Prof Michael Schütze
Dr Michael Auinger
Martin Wunde
Dr Xavier Vanden Eynde
European Oxide Scale Conference 2026
European Oxide Scale Conference 2026
Michael is Associate Professor at the University of Warwick, specializing in the fields of Computational Thermochemistry, Transport Phenomena and Corrosion. He obtained his doctorate in Chemical Engineering in 2009 from the Johannes Kepler University in Austria and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Eisenforschung GmbH in Germany. He obtained the “venia docendi” from TU Wien in Inorganic Materials Science in 2018 and, unrelated to that, another tenure track completion from the University of Warwick in 2020 in Materials Modelling and Computation. His works at the University of Warwick focus on computational methods to improve steel and metals manufacture whilst his Turing Fellowship (2012-2023) brought him closer to the use of AI in metals manufacturing and corrosion. He has published more than 70 articles and has held more than 30 invited talks all over the world. His works were recognised by the TP Hoar Award from the British Institute of Corrosion and the EOS Prize of the European Optical Society.
Michael is part of the OXI Conference organising technical Committee and will deliver its keynote on Selective Oxidation by Experiment and Simulation.
Martin Wunde is the Head of the Surface Technology Department at the VDEh-Betriebsforschungsinstitut GmbH (BFI). He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Applied Materials Science from the Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola (THGA) in Bochum and earned his Master of Science in Metallurgy and Metal Forming from the University of Duisburg-Essen in September 2018. Since 2012, Martin has been a dedicated researcher at BFI, focusing his expertise on scale formation on steels, coating systems to influence scale properties, and hydromechanical descaling. In October 2018, he transitioned into his current leadership role, where he drives innovative research and technological advancements in industrial surface processing.
Martin is part of the OXI Conference organising technical Committee and will deliver its keynote on High pressure water descaling: mechanisms, process parameters, and the impact off future CO2-free reheating processes
Xavier is the Chief Scientific Officer of the Centre de Recherches Metallurgiques (CRM Group) in Belgium since 2022 and has been within the CRM group since 2000, after graduating from a PhD at the University Catholique de Louvain in Materials Sciences in 1999. He is also the manager of the analytical and characterisation laboratory in Liege dealing with metallography, chemistry, mechanical testing and surface characterisation methods, its PhD background and expertise. He is a member of the e-WallonHY steering committee for developing Hydrogen technologies and ecosystems in Wallonia, an active member at the Belgian Hydrogen Council and technical auditor for BELAC and ISO 17025 accreditation.
Xavier will deliver his keynote on Oxide scale characterisation and related challenges
