Extended Bio
Gerhard A. Holzapfel is a world-leading figure in biomechanics, currently serving as Professor and Head of the Institute of Biomechanics at Graz University of Technology (TUG), Austria. He also holds appointments as Adjunct Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim and Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow. From 2004 to 2013, he was Professor of Biomechanics at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm.

Following a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Graz, Professor Holzapfel was awarded an Erwin Schrödinger Scholarship, enabling him to conduct research at Stanford University. He achieved his Habilitation at TU Vienna in 1996 and was the recipient of Austria’s prestigious START Award in 1997. Over subsequent decades, he has led pioneering work in computational biomechanics, including as Head of the Computational Biomechanics research group at TUG (1998–2004).

Professor Holzapfel has received numerous accolades, including the Erwin Schrödinger Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2011), listings among “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” (Thomson Reuters, 2014), the William Prager Medal and Warner T. Koiter Medal (2021), an honorary doctorate from École des Mines de Saint-Étienne (2024), and election to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (2025). In 2024, he was awarded a prestigious Synergy Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

His research spans experimental and computational biomechanics and mechanobiology, with a particular focus on soft biological tissues and the cardiovascular system in both health and disease. His expertise includes nonlinear continuum mechanics, constitutive modelling, growth and remodeling, imaging and image-based modeling, and the mechanics of therapeutic interventions such as angioplasty and stenting.

Professor Holzapfel is the author of the widely adopted graduate textbook Nonlinear Solid Mechanics (Wiley), has co-edited seven additional books, and contributed chapters to over 30 volumes. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is also the co-founder and co-editor of the journal Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology (Springer). His work has been funded by numerous national and international agencies, including the Austrian Science Fund, NIH, the European Commission, and industry collaborators.

Short Bio
Anna Juel is a physicist whose research explores the complex dynamics of material systems, particularly in two-phase flows and wetting phenomena. Her group focuses on microfluidics, fluid-structure interactions, and complex fluid flows, with applications ranging from chocolate moulding to airway reopening and flexible displays. Based at the Manchester Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics, her experimental work often uncovers surprising behaviour, driving new insights through combined experimentation and modelling.

Short Bio
Douglas Holmes is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Boston University. He received degrees in Chemistry from the University of New Hampshire (B.S. 2004), Polymer Science & Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (M.S. 2005, Ph.D. 2009), and was a postdoctoral researcher in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. Prior to joining Boston University, he was an Assistant Professor of Engineering Science & Mechanics at Virginia Tech. His research group specializes in the mechanics of slender structures, with a focus on understanding and controlling how objects change shape. His work has been recognized by the NSF CAREER Award, the ASEE Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russell Johnston Jr. Outstanding New Mechanics Educator Award, and the Theo de Winter Distinguished Faculty Fellowship.