Plenary lectures are a program highlight at the Hybrid conference. These experts are leaders in their respective fields and will be sharing their cutting-edge research and insights on the latest developments in materials science and engineering. We are honored to have them as part of our program and we are confident that their presentations will be both informative and inspiring.
Head of the Mechanical Department at the European Space Agency (ESA)
Dr Tommaso Ghidini is the Head of the Mechanical Department at the European Space Agency (ESA). The Department provides essential engineering support to the entire range of ESA Space programmes and missions and develops enabling technologies for the future ones. The Department specializes in a large number of key areas, including structures, mechanisms, materials and processes, propulsion, robotics, aerothermodynamics, flight vehicles and hypersonic aircraft engineering, optics, thermal and life support. It also manages the ESA/ESTEC Test Centre, a world class facility for full-scale environmental testing of spacecraft and satellites and the verification of space vehicles systems and subsystems.
After obtaining a Ph.D. at the German Aerospace Centre in experimental and numerical structural mechanics and before joining ESA, Dr Ghidini has worked for AIRBUS on all major civil and military programmes of the European aeronautical industry (the A380, A350 and A400M aicraft). He has received a number of international awards for major aerospace industrial achievements and developments, he is Adjunct Professor at the Politecnico of Milano and sits in the Advisory Boards of leading research centres, universities and private companies in Europe and the U. S.
Parallel to his institutional activities, Dr Ghidini cultivates his passion for flying, he flies aircraft and gliders and he is an award winning author of science divulgation books.
Since November 2023, Dr Ghidini has been appointed Officer of the Selected Reserve of the Air Force with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Aeronautical Engineering Corps.
Senior Expert Fatigue and Damage Tolerance at Airbus
Thomas Beumler started his professional education in the Fatigue and Damage Tolerance department of MBB in Hamburg, which provided a combination of specific design work, non-specific design work, research and structural developments to application for all Airbus aircraft. During his career he developed several hybrid design principles and published several related patents.
He started the development and justification of Fiber Metal Laminate (FML) structures in 1989, when he sized and justified a circumferential joint with FML butt strap for the highest loaded Airbus Single Aisle fuselage junction. Thomas took the technical lead at Airbus for the GLARE Technology Program, for all skill areas except manufacturing. In a strong cooperation with the Dutch FML partners GTM, NLR and Delft University a large scale, first-time-right application had been achieved on the A380 aircraft. Other application examples which are based on his initiative are the A400M frame reinforcements and the A321-XLR rear center tank skin panels.
Dr Beumler finished his Ph.D. studies at Delft University of Technology, developing the F&DT strength justification philosophy for FML riveted joints under consideration of environmental influences, which was accepted by the FAA and applied for the A380 strength justifications.
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