Awardees

Jacques POIRIER, France

Jacques Poirier graduated in Physical Science and Engineering at INSA, in 1980. He obtained his M.Sc. in Materials Science from the University of Rennes in 1980. He completed a Ph.D. in Metallurgy and Nuclear Engineering in 1983, at the University of Orléans.

Prof. Jacques Poirier worked in the steel industry, from 1983 to 2001. From 1989 to 1990, he was a visiting professor at the Polytechnical School of Montreal. From 2001 to 2020, Dr. Poirier was a full professor of Ceramic Science and Metallurgy at the University of Orléans. In 2020, he became Professor Emeritus.

Prof. Poirier has published over 140 papers and 108 publications in proceedings. He has given over 264 oral presentations (over 54 invited conferences). He has contributed to 16 book chapters or books. He holds 15 patents (including 9 international patents). Prof. Poirier has supervised over 25 Ph.D. students. He has managed over 50 training courses (continuing education) and is a founding member of FIRE (Federation for International Refractories Research and Education). He has received numerous awards: Drouin Prize (1986), Wakabayashi Award (2008), Metallurgical Research & Technology Award (2015), Embury Prize (2016), Veolia Award (2018), Alfred W. Allen Award (2018), ICR Award (2018)

• Fellow of ECerS, 2021
• President of the French Ceramic Society, 2019-2024
• Chairman of the French Refractory Commission, 2011-2019
• Co-Organizing Chair of the Lyon ECerS Conference, 2023
• Organizer of the ECerS Summer School (Torino, 2019)
• Co-organizer of the ECerS /FIRE Summer School (Aachen, 2022)

Clive A. RANDALL, USA

Clive A. Randall is an Evan Pugh Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of the Materials Research Institute at The Pennsylvania State University. He received a B.Sc. with Honors in Physics in 1983 from the University of East Anglia (UK), and a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics from the University of Essex (UK) in 1987.  He was Director for the Center for Dielectric Studies 1997-2013, and Co-Director of the Center for Dielectrics and Piezoelectrics 2013-2015, still serving as Technical Advisor.  He has authored/co-authored over 500 technical papers (36,000 citations H-index 99) and holds 25 patents (with 5 pending) in the field of electroceramics.   His research interests are in the area of discovery, processing, material physics, and compositional design of functional materials; with different processing and characterization methods. He has graduated over 40 Ph. D students, and 20 Master Students, along with training many postdoctoral scholars and visiting scientists. Prof. Randall has received a number of awards from various societies, including the American Ceramic Society Fulrath Award, Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, Academician of the World Academy of Ceramics; Spriggs Phase Equilibria Award; Friedberg Lecture at the American Ceramic Society; Edward C. Henry Best Paper of the Year from the American Ceramics Society Electronics Division (2012 and 2017), IEEE UFFC-S Ferroelectrics Recognition Award, Robertson Breakthrough of the Year Award (College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Penn State University, 2017), National Academy of Inventors (2022), and the highest academic rank at Penn State as an Evan Pugh Professor (only 80 in total since the1950’s).

Chris PARR, France

Chris Parr is the Vice President of  Science and Technology for Imerys spanning  Refractory, Advanced ceramics, Abrasives and Construction materials based in Paris, France.

After receiving a BSc honors degree in Chemistry from York University, England in 1981, he was initially employed in the refractory producing industry, during a 13 year period, with refractory producers in both South Africa and England. He joined his current employer, Imerys in 1994 (as Lafarge). Initially employed in the central marketing department, followed by applications and development Director in 1999. After a number of role changes this then led  to being appointed in 2010 as the  Product Development Director. A period as VP for  Innovation and Sustainability then followed  prior to assuming his current role in 2019.

He has authored over 120 technical and scientific papers and holds numerous patents in the field of hydraulic binders and refractory raw materials. He is a fellow of the American Ceramic Society and Planje award recipient as well as a distinguished life member of UNITECR. He has received the Wakabayashi award from the Technical Association of Refractories Japan on two occasions and is a serving member of the counsel of the Institute of Refractory engineers (UK). He is also the current Chairman of the F.I.R.E Research federation uniting more than 25 academic institutions and industrial partners with a common goal to promote education and research in refractory materials engineering.

He is a member of the Groupe Française de Ceramique and is an elected member of the advisory board.

Erkka J. FRANKBERG, Finland

In 2018, Dr. Frankberg received his Doctor of Science in Technology degree with distinctions from Tampere University, majoring in Materials Science and Engineering. During his Doctoral studies, he conducted a one-year research visit to France at the Institut National Des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA Lyon). After graduating, he held a two-year postdoctoral researcher position in Italy, at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT Milano) and was granted the Marie Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellowship. After returning to Finland in 2020, he received the Academy Postdoctoral Researcher position at Tampere University. Dr. Frankberg continues to work at Tampere University and was recently granted the prestigious Academy Fellowship by the Research Council of Finland with a funding period between 2024-2028. Dr. Frankberg has co-authored more than 15 technical papers, and he holds two patents. His research field consists of interdisciplinary studies on ceramic and glass processing and characterization, focusing on room temperature plasticity phenomena in amorphous oxide ceramics. Dr. Frankberg has received numerous awards for his research, including the Young Researcher Award of the European Materials Research Society in 2021.

Frankberg is an active member of the European Ceramic Society and is currently leading the Young Ceramists and Training working group of ECerS. He is the cofounder of the new Young Ceramists Network (YCN) and acted as the executive committee member of YCN between 2016-2022. He has co-organized numerous international conferences, workshops and webinars affiliated to ECerS, most recently the 2024 young Ceramists Additive Manufacturing forum (yCAM). In addition, Dr. Frankberg has guest-edited two special issues for the Open Ceramics journal.

Diletta SCITI, Italy

Diletta Sciti is Director of Research at the National Research Council – Institute of Science, Technology, and Sustainability for Ceramics (CNR-ISSMC) in Faenza, Italy. She began her academic journey with a master’s degree in physics from the University of Bologna and later earned a Ph.D. in Engineering from the Kyoto Institute of Technology in Japan.

A permanent researcher at CNR since 2001 and later group leader, her research focuses on the fundamental correlations between processes, microstructures, and properties of structural and ultra-high temperature ceramics and composites for severe environments. She is particularly interested in exploring novel processes, manufacturing prototypes, and testing materials in relevant environments. She has led international projects funded by EU, US, and Italian agencies, including an €8M EU-Horizon 2020 program focused on ultra-high temperature ceramic matrix composites for aerospace. Additionally, she is involved in technology transfer contracts for Italian companies. In 2021, following a brief assignment as pro-tempore director of former ISTEC, she co-founded a CNR spin-off to bring UHTCMC materials to market.

She has actively contributed to the academic community by serving as a Ph.D. Faculty Board Member in Material Science & Technology at the University of Parma, Italy, organizing symposia for ECERS and other conferences, serving on editorial boards, and was recently appointed Chair of the 2024 ECI conference on UHTCs in Italy. With around 250 technical publications and 10 patent applications, she was recognized as a Fellow of the European Ceramic Society in 2023.