Dr. Jaroslav Kováčik is senior researcher at Institute of Materials & Machine Mechanics, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava (Slovakia). His work is devoted to metal matrix composites, focused on physical and mechanical properties of copper – graphite materials. He deals also with powder metallurgical preparation of Ti and Ti composites and using of concentrated solar power for sintering of them and also for solar nitridation of Ti. He is involved in investigation of metallic foams – measurement and modelling of mechanical and physical properties as well.

Zoran Lulić, born in 1966, graduated in 1991 from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb, where he has been employed since 1992 at the Department of IC Engines and Transportation Systems. He received his master’s degree in 1996 and defended his doctoral dissertation in 2000. Currently, he is a full professor and serves as head of the Laboratory for IC Engines and Motor Vehicles and head of the Department of IC Engines and Transportation Systems at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb. Prof. Lulić leads a research group in the field of IC engines and motor vehicles which comprises 12 members.

His areas of interest are alternative fuels with an emphasis on biodiesel, internal combustion engine design, energy efficiency and emissions of IC engines for road and non-road motor vehicles and their interaction with the environment, design of motor vehicles and standardization of IC engines and motor vehicles.

He is an author or co-author of several scripts and several chapters in books. In his research career, he has published more than 30 papers in prestigious international scientific journals and more than 50 conference papers. He has completed the supervision of 85 BSc theses, 70 MSc theses and 6 PhD theses. Nowadays, he mentors 2 PhD candidates.

He has led several research projects and more than 50 industry projects where he has developed a strong track record of applied research with companies in Croatia like PSP Okoli, ZET Zagreb, RASCO, Pliva, Vipnet, AZ Crobus, and abroad like AVL and PROSTEP.

He is also the President of the Croatian Society for IC Engines and Vehicles, a member of the Presidency of the Croatian Society for Fuels and Lubricants and a member of the Croatian Scientific Society for Transport.

In the last 15 years, he has dedicated great efforts to developing the Laboratory for IC Engines and Vehicles, which has been renovated and equipped under his leadership. Currently, he leads the project “National Reference Laboratory for Emissions from Internal Combustion Engines for Non-Road Mobile Machinery” (project code KK.6.2. 1.01.0001) financed from EU structural funds.