Professor Maher I. Boulos is an Emeritus Professor at the Chemical and Biotechnology Engineering Department of the University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada. He obtained his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Cairo University, Egypt, in 1963 and his Master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in 1968 and 1972. He has a long experience in the areas of fluid dynamics and heat and mass transfer under plasma conditions. He joined the University of Sherbrooke in 1973 as an assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 1976, and professor in 1981. He founded the Plasma Technology Research Center in 1985. In 1990, he founded Tekna Plasma Systems Inc., a spin-off of the University of Sherbrooke with the mandate of developing and promoting industrial applications of thermal plasma technology. He retired from his regular faculty position at the university in January 2007 to focus on running the Tekna Group which has grown to be a world leader in induction plasma technology. In 2013 he transitioned from his CEO position to Chief Technology Officer of the Tekna Group to focus on technology development, a position he held until he retired from Tekna in 2018. Over his 35-year career at the University of Sherbrooke, Professor Boulos supervised or co-supervised 57 M.Sc. and Ph.D. students, published more than 150 papers in refereed scientific journals and more than 200 in international conference proceedings, and contributed to 35 patents. He is the co-author of the textbooks Thermal Plasmas: Fundamentals and Applications (Plenum, 1994) and Thermal Spray Fundamentals: From Powder to Part (Springer, 2014 and 2021). Professor Boulos is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and has been the recipient of numerous distinctions including being inducted into The Thermal Spray (TSS) Hall of Fame by the Thermal Spray Society of ASM International in 2003 and receiving the Lionel-Boulet Prix du Québec in 2007 from the Government of Québec for his contribution to the scientific and economic development of Québec. He was also the recipient of the Plasma Chemistry Award in 2015, the highest recognition awarded by the International Plasma Chemistry Society (IPCS) for lifetime achievements in the field of Plasma Chemistry. Professor Pierre Fauchais is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Limoges, France. He received Diplomas in both Engineering: Aeronautics and Related Thermal Problems and Physics (1961), his Ph.D. in Mechanics and Aeronautics (1963), and his State Doctoral Thesis in Physics (1968) from the University of Poitiers, France. From 1961 to 1968, he was a Researcher at National Research Centre (CNRS) at ENSMA Poitiers. He joined the University of Limoges as Assistant Professor in 1968, was promoted to Professor in 1973, and Exceptional Professor in 1988. His work was devoted to thermodynamic and transport properties of thermalplasmas, arc technology, plasma diagnostics (temperatures and velocities), sensors for particles in flight and at impact, laser anemometry, fast pyrometers (50 ns), and imaging, plasma spraying, and production of nanostructured coatings. During his long career at the University of Limoges, Professor Fauchais was a prolific writer with close to 400 scientific papers published in leading journals, nine book chapters, 280 peer-reviewed international conference papers, 430 international conference papers, and eight patents. He delivered 52 plenary lectures and 82 topical lectures at international meetings. He is the co-author of the textbooks Thermal Plasmas: Fundamentals and Applications (Plenum, 1994) and Thermal Spray Fundamentals: From Powder to Part (Springer, 2014 and 2021). Professor Fauchais was inducted into The Thermal Spray (TSS) Hall of Fame by the Thermal Spray Society of ASM International in 1998 and received The Plasma Chemistry Award (PCA) in 2001, the highest recognition awarded by the International Plasma Chemistry Society (IPCS) for lifetime achievements in the field of the plasma chemistry. Professor Fauchais has received 34 best paper awards and has been a Fellow of the ASM since 2002. He directed or co-directed 92 Ph.D. and 15 State theses or equivalent (HDR). Besides regular teaching, he organized and taught numerous continuing education short courses in conjunction with international conferences and specialized courses adapted to industrial needs. Professor Emil Pfender was an Emeritus Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota. He earned his Diploma in Physics in 1953 and Dr. Ing. in Electrical Engineering in 1959, both from the Technical University of Stuttgart, Germany, where he became Chief Assistant and Lecturer at the Institute for Gaseous Electronics. In 1961 he spent a year as Visiting Scientist at the Plasma Physics Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratories atWright Patterson Air Force Base. In 1964 Professor Pfender was recruited to direct the High Temperature Laboratory (now the High Temperature and Plasma Laboratory) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He joined the Department as an Associate Professor and became Professor in 1967. Under his leadership, the HTL (HTPL) grew to become one of the world's leading centers in the field of plasma science and technology, with four faculty members and over 20 graduate students and research assistants as well as several postdocs and visiting scientists. The University of Minnesota awarded Professor Pfender a Distinguished Alumni Professorship in 1989 and the Ernst Eckert Professorship in 1994. He formally retired from the University in 2000, but as an Emeritus Professor, remained an active member of the Graduate Faculty in Mechanical Engineering, co-advising several Ph.D. students up to the time of his death. Professor Pfender was a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers since 1981 and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering since 1986. He was a recipient of many well-deserved honors from leading scientific societies, including the Alexander von Humboldt Award of the German Government (1978), the Gold Honorary F. Krizik Medal for Merit in the Field of Technical Sciences of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and an Honorary Doctorate from the Technical University of Ilmenau, Germany. In 1995 he was the first recipient of the Plasma Chemistry Award, then given by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, and subsequently awarded by the International Plasma Chemistry Society for lifetime achievement in plasma chemistry.
