Professor Kazuhiro Hono

President, National Institute of Materials, Japan

Professor Kazuhiro Hono is President of Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in materials science and engineering from Tohoku University, and his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 1988. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University, he joined the Institute for Materials Research at Tohoku University before moving to NIMS in 1995. During his 27-year research career at NIMS, he served as Director of the Research Center for Magnetic and Spintronic Materials, NIMS Fellow, and Executive Vice President, before becoming President in 2022.

Professor Hono’s research focuses on microstructure–property relationships in metallic materials, using atom probe tomography (APT) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), with particular emphasis on rare-earth permanent magnets, nanocrystalline soft magnets, FePt-based heat-assisted magnetic recording media, and spintronic materials. He was also a professor at the University of Tsukuba until 2022, supervising 34 Ph.D. students. 

Keynote talk:

Four decades with atom probe

Tracing four decades of work with the atom probe—from early APFIM to 3D atom probe tomography, laser-assisted 3DAP, and today’s commercial instruments—showing how atomic-scale chemistry has clarified clustering, segregation, and phase transformations in alloys, thin films, semiconductors, and oxides. These insights helped enable the development of Dy-free Nd–Fe–B permanent magnets.

Professor Simon Peter Ringer

Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Sydney, Australia

Professor Simon Ringer is the University of Sydney’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research Infrastructure) and leads the University's strategic planning and operations of its high-end research infrastructure initiatives. He is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the School of Aerospace, Mechanical & Mechatronic Engineering, and an academic member of the Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis.  He received his PhD from University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney in 1991.​ He has worked in Sweden, Japan, the USA and Australia, and holds patents in the design of steels and nanomaterials. He has published over 100 papers and serves as a materials engineering consultant to local and international industry. 

Professor Ringer's research is about atomic-scale materials design. He uses a materials science and engineering approach to learn how small groups of atoms in special architectures—atomic clusters—can create materials with remarkable properties. New combinations of electronic, magnetic, chemical and mechanical properties are being discovered with applications in semiconductors for photovoltaics and communications, catalysis, and new lightweight metal alloys of aluminium, magnesium, titanium alloys, and advanced structural steels. He uses insights from atomic-resolution electron microscopy and atom probe microscopy to create 'designer microstructures' with special interfaces, dopant distributions, atomic clusters and nanoscale particles.

Keynote talk:

Frontiers in Short Range Order—Measurement and Phenomenological Implications

Simon P. Ringer

School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, and Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. 

This lecture will discuss recent work at Sydney on the measurement of short-range order (SRO) and its phenomenological implications in materials science. Our scattering-based approach to determine pair distribution functions will be discussed, emphasising the significance of accurate background subtraction and elliptical distortion. The interoperability of our approach between different diffraction intensity profiles will be explained. Our non-scattering approach using atom probe tomography (APT) will be presented, and our sensitivity analysis that describes clear regimes where the measurement of species-specific SRO is viable using APT will be summarised. Finally, our reason for seeking to quantify these aspects of the solid solution will be discussed since the phenomenology of clustering-type SRO enables the tuning of mechanical and functional properties of materials. Examples will be presented across aluminium alloys, metallic glasses and high entropy alloys, some of which have translated into industrial materials engineering practice.

Robert Ulfig

Senior Atom Probe Tomography Applications & Business Developer, CAMECA, USA

Robert Ulfig is a Senior Product Manager at CAMECA Instruments, bringing expertise in scientific instrumentation. He received his Bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then earned his Master's Degree in Materials Science and Engineering where his project involved the design, construction, and testing of a plasma source ion implantation system from the same university.

He joined Imago Scientific Instruments (now CAMECA Instruments Inc.) in 2001, initially leading the development of manufacturing processes for Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) systems. Over the course of his career at CAMECA, he has held roles spanning applications, technical sales, and product leadership, translating customer and market needs into software and hardware development priorities.

Robert previously worked as a Sr. process Engineer at Advanced Micro Devices sub-micron development center in Sunnyvale CA.

Keynote talk:

Novel Applications of Atom Probe Tomography for Advanced Semiconductor Devices

Robert Ulfig, Isabelle Martin, David Reinhard, and Katherine P. Rice

CAMECA Instruments, Inc., Madison, WI, USA 53711

Recent progress in specimen preparation, APT instrumentation, and control software has enabled routine, quantitative analysis of complex 3D semiconductor devices. We present results from FinFETs, MLCCs, and 3D‑memory structures, illustrating improved reliability in compositional mapping and interface quantification, and we outline the key challenges that remain for next‑generation device characterization.

Professor Hung-Wei Yen

Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, Taiwan

Professor Hung-Wei (Homer) Yen is a Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at National Taiwan University. He received PhD under supervision of Prof. Jer-Ren Yang at National Taiwan University. He later worked under Prof. Simon Ringer at University of Sydney, exploring inner space of ultrafine-grained duplex steel by using atom probe tomography.

He joined NTU in 2014 and established the Microstructure and Defect Physics Group, focusing on developing advanced alloys with novel properties by tuning microstructure and defects. His expertise includes physical metallurgy, microstructure and defect physics, mechanical behavior, and advanced microscopy. He founded the NTU-Oxford Instruments Microscopy School to deliver microscopy education in Taiwan and acted as scientific committee in Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis. His industrial partners include China Steel Corporation, ArcelorMittal (FR), Ovako (SE), Oxford Instruments (UK), Fuseng, MIRDC and TSMC. ​

Invited talk:

Atom probe characterizations: A Journey into the Inner Space of Metals and Devices

Atom probe tomography is a state-of-art technique of microscopy and microanalysis, enabling three-dimensional atom distribution of materials and devices. It has been widely applied in the fields of materials, devices, geography and biology and the characterizations of many solids. Its unique spatial resolution and chemical detection limit make atom probe become a critical characterization technique for contemporary devices which are small, complicated and three dimensional. In this presentation, we will go into inner space of advanced metallic materials and semiconductor devices, and demonstrate how atom probe provides advances in materials science and engineering. 

Dr. Yeoh Wai Kong

Principal Scientist, Institute of Microelectronics, A*STAR, Singapore

Dr. Yeoh Wai Kong is a Principal Scientist at Institute of Microelectronic (IME) under Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). He received his PhD from University of Wollongong in 2006. Following his PhD, he held the role of Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Cambridge (2007-2009) and Australia Postdoctoral Fellow position at the Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, the University of Sydney (2009-2014).

He subsequently transitioned to industry, first serving as a Technical Manager at TSMC (2014-2020), where he led the atom probe group for semiconductor materials characterization. In this role, he advanced the application of atom probe tomography for semiconductor devices to improve cycle time and throughput, developed technical roadmaps, supervised and mentored engineers and technicians, and coordinated collaborations with research centers and universities. He later joined SSMC as a Senior Manager (2020-2024), contributing to operational improvements within a semiconductor manufacturing environment. His experience spans research-to-manufacturing translation, advanced microscopy, and technical leadership in fast-paced semiconductor settings.​

Invited talk:

Atom Probe Tomography: From Lab Curiosity to Fab Reality

Atom Probe Tomography (APT) has evolved from a specialized research technique into a critical enabler for atomic-scale characterization in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. This talk will trace the evolution of atomic-level microscopy and microanalysis, highlight key milestones in APT development, and examine its transition from laboratory innovation to integration within fabrication environments. We will showcase APT’s unique capabilities for near-atomic resolution analysis, discuss current applications in semiconductor fabs, and review emerging industry standards. Finally, we will explore both the challenges and opportunities of deploying APT for high-volume semiconductor manufacturing and its role in shaping next-generation device technologies.

Dr. Ng Feng Lin

Business Development Manager, Materials Research, Zeiss, Singapore

Dr. Feng Lin Ng is a Business Development Manager for Materials Research in APAC at ZEISS Research Microscopy Solutions. She received her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where her research focused on development of a polymeric cell culture system. Prior to joining ZEISS, she was a Research Scientist at SIMTech, A*STAR, working on polymer process development and materials–process–property study for MedTech, Aerospace, and Sustainability sectors. She currently supports the business development of Electron and X-ray Microscopy solutions for materials science research at ZEISS.

Invited talk:

Precise Endpointing in FIB-SEM for Modern High-Resolution Microscopy Sample Preparation

High-resolution microscopy places high demands on sample preparation. This includes precisely determining the crystallographic structure, crystal defects or chemical composition at the regions of interest for subsequent atom probe tomography (APT) or transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. This talk highlights the advantages of using the ZEISS Crossbeam FIB-SEM to enable precise, reliable sample preparation for modern high-resolution microscopy.

Professor Sophie Primig

Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Australia

Professor Sophie Primig is an Alcoa Distinguished Professor and Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at UNSW Sydney. She received her PhD from Montanuniversität Leoben (Austria) and subsequently held postdoctoral and senior scientist positions in the Chair of Physical Metallurgy at Montanuniversität Leoben. She joined UNSW Sydney in 2015, initially as a Lecturer.​

She was an ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award Fellow (2018-2020) and part of the UNSW Scientia Program for the top 10% early-to-mid-career researchers (2019-2022). Her research interests are in Physical Metallurgy. She has a track record in both fundamental and applied research. The goal of her research program is to advance processing routes to achieve superior properties in high performance alloys for challenging applications such as aerospace, mining and defence. Sophie is an Editor of Journal of Materials Science (JMSC), Editor-in-Chief of its new sister journal JMSC: Metallurgy, and current Chair of the TMS Phase Transformations Committee.​

Invited talk:

Microstructure design of next generation specialty alloys enabled by the Invizo 6000 atom probe

Specialty alloys are engineering materials with complex hierarchical microstructures and significant contents of alloying elements to enable high performance in demanding applications such as aerospace, marine, and oil & gas. Their metallurgical processing usually requires several steps of remelting or powder metallurgical routes.

As an example, a typical microstructure of an advanced Ni-based superalloy for engine disk applications features an austenitic matrix, interfaces (twin, grain and phase boundaries), micron-scale precipitates, complex stacked nano-scale precipitates, and solute atom segregation at interfaces. This multi-scale hierarchy provides superior high temperature mechanical properties if the desired microstructural evolution can be engineered via advancements to the processing routes and adjustments of the alloy chemistry. This is usually underpinned by advanced microscopy and over several length scales and integrated modelling workflows.

In recent years, atom probe microscopy, in particular the availability of the large field of view instruments has enabled progress in the characterisation and design of such complex hierarchical microstructures.

This talk will summarize some recent research highlights from my group using the Invizo 6000 atom probe at The University of Sydney. These include characterisation of decorated grain boundary microstructures in cast & wrought Ni-based superalloys for aerospace, correlative STEM-atom probe of decorated dislocation structures in the d-ferrite of laser powder bed fusion duplex stainless steel, and a few notes on reconstruction protocols for Invizo 6000 datasets.

Professor Daria Andreeva

Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, NUS, Singapore

Professor Daria V. Andreeva is the Deputy Director (Academic Matters) at the Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials (IFIM). Her research bridges chemistry, materials science, and nanotechnology, focusing on self-assembled and stimuli-responsive nanostructures for applications in energy, environmental sustainability, and healthcare.​

​She received her PhD in Chemistry and Physics of Polymers from the Institute of Macromolecular Compounds in Saint Petersburg. She then joined the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Germany) as a postdoctoral fellow under Professor Helmuth Möhwald, working on smart anticorrosion coatings and functional interfaces. She subsequently completed her habilitation in Physical Chemistry at the University of Bayreuth (Germany). Prior to joining IFIM, she was with the Center for Soft and Living Matter at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Ulsan, South Korea, where she collaborated with Professor Steve Granick on adaptive devices for soft robotics and sensing.​

Professor Andreeva has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including in Nature Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials. Her work has been recognized through international fellowships and awards, including support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and UNESCO. At IFIM, she leads interdisciplinary efforts to develop intelligent membrane systems and dynamic nanomaterials that emulate biological functions.

Invited talk:

High entropy composite catalysts for energy and chemical conversion

Composite materials provide a powerful strategy for integrating complementary functionalities, such as structural stability, electrical conductivity, and chemical activity, within a single platform. In catalysis, this multifunctionality is particularly attractive for optimizing active-site accessibility, charge transport, and mechanical robustness under demanding reaction conditions. High-entropy materials have recently emerged as a class of multicomponent systems with exceptional catalytic potential, arising from their complex local chemical environments and tunable electronic structures. When integrated into composite architectures, high-entropy alloys and oxides enable synergistic interactions between multiple elements, promoting enhanced catalytic activity, stability, and tolerance to harsh operating environments. This approach offers a versatile pathway for the rational design of next-generation composite catalysts for energy conversion and chemical transformation processes.