CSI2026

Keynote Speakers

Biography: Dragos Axinte is Professor of Manufacturing Engineering at University of Nottingham, UK. Graduated at University of Galati, Romania, after working in industrial research for eight years, he held two personal NATO Research Fellowships in Italy and Denmark and then moved to UK to carry out research with University of Birmingham and later with University of Nottingham. He was appointed Lecturer in Manufacturing Engineering (2005) and successively promoted to Associate Professor (2007), Reader (2010) and Professor (2011). Since 2009 Dragos is Director of The Rolls-Royce UTC in Manufacturing and On-Wing Technology at University of Nottingham. He is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture as well of the Journal of Materials Processing Technology and Fellow of International Academy of Production Engineering. Dragos has over 200 journal papers and over 40 granted international patents filed mainly with Rolls-Royce. Dragos research interest is in the following main areas: Advanced machining technologies with emphasis on in-depth analysis of workpiece surface integrity; innovative tooling and fixturing systems; and development of portable machine tools and specialist robotics for in-situ repair and maintenance of high-value industrial assets.

Biography: Dr. Naruhiro Irino is an Executive Officer and Director of the Advanced Technology Research Center at DMG MORI Co., Ltd., where he leads corporate R&D strategy and technology roadmaps for next-generation machine tools. His responsibilities cover advanced manufacturing technologies including high-performance spindles, structural dynamics, machine tool accuracy, sensing, and intelligent control, with a strong focus on integrating digital and data-driven technologies into industrial products. Dr. Irino received his Doctor of Engineering degree in Precision Engineering from Chuo University, Japan. Since joining DMG MORI, he has held a series of leadership positions in advanced technology development, contributing to innovations in machine tool design, vibration analysis, thermal deformation compensation, and on-machine measurement systems. He has played a key role in bridging fundamental research and industrial application, enabling the practical deployment of advanced manufacturing technologies.He is an Associate Member of CIRP and has actively contributed to the international manufacturing research community through CIRP General Assemblies, CIRP Annals publications, and international conferences. His research interests include intelligent machine tools, sensor-based monitoring, digital twins, and sustainable manufacturing systems. Through both academic collaboration and industrial implementation, Dr. Irino continues to advance the state of the art in machine tool technology.

Biography: Brigid Mullany is both a professor in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, and the Associate Dean for Research for the William States Lee College of Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She received her BE and PhD in mechanical engineering from the University College Dublin in Ireland. After graduation, she held two-year EU Marie Curie postdoctoral research position at Carl Zeiss in Germany. In 2004 she joined the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where she is currently working in the areas of additive manufacturing (metal and ceramic), surface finishing, robust multi-class surface discrimination machine learning frameworks. Mullany received in the SME Kuo K. Wang Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award in 2007, and the NSF CAREER Award in 2008. She is the Past President for SME’s North American Manufacturing Research Institute (NAMRI), a fellow of the International Academy of Production Engineering (CIRP), past Chair of CIRP’s Scientific Technical Committee on Surfaces (STC-S), and a current member of CIRP Council. From January 2017 to November 2019 she was a program director in the Advanced Manufacturing program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Alexandria, VA.

Biography: Mr. Osawa has been driving the global expansion of OSG Corporation for over 20 years and currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). With a foundation built on a global perspective, he has played a central role in strengthening the company’s operations and promoting sustainable growth. In 2004, he was assigned to the United Kingdom, where he focused on enhancing local operations. He successfully established a solid business foundation and built an efficient operational structure, significantly contributing to the growth of OSG’s European business. Later, as President of the European division, he spearheaded an aggressive M&A strategy across the region, expanding OSG’s network on an unprecedented scale and dramatically increasing its presence in Europe. After returning to Japan as an executive in 2014, Mr. Osawa leveraged his overseas experience and insights to implement fundamental reforms in the domestic sales organization. By introducing strategies that broke away from conventional frameworks and improving organizational agility, he strengthened competitiveness and expanded market share in Japan. His leadership has driven growth not only in overseas operations but also in domestic business, contributing greatly to OSG’s overall sustainable development. In addition, Mr. Osawa serves as Chairman of the Osawa Science and Technology Foundation, which was established in 1991. Over the past 35 years, the foundation has awarded a total of 1,253 million yen in grants to 868 researchers, supporting the advancement of science and technology.

Biography: Prof. Volker Schulze studied Mechanical Engineering at University of Karlsruhe with majors in materials science and engineering mechanics. He did his PhD in materials science in the field of shot peening and fatigue. After that he became group leader of the group Manufacturing and Component Behaviour in Materials Science and Engineering and did a lot of work in relations of manufacturing processes and the resulting surface states, mainly related to heat treatment and mechanical surface treatments. This lead to a habilitation in 2004 on Surface Layer States after Mechanical Surface treatments. Since 2010 he is director of the Institute of Production Science (wbk) as well as Institute of Applied Materials at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and broadened his applications to machining and additive manufacturing. He is much engaged in CIRP as Fellow and Vice-Chair of the STC Cutting and provided keynotes at the STC Surfaces on Machine Hammer Peening and Surface Conditioning in Cutting Processes.

Biography: Albert Shih is Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. He received PhD from Purdue University and was a manufacturing engineer at Cummins and an Associate Professor at NC State University before joining the University of Michigan in 2003. He served in the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office in 2017 and was the President of NAMRI SME from 2019-2020. Dr. Shih’s research is in manufacturing. He is a pioneer of biomedical manufacturing – the application of manufacturing technologies (processes, systems, and quality control) to advance the safety, efficacy, quality, cost, and speed of healthcare service and biomedical research. He is the recipient of the Fulbright Scholar; ASME Milton Shaw Manufacturing Research Medal, Blackall Machine Tool & Gage Award, and William Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award; and SME Taylor Research Medal and Education Award. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering. Professor Shih is a Fellow of ASME, SME, and CIRP.