Jan-Rickmer Schlegel graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of Braunschweig in 2011 and received a Dr.-Ing. degree at the Institute of Dynamics and Oscillations in 2015 after working for three years as a doctoral student at VOLKSWAGEN GROUP. For his thesis, he investigated the influence of part tolerances and mounting processes on the shock absorber valves’ production scatter. During his research, the fluid structure interaction as coupling of structural and fluidic dynamics was implemented for shock absorber valves. Since 2015, he has been responsible for simulations for the shock absorber development at Volkswagen. Additionally, he is the technical project manager for semi-active shock absorbers.

Chris Davis has over 33 years of work experience: 6 in aerospace (Hymatic Eng), 2 in rapid transit (Permaquip), 25 in automotive (sunvisor / steering wheel / suspension), and 20 in auto suspensions. He led an MBO and what is now DSC from Trelleborg, AB till the end of 2007. He moved to a new state of the art facility by the Ricoh stadium in Coventry in 2014. In 2016, Dunlop partnered with a very large supplier, a Chinese company, to better the opportunities for the Dunlop brand. Mr. Davis is a keen model maker. Currently, he builds 1/8 scale model cars which he likes to modify and add details to. He holds a degree in engineering.

Taylan Keleş graduated in mechatronics engineering and received a M.Sc. in control engineering in 2010 and 2013, respectively. He started (and pursued) his carrier at Ford OTOSAN as chassis control engineer in 2013 focusing on automatic lift axle based on embedded truck weight calculation. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in control engineering.

He is now a lead engineer in chassis control systems, focusing on model-based development of electronically controlled air suspension, and steering control. He also manages R&D projects on semi-active suspension MPC and life-cycle management improvement automated analysis of traceability.

Jason Zheng Jiang received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Ph.D. degree in Control Theory from the Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge. Dr Jiang joined the Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Bristol in 2013. He serves as the academic lead of the Vibration Suppression Research Unit, Dynamics and Control Group, and also an EPSRC Research Fellow on ‘Multidomain Vibration-Absorber Design’. Dr Jiang has long-standing research collaborations with industrial stakeholders from Automotive, Wind Energy, Rail and Civil sectors.

Ronnie Dessort studied mechanical engineering, focusing on automatic control and automotive systems. By finishing his master’s thesis in the field of semi-active damper control, he received his diploma in 2012. He then started working as a simulation consultant for hardware-in-the-loop applications regarding validation of electronic stability control systems for two years. For the last three years, Ronnie has been working as a simulation consultant for vehicle dynamics on short-/mid-term inhouse projects as well as product developer of the simulation framework, DYNA4.

Giordano Greco graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pisa (Italy) in 2003 and received his Ph.D. degree in Vehicle Dynamics at the University of Pisa in 2007. He started working in 2006 at Magneti Marelli Shock Absorbers in Turin, firstly responsible for vehicle control strategies and after that he was the team leader of the whole software development and for active and semi-active suspension systems. Since 2014, he has been working in the same company as a project manager for the innovation department, overseeing the technical management of innovation projects regarding advanced shock absorbers, with a particular focus on performance, active safety, and CO2 emissions reduction.

Mr. Dekel is a R&D engineer at Softwheel based in Tel Aviv, Israel. His primary focuses are conceptualising, designing, overseeing manufacturing, and the testing of suspension systems from concept to working prototypes and products. He specialises in mechanisms and designing mobile systems, design and development (including testing and integration of various pneumatics), and mechanical and electronic systems for various industries. He previously worked in Gevasol, Sol T1 Project, and Green Ride. He holds a B.Sc. (graduated Cum Laude) in mechanical engineering from the University of Ben Gurion.

Paolo Martino has been the subject matter expert for the chassis, and materials & lightweighting areas at IHS Markit since September 2016. He has solid experience advising OEM and supplier clients; especially with regards to OEM lightweighting and materials strategies, through his work at Frost and Sullivan, where he worked from 2010 until mid-2016. Before then, he was a consultant in lean management at a management consultancy in Italy. Paolo holds a Master of Science in economics and management of innovation & technology and a Bachelor in Business Administration, both from Bocconi University in Milan.

Alexander Alonso is a Vehicle Dynamics Engineer for KYB at their Europe Headquarters. He has been working for them since 2012. In 2008 he earned a BEng Electronics Engineering degree and in 2012, he earned a MEng Industrial Engineering degree. One year before leaving university, he started training in racing engineering for “Astra Racing Team”. Afterwards, he joined an Italian team following 3 years as a data logging analyst, winning the “Spanish Endurance Championship” in 2012. At the same time, he worked for 3 years performing standard suspension shock absorber tuning activities all around the world for the most prestigious motor vehicle manufacturers. He started developing KYB semi-active suspension system in 2014. Nowadays, he is the “IDC Variable damping calibration responsible” and he works in close contact with vehicle manufacturers, improving and adapting the control strategy to customer requirements.