Prof. Weihua Zhang received his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1983, his Master's in General Mechanics in 1989, and his PhD in Locomotive Vehicle Engineering in 1996, all from Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU). He is currently the Chief Professor at SWJTU and the Chief Scientist at the Research Center for Super-High-Speed Evacuated Tube Maglev Transport at SWJTU.

Prof. Zhang plays a pivotal role in the development of China's high-speed train technologies through his leadership in establishing research platforms, including basic research, digital simulation, and service performance studies. His innovative work includes the propose of theories on dynamics of coupled systems in high-speed trains. Currently, he is focused on high-speed maglev train and ultra-high-speed low-vacuum transportation technology. He oversees the development of ultra-high-speed experimental research platforms and explores their engineering applications.

Prof. Zhang's significant contributions have been recognised via numerous accolades, including Changjiang Distinguished Professorship, the National Outstanding Youth Science Fund and five National Science and Technology Progress Special Prizes of China (one top prize, two first prizes, and two second prizes). He has also been honoured with the Thomas Hawksley Gold Medal from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK) for his research on the dynamic behaviour of pantographs.

KL2: “Real-World Exploration of Wheel-Rail Contact: Challenges for Condition-Based Maintenance”

Prof. Akira Matsumoto
Nihon University, Japan

1972-2001: Traffic Safety & Nuisance Research Institute (TSNRI) Ministry of Transport, Japan

2001-2007: National Traffic Safety & Environment Laboratory (NTSEL), Japan
• R&D of new urban transportation systems,
• R&D of railway safety technologies and these assessments
• R&D of high curving performance railway bogies and vehicles,
• R&D of wheel-rail interface technologies, especially countermeasures of rail corrugation
• Investigations of serious railway accidents on; Signalling system failures in a local Railway 1992; Flange-climb derailment in the Tokyo Subway 2000 and the Over-turning derailment in West JR 2005.

2008-2016: Member of Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB), Chair of Railway Subcommittee: Engaged in Investigations of 170 railway accidents and incidents including derailments caused by earthquakes, flange-climbs and over-turns.

2017-Present: Professor, College of Industrial Technology, Nihon University, Japan.

Simon Iwnicki is Emeritus Professor of Railway Engineering at the University of Huddersfield in the UK and was the first Director of the Institute of Railway Research there. He has been carrying out research into various aspects of railway vehicle dynamics for more than 30 years. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He is Co-Editor of the journal Vehicle System Dynamics and Editor in Chief of Part F of the Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (the Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit). He is a former member of the Scientific Committee of Shift2Rail.

Research into the use of novel materials and modern manufacturing methods, as well as improved suspension design, have the potential to significantly improve the performance of railway rolling stock. This presentation reviews some recent research projects which have resulted in demonstrators or prototypes. There are, however, still some barriers to the adoption of beneficial technology and these are also reviewed.

IL2: “Automatic Detection and Monitoring System of Pantograph–Catenary in China's High-Speed Railways”

Prof. Zhigang Liu
Southwest Jiaotong University, China

Prof. Zhigang Liu (Fellow, IEEE) received a PhD degree in Power systems and its Automation from Southwest Jiaotong University, China in 2003. He is currently a Full Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University. He has authored three books and published more than 200 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles. His research interests include the electrical relation of EMUs and traction, detection, and assessment of pantograph-catenary in high-speed railways. He is an Associate Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, and IEEE ACCESS. He is also a Managing Guest Editor of IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems and Control Engineering Practice. He received the IEEE TIM's Outstanding Associate Editors for 2019, 2020, and 2021 of IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement.

IL3: “Towards FP10, Academic networks in European Rail Research; EURNEX, Academics4Rail, PhDs EU-Rail, ERRAC PAG Academia and Rail Research Innovation Agenda”

Dr. Armando Carrillo Zanuy
EURNEX Association, Berlin, Germany

Armando Carrillo Zanuy is an expert in railway engineering and logistics. He currently serves as Secretary General at EURNEX e.V., the European Rail Research Network of Excellence, where he has been instrumental since 2016. Prior to this, he was researcher in TU Berlin FG Schienenfahrwege und Bahnbetrieb, and course director in Railways Engineering at the German University in Cairo. Carrillo Zanuy holds a PhD in Railway Engineering from Technische Universität Berlin, with a focus on intermodal trains. He also earned a Master’s degree in Logistics and Transportation from the Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm (KTH), and a Civil Engineering degree from Universitat Politècnica de València. He is a member of the Steering Committee of ERRAC European Rail Research Advisory Council and member of the Management Committee of the TRA (Transport Research Arena). His extensive publication record and involvement in numerous European projects highlight his contributions to advancing railway research and development.

IL4: “Recent Developments in Freight-Train Aerodynamics at the German Aerospace Center”

Dr. James Bell
German Aerospace Center, Germany

Dr. James Bell is a ground-vehicle aerodynamicist from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Göttingen, Germany at the Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology - the former workplace of Prandtl, Von Kármán, Schlichting and Ahmed. He achieved his Doctorate on the topic of the slipstream and unsteady wake structure of high-speed trains at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia in 2016. His area of expertise is experimental aerodynamics, particularly wind-tunnel, moving-model and full-scale experimental campaigns, investigating high-speed and freight trains, heavy-vehicle and automotive aerodynamic problems, with the motivation of improving operational efficiency and safety.

IL5: “Optimized Sub-Ballast Structure for High-Speed Line with Asphalt Layer and Multiaxial Geogrid”

Prof. Leoš Horníček
Czech Technical University, Czech Republic

Dr. Leos Hornicek graduated from the Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering in 1999 and in 2005 received a Ph.D. degree. Since 2003, he has been working at the same faculty as an assistant professor and since 2022 as the head of the Department of Railway Structures. He focuses on the research of geosynthetic products and elastic materials for use in railway tracks, through physical modeling in laboratory conditions, as well as the verification of new technologies and products in operational conditions of railway tracks.

He participated in the solution of a number of basic and applied research projects at the national and international level. In cooperation with industrial partners, he implemented more than 20 contract research projects. He is a member of the International Geosynthetics Society and secretary of its Technical Committee on Stabilization. He is a member of domestic and international advisory bodies and working groups in the field of research, development and innovation. He participated in the organization of 10 international scientific conferences. He supervised 20 diploma and 8 bachelor's theses, he is the supervisor of 2 doctoral students.

IL6: “Effect of Hardness and Temperature on Wheel-Rail Wear: Theoretical and Experimental Study”

Prof. Enrico Meli
University of Florence, Italy

Prof. Enrico Meli received his Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering (2004) and his Master Degree in Mathematical Engineering (2006) from School of Engineering of Florence University (Italy). In 2010, he received his PhD. in Mechanism and Machine Theory from School of Engineering of the University of Bologna (Italy).

From 2015 to 2020, he was Assistant Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the Florence University (Italy). From 2021, he is Associate Professor at the same Department. His main research interests include railway vehicles, tribology and turbomachinery. In these fields, he participated in many important national and international research projects, funded by both public Institutions (European Community, Italian Ministries, Tuscany Region, etc.) and private companies (Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), Hitachi Rail Italy, Thales, Baker Hughes Nuovo Pignone, Avio, etc.).

Prof. Enrico Meli is author of over 100 publications on international journals with high impact factor and over 150 publications in Proceedings of International Congresses.

During the years, Prof. Meli has been supervisor of over 100 Bachelor and Master Thesis and over 20 PhD. Thesis. Currently, he is teaching “Mechanisms and Machine Theory”, “Rotor Dynamics” and “Railway Vehicle Dynamics” for the Bachelor Degree and Master Degree Courses in Mechanical Engineering and Energy Engineering.

IL7: “Supporting Railway Electrification with Advanced Pantograph-Catenary Dynamic Analysis Tools: A Case Study”

Dr. Pedro Antunes
Institute of Railway Research, University of Huddersfield, UK

Dr. Pedro Antunes is a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of Railway Research (IRR), University of Huddersfield, UK. His research in the development of numerical analysis tools for pantograph-OCL dynamics have awarded him both his MSc and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering at University of Lisbon. The work and expertise developed on his PhD has been distinguished with the Lagrange Award by IFToMM. Throughout the participation in several European research and enterprise projects, he has acquired a broad expertise in railway engineering, with particular focus on pantograph-catenary dynamics. His competencies have been further bolstered within his role at IRR, where he supports the railway industry leading consulting and R&D projects. Most of these related to pantograph-OCL interaction assessment and optimization, overhead line structural design and pantograph dynamics and design. His research is currently focused on the dynamic analysis pantograph-catenary and vehicle-track interaction, using innovative numerical applications based on co-simulation between finite element and multibody tools.

IL8: “Wheel-Rail Contact Mechanics and Coefficient of Friction Measurement Using Downscaled Test Rig”

Prof. Zili Li
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Dr. Zili Li is the chair professor of Contact Mechanics, Rail Systems and Monitoring and the head of Railway Engineering at Delft University of Technology. He is the founder and scientific director the TU Delft Rail Institute (DelftRail) which involves 11 departments of 4 faculties of the University. He is a member of the European Rail Research Advisory Council. His expertise areas include contact mechanics, wheel-rail and train-track interaction, the associated design theory and degradation and damage mechanisms, structural health condition monitoring, especially dynamics-based and train-borne, and maintenance decision making. His approach is both numerical and experimental in laboratory and in the field.

IL9: “Challenges for Heavy Haul Rail Transportation in Brazil: A Safety and Environmental Perspective”

Prof. Auteliano Santos Jr.
University of Campinas, Brazil

Prof. Auteliano Santos Jr. is a mechanical engineer with a PhD in solid mechanics by State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), where he has been Full Professor since 2014. Visiting Scholar at the University of Michigan - Aerospace Engineering (2014-15) and at the Texas A&M University - Mechanical Engineering (1998-99). Former head and deputy of the Mechanical Design Department and coordinator of the Control and Automation Engineering course. Current coordinator of the Railway Laboratory and of the Vehicle-Track Interaction Laboratory at School of Mechanical Engineering - UNICAMP. Responsible for projects, consulting, and services for VALE, PETROBRÁS, WABTEC (former Faiveley), Thyssenkrupp, FRAS-LE, Union Park Limited (Hong Kong), FANY (China), among many others. Advisor of more than sixty post-docs, PhD, and master works. Current research interests are on multibody dynamic simulations, acousto-elasticity, vibration energy harvesting, autonomous vehicles, regenerative braking, and finite element analysis.

IL10: “Vehicle-Bridge Interaction and Structural Health Monitoring for Bridge Asset Management”

Dr. Richard Loendersloot
University of Twente, The Netherlands

Dr. ir. Richard Loendersloot obtained his MSc degree in 2001 on structure born sound and his PhD degree in 2006, on research on composite manufacturing, both at the University of Twente. He then worked at a consultancy office, solving high-end numerical models for customers, to return to the University of Twente as part-time assistant professor in 2008, fulltime as of 2009, and became associate professor in 2019. At the university, he specialized in structural integrity assessment using dynamics. Next to damage identification in composite structures, he, amongst other topics, also investigates the condition of railway bridges and is involved in the prediction of wear and degradation of railway systems. He has gained international experience by doing a Marie-Curie Fellowship project at the KU Leuven during his PhD, a sabbatical at the University of Auckland in 2016 and through collaborations in various European projects, such as EU DESTinationRAIL. He organized a session on Health/Condition Monitoring and Maintenance Management at the International Conference of Railway Technology in 2022. Currently, he has the daily lead of the Dynamics Based Maintenance research chair, portfolio manager education for the department Mechanics of Solid, Surfaces and Systems and leading the faculty research theme Asset & Maintenance Engineering.

IL11: “Train Running Safety on Bridges: Methodologies and Applications”

Dr. Pedro Montenegro
Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Portugal

Dr. Pedro Montenegro finished his PhD in 2015 in the University of Porto (UPORTO) after an internship in Tokyo Japan, where he developed and validated a train-bridge interaction model. After that, he worked as a structural engineer for 3 years and returned to UPORTO as Junior Researcher in 2018. More recently, in 2021, he was ranked 1st in the national competitive individual call for Assistant Researcher, position that he currently holds. He is the author of more than 45 articles in international journals and 30 communications in conferences. Pedro is currently the global coordinator of the European Project InBridge4EU and serves as UPORTO’s coordinator of the European project In2Track3 and national projects Ferrovia 4.0 and Smartwagons, with total funding higher than €3M. His main research fields are based on the study of bridge dynamics, train-bridge interaction, train running safety and condition monitoring of railway infrastructures.

IL12: “Train-Induced Vibration: Via Source Identification to Mitigation”

Dr. Michaël Steenbergen
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Dr. Michaël Steenbergen has a research background of more than 20 years into railway engineering. His research team focuses on an advanced fundamental understanding of track dynamics, train-induced vibration, and interdisciplinary topics involving contact mechanics and metallurgy, such as rolling contact fatigue and rail surface conditioning. On these topics, he has an extensive and well-cited publication record. He is affiliated as an associate professor to Delft University of Technology. Besides his academic career, Michaël has served as an advisor on a range of international and challenging projects, both in the area of high-speed transportation and dynamic system-structure interaction in general.

IL13: “Track Management Method Based on In-Service Vehicle Vibration Measurements”

Prof. Hitoshi Tsunashima
Nihon University, Japan

Prof. Dr. Hitoshi Tsunashima is a professor and the deputy director of the Center for Railway Research, Nihon University. He completed his master course in aeronautical engineering at the University of Osaka Prefecture in 1983. He joined the Kobe Steel Ltd. in 1983, where he carried out his research and development of Automated People Mover. He obtained his doctoral degree from The University of Tokyo in 1995. He joined Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Industrial Technology, Nihon University in 1996. His major research activities are condition monitoring of railway system, application of multiple model approach for vehicle state estimation and control. PRIZES: 1992 SAE Vincent Bendix Automotive Electronics Engineering Award, 2007 Best paper award of 15th symposium on Transportation and Logistics, The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Best presentation award of 2006 symposium on Automotive Engineering, Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc., 2009 Best paper award of Japan Railway Engineers Association.

IL14: “Detailed Contact Geometry Processing for 3D Wheel and Rail Surfaces”

Dr. Edwin Vollebregt
Vtech CMCC, Netherlands

Dr. Edwin Vollebregt studied at Delft University of Technology, graduating with Professor Kalker on the speed-up of the CONTACT software. He founded a company VORtech on simulation software and worked for a number of years on coastal engineering. Since 2008 he has been working mostly as an independent researcher, extending the CONTACT software and publishing scientifically on the results.

IL15: “Digital Twinning and Deep Learning in Railway Systems”

Prof. Nalinaksh S. Vyas
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur & Former Chairman, Technology Mission for Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, India

Prof. Nalinaksh Vyas has a Ph.D. (Mechanical Engg.,1986, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi) and has been a Faculty Member at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (Department of Mechanical Engineering), since 1987. He also functioned as the Chairman of the Technology Mission for Indian Railways, for the Government of India, till April 2022. The major areas of activity in this role included implementation of Industry 4.0 protocols for rail coach design and manufacturing, on-board diagnostic capabilities in rolling stock and Deep Learning technologies for rail asset management. He is currently advising the Aeronautical Defence Agency (ADA) and the Centre for Railway Information Services (CRIS) in their Digital Twinning efforts. He has also been a Visiting Professor at Virginia Tech, USA; INSA Lyon, France; Lulea University, Sweden and National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan. His research interests lie in Machine Dynamics, Nonlinear Parameter Estimation, Instrumentation and Integrated Health Monitoring of Machinery and AI / ML applications in Smart Infrastructure domains. He has also been on the Board of Governors of IIT Jodhpur and on the Executive Council of the All India Council for Technical Education.