Professor Dr.-Ing.habil. Dr.h.c.mult. Holm Altenbach is Member of the International Association of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics and the International Research Center on Mathematics and Mechanics of Complex Systems (M&MoCS), Italy. He has held positions at the Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg and Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, both in Germany. He graduated from Leningrad Polytechnic Institute in 1980(diploma in Dynamics and Strength of Machines) and was awarded his Ph.D. degree in 1983 and his Doctor of Technical Sciences degree in 1987 at the same Institute. He is currently Full Professor of Engineering Mechanics at the Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Mechanics (since 2011), where he has been Acting Director since 2015. His areas of scientific interest include General theory of elastic and inelastic plates and shells, Creep and damage mechanics, Strength theories, and nano- and micromechanics.Andreas Öchsner is a Full Professor for lightweight design and structural simulation at the Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Having obtained a Dipl.-Ing. degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Stuttgart (1997), Germany, he served as a Research and Teaching Assistant at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg from 1997 to 2003 while working to complete his Doctor of Engineering Sciences (Dr.-Ing.) degree. From 2003 to 2006, he was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Head of the Cellular Metals Group affiliated with the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He spent seven years (2007–2013) as a Full Professor at the Department of Applied Mechanics, Technical University of Malaysia, where he was also Head of the Advanced Materials and Structure Lab. From 2014-2017, he was a Full Professor at the School of Engineering, Griffith University, Australia, and Leader of the Mechanical Engineering Program (Head of Discipline andProgram Director).Markus Merkel is a Full Professor for Engineering Design at Aalen University of Applied Sciences, Germany. He obtained an Engineering degree (Dipl.-Ing.) at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany) in Mechanical Engineering (1993). From 1994 he served as Research and Teaching Assistant at the Institute for Mechanics and finished his PhD-studies (Dr.-Ing.) in 1998. He worked at the International Technical Development Centre of Adam Opel AG (Germany) between 1999 and 2004 and became Professor at Aalen University at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science in 2004. He is Program Director for Product Development and Manufacturing within the Master program and Head of the Institute for Virtual Product Development.Michael Johlitz is a Professor for Experimental Mechanics and Material Modelling at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich (Institute of Mechanics) since 2020. He obtained an engineering degree (Dipl.-Ing.)at the Ruhr University Bochum in Civil Engineering in 2004 before moving as a Research and Teaching Assistant to the Chair of Applied Mechanics at the University of the Saarland where he got his doctor degree (Dr.-Ing.) in 2008. After working 1.5 years as a post-doc at the same institute, he moved to the Institute of Mechanics of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich and habilitated (Dr.-Ing. habil.) in 2015 in the field of ageing of polymers and he awarded his "venia legendi" (PD) in the same year. His field of work is the experimental investigation and characterisation of polymers and the modelling of the occurring phenomena like e.g. viscoelasticity, lifte time, ageing, swelling, dissipative heating.
