received several international awards, including the ASME Burt L. Newkirk Award (2006) and Fellow of STLE (2012) and is among few who received both national Slovenian highest scientific awards, namely Zois plaque and Zois award. He is a member of International Engineering Academy and Slovenian Academy of Engineering. Since 2012 he serves as the Editor of Lubrication Science. He is a Full Professor since 2010 and was a Dean at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at University of Ljubljana (2017-2021), where he is also the Head of the Laboratory for Tribology and Interface Nanotechnology. He is also elected the Executive Board Member and Deputy President of the International Tribology Council (ITC).