Keynote Speakers

Professor Mercouri G. Kanatzidis
Northwestern University
USA

Title of presentation:
Nanostructured thermoelectrics: what have we learned and where are we going?

Mercouri G. Kanatzidis was born in Greece and received his B.Sc. degree from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He received a PhD degree in chemistry from the University of Iowa. He was a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University from 1985 to 1987. He is currently a Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University in USA. He also holds an appointment at Argonne National Laboratory where is a Senior Scientist in the Materials Science Division and is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Solid State Chemistry. Some of his significant contributions include the discovery of nanostructured bulk thermoelectrics in 2004, the development of materials design and discovery strategies for nonlinear optical materials, g-ray detector materials and solar cells. His research interests include materials design and discovery, chalcogenide and intermetallic materials, thermoelectric materials and generally materials with unusual combinations of physical properties.

Professor Mikhail I. Fedorov
Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russia

Title of presentation:
Thermoelectric materials based on Mg2X compounds

Mikhail I. Fedorov was born on July, 03, 1952, Leningrad, USSR (now St. Petersburg, Russia). After graduation from Leningrad State University as Physicist (Master of Science) he became a member of staff at the Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute where he is still employed. Now he is the Head of the Laboratory for Physics of Thermoelements. He has been elected many times as a member of the Learned Council of Department of Physics of dielectrics and semiconductors of Ioffe Institute. He has the highest Russian scientific degree - Doctor of Sciences. He has published more than 140 papers and inventions.
Mikhail I. Fedorov is mainly known by his works in the field of physics of silicides. His papers have been devoted to the study of optical and transport properties of silicides, thermoelectric application of these materials and some theoretical questions. He has been a leader of the research resulted in elaboration of very efficient thermoelectrics based on Mg₂Si-Mg₂Sn solid solutions.
Main achievements in thermoelectricity: New very efficient thermoelectrics based on Mg₂Si-Mg₂Sn solid solutions have been elaborated. Existence of optical phonon drag effect in iron disilicide has been proved experimentally and theoretically. Theoretical base of the creation of cheap thermoelements with passive leg has been developed and the experimental models based on this theory have been made. A domestic thermoelectric generator based on silicide materials has been made and tested.

Professor Xinbing Zhao
Zhejiang University
China

Title of presentation:
Multi-scale microstructural effects on the thermoelectric properties of bulk materials

Xinbing Zhao received the B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Zhejiang University in 1982, 1985 and 1990, respectively.
Professor Zhao joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Zhejiang University in 1985. From 1987 to 1990 he worked at the Institute of Metallurgy and Metal Physics in RWTH Aachen, Germany, as a doctoral student supported by the DAAD Sandwich Doctorate Program. He was promoted to Professor in 1995. He was the Deputy Director of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering from 1993 to 1999 and the Director from 1999 to 2006. From 1999 to 2005 he was the Associate Dean of the college of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University. Professor Zhao has served in the expert committee in metallic materials of the NSF of China from 2008 to 2011. He serves now in the steering committee in metallic materials of the Ministry of Education of China, and is the Vice Chair of the Chinese Thermoelectric Materials Society, the director member of Chinese Materials Research Society and Chinese Society of Rare Earths.
Professor Zhao’s present research interests include thermoelectric materials and electrode materials of lithium-ion batteries. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, authored a text book in materials properties, and more than 20 inventions patented.

Professor Toshiro Takabatake
Hiroshima University
Japan

Title of presentation:
Recent advances in Ba-Ga-Sn based clathrates and thermoelectric modules

Toshiro Takabatake was born on January 2, 1953, in Okayama, Japan. From 1971–1975 he studied B.Sc. Physics at The Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Japan. From 1975–1980 he studied at The Graduate School of Engineering at the same university. He was PhD awarded in June 1980.
Through the years Professor Takabatake has worked in both Japan and Europe and today he works as Professor and Dean at The Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University. He is member of the following societies: The Physical Society of Japan, The Magnetics Society of Japan and The Thermoelectric Society of Japan. In 2002 he won the Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment Award for the Research in Metal Physics. His current works comprise development of thermoelectric materials with caged structures magnetism and phase transitions in rare-earth based compounds. Besides, Professor Takabatake has written a lot of publications through the years.

Professor Terry M. Tritt
Clemson University
USA

Title of presentation:
Quasicrystals: A Review of the History and Thermoelectric Properties of these Amazing Materials

Prof. Terry M. Tritt is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of Physics at Clemson University. This is one of 18 such positions supported by the Clemson University Alumni Association and awarded to faculty who exemplify the highest qualities of service to the university and the students while also exhibiting international standing in their field of research. Professor Tritt is a graduate of Clemson University obtaining his BA in 1980 and PhD in 1985. He then served as a National Research Council Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC (1985-1989). From 1989 until 1996 he was a Staff Scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory before joining the faculty at Clemson University in August of 1996.
The focus of his current research centers on materials for thermoelectric (TE) refrigeration and power generation applications. His primary research expertise lies in electrical and thermal transport properties and phenomena (especially in measurement and characterization techniques) in new and novel materials. He has extensive expertise in measurement science and has built an internationally known laboratory for these measurements. His recent activities are focused on the synthesis and characterization of thermoelectric nanomaterials and nanocomposites. & characterization of thermoelectric material’s parameters, especially thermal conductivity.
He has written over 150 journal publications, over ten review articles and regularly gives invited presentations at national and international meetings as well as many university seminars.

Dr. Kilian Bartholomé
Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM
Germany

Title of Presentation:
Thermoelectrics for energy-autarkic sensor systems

Kilian Bartholomé has studied physics at the University of Freiburg. In 2008 he received his PhD working on simulations of cellular signalling pathways. He is working at the Fraunhofer IPM since 2009, was group leader of the energy autarkic sensors group in 2011 and since 2012 he is the head of the department of thermoelectric systems (TES) at the Fraunhofer IPM in Freiburg. His main research activities are in thermoelectric simulations and optimization of thermoelectric systems, material and module development as well as energy-autarkic sensor systems.

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Keynote Speakers