Hitoshi Tsunashima completed his master course in aeronautical engineering at the University of Osaka Prefecture in 1983. He joined the Kobe Steel Ltd. in 1983, where he carried out his research and development of Automated People Mover. He obtained his Doctoral degree from The University of Tokyo in 1995. He joined Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Industrial Technology, Nihon University in 1996 and currently he is a professor and a deputy director of the Centre for Railway Research. His main research expertise includes modeling and simulation of railway vehicles, applications of advanced control for railway vehicle, condition monitoring of railway systems, multi-body dynamics, human factors and ergonomics. Akira Matsumoto graduated from Yokohama National University with a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1972. He was working in a governmental research institute of Ministry of Transport from 1972, and then National Traffic Safety & Environment Laboratory (NTSEL) to 2007. In these laboratories, he was engaged in the research and development of new urban transportation systems, railway safety technologies and these assessments, high curving performance railway bogies and vehicles, wheel/rail interface technologies, especially countermeasures of rail corrugation. In addition, he was involved in the accident investigations of serious railway accidents of the expert Judgments for Police examination on "flange-climb derailment in Tokyo Subway in 2000", "over-turn derailment on Fukuchiyama line of West JR in 2005", and etc. He was a member of Aircraft & Railway Accidents Investigation Commission (ARAIC), and then Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) as the chair of railway subcommittee from 2007 to 2016. He obtained his Doctoral degree from The University of Tokyo in 2014. He was a professor of College of Industrial Technology, Nihon University from 2017 to 2019. He is the representative director of Japanese Society of Contact Mechanics of Railways (JSCMR). Yohei Michitsuji received his Ph.D. from the Department of Industrial Mechanical Engineering, the University of Tokyo in 2004. He joined the Department of Mechanical System Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology as a lecturer in 2004. He joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ibaraki University as an Associate Professor in 2009 and is currently a Professor. His main research expertise includes modelling and simulation of railway vehicles, condition monitoring of railway systems, multi-body dynamics, wheel/rail wear and steering bogie design. Peter Hubbard completed a MEng undergraduate course in Systems Engineering at Loughborough University, followed by a PhD at Loughborough sponsored by BAE Systems researching fault management and reconfigurable control systems in avionics. After a short spell in industry working for the Systems Engineering Innovation Centre with BAE Systems, he joined the School of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering at Loughborough University and researched rail vehicle condition maintenance and mechatronic vehicle guidance. He is now the head of the Control Systems Research group and has research expertise in rail vehicle dynamics, applied mechatronics and applications of MPC in robotics and vehicles. Christopher Ward completed his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2003 and PhD in automotive powertrain control in 2009, both from the University of Liverpool, UK. He moved to Control System Group at Loughborough University, UK, in 2009 as a post-doctoral research associate, becoming a lecturer in 2012 and a senior lecturer in 2019. At Loughborough University his research work focused on rail vehicle condition monitoring and mechatronic guidance concepts. In 2023 he moved to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch as an Inspector of Rail Accidents. In addition to his primary role of investigating accident he manages the branches vehicle dynamics work. Chris is a chartered engineer, a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
