Invited Speakers
Dr. Avala Lavakumar
Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering Indian institute of Technology Ropar lava@iitrpr.ac.in
Dr. Avala Lavakumar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, India. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Kyoto University as a recipient of the prestigious MEXT Fellowship. Following this, he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Kyushu University, where he specialized in in-situ and ex-situ electron microscopy, along with synchrotron-based investigations of steels, titanium alloys, and high-entropy alloys. His research centers on in-situ deformation studies, phase transformation–induced plasticity (TRIP/TWIP), dislocation behavior, high- and medium-entropy alloys, steels, titanium alloys, and sustainable materials processing.
Dr. Lavakumar has received several recognitions, including the Kazato Research Foundation Grant (2023) and the Early Career Scientist Award from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He has presented his research at major international conferences across Japan, the USA, Denmark, and India, and actively collaborates with leading researchers worldwide.
He has authored multiple papers in leading international journals and is the author of the book Concepts in Physical Metallurgy. He also serves as a Divisional Editor for ASM Handbook: Volume 27 – Renewable Materials (expected 2027) and as an Executive Guest Editor for a special issue of the Journal of Alloys and Compounds. In addition, he is an Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports.
Unusual behaviour of Martensite: From Hard Phase to Plasticity Carrier
Martensite in steels exhibits complex mechanical responses that extend beyond conventional strengthening paradigms. This talk addresses three unconventional aspects spanning thermal and deformation-induced martensite. In thermally formed martensitic steels, solute segregation is shown to significantly influence yield strength under ultra-low strain rate conditions (~ 10^(-6) s^(-1)), highlighting rate-sensitive strengthening mechanisms. In addition, in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction shows that fully martensitic steels can sustain near steady-state plastic flow beyond necking, with signatures of room-temperature dynamic recovery. Extending this perspective, deformation-induced martensite in TRIP-assisted steels is not merely a hard phase but an active carrier of plasticity: at early stages, it accommodates significant deformation through transformation-assisted mechanisms, delaying localization. With increasing strain, subsequent hardening promotes strain redistribution toward ferrite. These results collectively highlight the intrinsic deformability of martensite and its evolving role in governing strength, ductility, and damage evolution in steels.
Keywords: Thermal martensite, Transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP), Deformation-induced martensite, In-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction, Post-necking behavior
Hyun-Suk Kim (Professor/Ph.D.)
Department of Energy and Materials Engineering, Dongguk University
Kim, Jae Hyun (PH.D, Principal Researcher)
Principal Researcher, Division of Energy & Environmental Technology, Professor, Energy Science and Engineering
Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology
(DGIST) Room 605, 6th Floor, R3 Building, 333 Techno jungangdae-ro, Hyeonpung-eup, Dalseong-gun,
Daegu, 42988, Korea
e-mail: jaehyun@dgist.ac.kr
Keynote speech title goes here
Phạm Hoàng Anh
Faculty of Materials for Energy, Shimane University
Dr. Anh Hoang Pham is an Associate Professor at Shimane University, Japan. He is affiliated with the Faculty of Materials for Energy and the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology.
Dr. Pham's research focuses on materials science and metallurgy, particularly the formation and evolution of microstructures in metallic materials during various manufacturing and heat-treatment processes. His work emphasizes advanced characterization techniques, including electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), to analyze crystallography, grain boundaries, and phase transformations.
His expertise spans areas such as:
• Microstructure evolution in steels and alloys
• Martensitic transformation and crystallography
• Grain boundary characterization
• Mechanical behavior (plasticity) of metallic materials
Dr. Pham has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications (40+), contributing to the understanding of structure–property relationships in advanced engineering materials, with particular relevance to steel design and processing technologies.
Origin of Recrystallization in Single-Crystal Ni-Based Superalloys under Low Pre-Strain
Prof. Dr. Seongchan Kim
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea
Prof. Seongchan Kim received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Sungkyunkwan University in 2023. Dr. Kim worked as a visiting scholar at Pennsylvania State University from 2022 to 2024 and at University of Pennsylvania from 2024 to 2025. He then joined the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Kyungpook National University in 2025, where he is currently an Assistant Professor. His research includes (1) neuromorphic devices and artificial synaptic systems, (2) semiconductor-based electronic and optoelectronic devices, and (3) ion-driven interfacial phenomena in advanced materials systems.
Bio-Inspired Electronics Enabling AI Signal-Processing
Prof. Dr. Soo Yeol Lee
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University
Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
Chungnam National University,
99 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34134,
Republic of Korea
Tel: +82-42-821-6637
E-mail: sylee2012@cnu.ac.kr
Prof. Soo Yeol Lee received his B.S. and M.S. degree from Korea University and Seoul National University in 2003 and 2005, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2009. Dr. Lee worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre of the Chalk River Laboratories from 2010 to 2012, after which he joined to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the Chungnam National University(CNU), Korea in 2012. Now he is a Professor of the CNU. His research includes (1) deformation, damage, and failure analysis of various structural materials and (2) the application of neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction techniques in materials research.
Prof. NANKO Makoto
High Temperature Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, JAPAN
Prof. Makoto Nanko is a Professor at Nagaoka University of Technology, specializing in advanced metallic materials and their processing for structural applications. His research focuses on lightweight alloys, particularly magnesium-based systems, with an emphasis on improving their mechanical performance, corrosion resistance, and manufacturability.
His work integrates fundamental materials science with practical engineering approaches, aiming to promote the application of lightweight structural materials in transportation and energy-related fields. Prof. Nanko has been actively involved in international collaborations and has contributed to the advancement of environmentally sustainable materials through innovative alloy design and processing technologies.
Prof. Takuya Satoh
Department of Physics, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan Quantum Research Center for Chirality, Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan asatoh@phys.titech.ac.jp
Prof. Takuya Satoh is affiliated with the Department of Physics, Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, and the Quantum Research Center for Chirality, Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki, Japan (asatoh@phys.titech.ac.jp). His research focuses on light–matter interaction in solids, chiral phonons, phonon angular momentum, Raman optical activity, circularly polarized Raman spectroscopy, and symmetry-dependent phenomena across materials with distinct crystal symmetries.
Chirality and Angular Momentum of Phonons Probed by Circularly Polarized Raman Spectroscopy
Keywords: chiral phonons, phonon angular momentum, Raman optical activity, circular polarization, multipolar symmetry
Phonons with angular momentum have recently attracted significant attention due to their fundamental role in light-matter interaction and symmetry-dependent phenomena in solids. In this study, we investigate the relationship between chirality and phonon angular momentum using circularly polarized Raman spectroscopy in a range of material systems with distinct symmetry properties.
In the chiral crystal α-HgS, we observe phonon modes exhibiting well-defined pseudo-angular momentum, consistent with symmetry-imposed selection rules for circularly polarized light. The results demonstrate the realization of chiral phonons that break improper rotational symmetry and carry angular momentum [1].
In contrast, centrosymmetric NiTiO3 provides a platform where phonon angular momentum exists without structural chirality. We detect Raman optical activity as a circular intensity difference between opposite helicities, indicating the presence of angular-momentum-carrying phonons in an achiral system. This highlights that phonon angular momentum does not necessarily imply chirality [2].
Furthermore, in pyrite FeS2, we extend this framework to systems hosting higher-order multipolar symmetry. We observe facet-dependent sign reversals in circularly polarized Raman signals, which are consistent with the presence of electric toroidal octupolar symmetry. These results reveal that phonon angular momentum can couple to hidden multipolar degrees of freedom beyond conventional dipolar or ferroaxial descriptions [3].
Together, these results establish a unified experimental framework for probing phonon angular momentum and its connection to chirality across different symmetry classes. Circularly polarized Raman spectroscopy emerges as a powerful tool to distinguish between chiral and nonchiral phonons carrying angular momentum and to uncover symmetry-protected phononic responses in solids.
[1] K. Ishito, H. Mao, Y. Kousaka, Y. Togawa, S. Iwasaki, T. Zhang, S. Murakami, J. Kishine,
and T. Satoh, Nature Phys. 19, 35 (2023).
[2] G. Kusuno, T. Hayashida, T. Nagai, H. Watanabe, R. Oiwa, T. Kimura, and T. Satoh, Phys.
Rev. Lett. to be published (2026).
[3] Y. Suganuma, G. Kusuno, H. Watanabe, R. Oiwa, H. Mori, R. Arita, and T. Satoh,
arXiv:2603.21756 (2026).