Lecturers

Terry Dicken Chairman ELGI

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Erik Willett is the President of Functional Products Inc., a US-based lubricant and grease additive company focusing on polymer-based technology. Erik has received the NLGI Author Award for Development, Excellence in Education Award, and the NLGI Fellows Award. His work presented over the last few years has focused on the use of polymers to make re-refined base oils more useful to the grease industry. 

PhD degree in Chemical Engineering and Diploma in Chemical 
Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in 
Greece. Technical director at ELDON’S S.A., a lubricants 
manufacturer in Greece. Adjunct Professor at UNIWA and ASPETE 
(Greece) teaching Fuels & Lubricants Technology, Applied 
Thermodynamics, Modern Vehicle Technology, Engineering 
Statistics and Measurements.Research Associate in the Laboratory 
of Fuels and Lubricants Technology in the National Technical 
University of Athens, Greece. Instructor in the NLGI HO Training 
Course

Dr. Eugenia obtained a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry, a Master's degree in Chemistry, and subsequently a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from LMU Munich. Since September 2023, she is working as a product manager at Setral Chemie GmbH in Seeshaupt, where she is responsible for the technical and strategic development of high-performance lubricants and serve as an liaison between R&D, marketing, and sales.

Dr Gareth Fish is a Senior Technical Fellow at Lubrizol, Wickliffe, Ohio. He holds a BSc(Hons) in Chemistry and a PhD in Tribology from Imperial College, London. He has more than 36 years grease industry experience. He is an internationally recognized, multiple (x21) award-winning author of 99 technical papers including 19 ELGI papers. He has taught more than 100 public classes on tribology and lubricating greases. A member of the NLGI Board of Directors and chair of the NLGI Basic Grease Course. He was 2020 recipient of the NLGI Award for Achievement. He is an NLGI Certified Lubricating Grease Specialist (CLGS), a Chartered Scientist, STLE Fellow and Certified Lubrication Specialist (CLS). He is active within ASTM and SAE. Previously worked at UK Ministry of Defence and GKN Automotive in UK and USA. 

Christoph Wincierz

Dr. George Diloyan is a physicist and mechanical engineer with specialization in electrochemistry and more than a decade of experience in nanotechnology, tribology, and advanced lubrication systems. His expertise spans solid lubricant design (WS₂, MoS₂, hBN), nano-dispersion engineering, and sustainable grease and oil formulations. Beyond technical innovation, Dr. Diloyan has .extensive experience in intellectual property strategy, patent analysis, and technology commercialization, ensuring strong IP foundations for emerging materials technologies. As the founder and CEO behind multiple ventures, he bridges deep scientific research with practical industrial deployment, redefining the future of high-performance lubrication and surface engineering.

​Dr. Pondicherry holds a degree in engineering in Metallurgy and Materials Science from India, Masters in Nanotechnology from Germany, and a Doctorate in Tribology from Austria. Dr. Pondicherry has been working extensively in the field of Tribology for the past 16 plus years, and is associated with the Rheometry department at Anton Paar for the past 13 years. He has been actively involved in the scientific community, including STLE. In addition to authoring scientific publications, he has also authored book chapters and numerous white papers showcasing innovative test and analysis methodologies.

Rhiannon Smith, BSc, is a Principal Consultant, having joined wca in 2009. Rhiannon has extensive experience of EU REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) and CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging). Rhiannon has expertise with both the technical and administrative requirements for REACH and has worked on a large number of successful REACH registrations covering a wide range of different substance types, including organics, metals, salts, and complex UVCBs (substances of unknown, variable or complex composition or of biological origin). Rhiannon has worked with the ERGTC (European REACH Grease Thickeners Consortium) since 2010.

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Roland Chavasse - ILiA

Ulf Gardenier is 56 years old and lives with his wife in Düsseldorf,  Germany. In the 1990s he studied physics and business administration at the 
University of Aachen, completing his two courses with diploma  theses on laser-optics and maintenance processes on freight-cars. 
Meanwhile, Ulf looks back on a 25-year journey in the consultancy area. He started his career at SIEMENS as an SAP consultant in the  growing tide of business process-driven projects of large industrial 
companies motivated by the year 2000. Later, as a key account  manager, he was responsible for his company's business with several global customers. 
In early 2022, Ulf decided to completely change his previous career  path and joined KAJO. The challenge of entering the North American  market with new innovative products was the main motivation for  this move. He now heads KAJO North America Inc. located in  Charlotte as managing director.

Sachin Kumbhar holds the Ph.D. in Chemistry and has 12 years of experience in lubricant additives R&D and Sales. 

He heads the product development at Stribeck 

Addichem India.

Boris Zhmud 

Hasif Rahim is an R&D Engineer at Oleon Port Klang,Malaysia, in the field of lubricant development. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Monash University in 2021. His research focuses on the application of ester base oils in the formulation of environmentally acceptable lubricating greases (EALs). Yen Yee Chong studied Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nottingham. She continued there as a research associate and PhD candidate, completing her doctorate in 2020. Her research focused on improving biodiesel derived from the pyrolysis of palm biomass. After completing her PhD, she joined Oleon Port Klang in 2020. She is currently the R&D Team Lead in the lubricants team, where she has been involved in various projects related to lubricant formulation and development. 

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Lubricant s.r.o.

Dr. Matthew Kriech is the Chief Executive Officer of Biosynthetic Technologies and Innoleo which offers a broad array of high performing and sustainable oleochemical solutions.  Matt has spent the last 15 years in the Petrochemical and Oleochemical industry and prior to that was a “Rocket Scientist” for various programs including NASA.  In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family outdoors, flying as a commercial pilot and flight instructor, and supporting local and national charities for Type 1 Diabetes Research.