University of Strasbourg

Marie Pierre Krafft is Research Director at the Institut Charles Sadron (CNRS), University of Strasbourg (France). Her research focusses on the design, engineering and investigation of fluorocarbon-promoted molecular self-assemblies, colloids and interfaces, including nano- and microemulsions, microbubbles, micelles and vesicles, life-mimicking active droplets, and fluorocarbon-based therapeutics. She is also concerned with PFAS-related environmental remediation issues. She published over 200 papers, holds 12 patents, delivered over 100 invited lectures in International Meetings, is Co-Editor-in-Chief for Current Opinion in Colloid Interface Science. She has received Awards from the French Académie des Sciences, Chemical Society of Japan, Fluorous Technology Committee, is a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur.

KAUST

Himanshu Mishra specializes in probing aqueous interfaces. His team has addressed several long-standing transdisciplinary problems/controversies, including: (i) quantifying droplet detachment force; (ii) understanding electrification at water-hydrophobe interfaces; and (iii) investigating spontaneous H₂O₂ formation in water microdroplets. In addition to these fundamental contributions, Mishra’s team has developed the SandX™ and CarboSoil™ technologies to harness the potential of deserts for sustainable greening (carbon sequestration) and food production. He co-founded Terraxy LLC to advance sustainability projects in the Middle East and beyond. His translational research and start-up initiatives have received recognition from Geneva Inventions and the World Economic Forum, among others.

Harvard University

Weitz worked for nearly two decades at Exxon Research and Engineering on interfacial phenomena and complex fluids area before moving to academia, first, at the University of Pennsylvania, and then in 1999 when he moved to Harvard University where he is currently the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics. In 2016, Weitz was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for “discoveries of complex fluids, colloids, and emulsions”, which have resulted in new products and companies. Weitz is also an elected member of the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. His current focus is on three areas of: (i) growth and dynamics of colloidal crystals, glasses and gels; (ii) use of multiphase fluid flow to create, control and use emulsions with microfluidic devices; and (iii) biophysics with a focus on the mechanical properties of cells, and developing new methods to probe these properties with emphasis on biopolymer networks, and the study of rheological properties of such systems.