Middle East Mines & Mineral Industries Development Holding Company (MIDHCO)

SG Geotechnika a.s.

Graduated in 1989 in economic geology in Faculty of Science of Charles University in Prague. After disturbed beginning of 90th of 20th century he started in 1996 to work in SG Geotechnika a.s, the greatest geotechnical company in the Czech Republic. Main projects where he participated were modernisation of the backbone network of railways in the Czech Republic, survey of reasons caused destruction of the Jablunkov tunnel and utilisation of alternative materials in earthworks, mainly colliery spoil, coal combustion products and metallurgical slags, including analysis of swelling of steel slag and steelwork waste resulted in pavement deformations of the D47 motorway. European projects included geotechnical consulting during construction of the A1 motorway in Poland, consulting in modernisation of railways in Slovakia and utilisation of coal combustion products in Serbia and Ukraine. He prepared Czech specifications on alternative materials application in earthworks and utilisation of lightweighted materials in embankments. He also revised railway specifications on earthworks and track subgrade. Since 2012 he has been lecturing at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of VŠB Technical University in Ostrava, where he was habilitated in 2013 by an associate professor.

He prepared the following monographs:

• Secondary materials in highway engineering. VŠB Technical University Ostrava, 2012, ISBN 978-80-248-2890-9 (in Czech)

• Soil treatment. Czech Road Society, 2020, ISBN 978-80-02-02904-5 (in Czech)

• Alternative materials in earthworks. Czech Road Society, 2025, ISBN 978-80-02-03081-2 (in Czech)

SusMaX Inc.

Dr. Mo Balapour is the CEO and founder of SusMaX Inc. Mo worked at Oak Ridge National Lab shortly before founding SusMaX. He founded SusMaX In 2021 after graduating with his MS and PhD from Drexel University in Civil Engineering-Materials. SusMaX is working on building a first-of-a-kind facility in Pennsylvania, to recycle off-spec waste coal ash into lightweight aggregate for construction applications. SusMaX is addressing two critical challenges: (1) the underutilization of off-spec coal ash and (2) the growing market demand for locally sourced sustainable construction lightweight aggregate. Some highlights of Dr. Balapour’s achievements with SusMaX include: (1) raised $1.825 MM to develop the scale-up process for LWA manufacturing from hard-to-recycle coal ash, (2) scaled the process from a few kilograms at TRL 3 to half a 20 tons at TRL 7 one step behind commercial production, (3) engaged six ready-mix concrete suppliers as the customers to test LWA in concrete with encouraging results, (4) negotiated a framework for partnership with a powerplant for access to feedstock. SusMaX’s investors include Heritage Group Ventures, Michigan Climate Venture, and Drexel Innovation Fund.

Warsaw University of Technology

Expert in Processing and Utilisation of Coal Combustion Products Tomasz Szczygielski is a recognized expert in the processing and utilization of coal combustion products, with a distinguished career spanning research, innovation, and industry leadership. As the Founder and President of the Polish Union of Coal Combustion Products (1993-2013) and Vice-President of the European Association ECOBA (2002-2006), he has played a key role in advancing sustainable solutions for coal ash management. He is actively involved in standardization efforts, contributing to the Technical Committee for Concrete at the Polish Committee for Standardisation and CEN Working Groups for Fly Ash in Concrete. His research and publications include over 50 papers, 20 edited books, and co- authorship of several reports for the utility and industrial power sectors on waste management. His innovative contributions extend to three patents and pioneering concepts, such as Zero Waste Coal Power, Secondary First, and the Tefra Project. His work extensively covers circular economy applications in coal ash utilization. An experienced conference organizer, he has led over 200 conferences, workshops, and training courses on environmental protection. He also founded and organized the inaugural EuroCoalAshConference in 2008 (Warsaw), reinforcing his commitment to knowledge exchange in the field. His expertise focuses on coal ash utilization as a strategy towards climate neutrality and its classification within the REACH system as chemical substances, driving sustainable advancements in the industry.

National Institute of Clean-and-Low Carbon Energy

Dr. Jow had worked for Union Carbide and Dow Chemical for 23 years in US after graduation from Chemical Engineering, Michigan State University. He has been employed by National Institute of Clean-and-low-carbon Energy located in Beijing after retirement from Dow Chemical since 2011. His current research area is technology and standard development of coal-based solid waste resource utilization. He also serves as the chief expert of China Coal Ash Professional Committee of the China Circular Economy Association and as a board member of the Solid Waste Branch of the Chinese Ceramic Society.

School of Science and Engineering University of Dundee

Michael J. McCarthy is a Reader in Civil Engineering in the School of Science and Engineering at the University of Dundee, Scotland, UK.  He has carried out research on a range of topics in the cement and concrete materials, and construction technology areas for the past 30 years.  Much of this has addressed practical issues and been in collaboration with industry.  His work on fly ash in concrete has included the use of material, (i) covering a range of properties to EN 450-1, (ii) following wet storage in stockpiles and lagoons, including processing, (iii) in ternary blends for optimum performance, (iv) at high volumes in cement and (v) from modern power stations, e.g. using co-combustion or supercritical technology.  He has also investigated fly ash in cementitious grouts and in soil stabilisation.  He is a Fellow of the Institute of Concrete Technology (UK), Member of the Senior Review Board of Magazine of Concrete Research and Author of more than 100 publications. 

German Committee for Structural Concrete (DAfStb)

David Ov graduated with a master’s degree in civil engineering at the Ruhr University Bochum. From 2018 to 2024, he then worked as a research assistant and PhD student at the Institute for Building Materials (Ruhr University Bochum). Since September 2024, he has been employed as a project manager at the German Committee for Structural Concrete (DAfStb). He is responsible for the field of building materials and his work focuses on the durability of concrete structures.

ECOBA, European Coal Combustion Products Association e.V

Dr.-Ing. Hans-Joachim Feuerborn, Secretary General of ECOBA, true pioneer in the world of industrial by-product valorization, he has been shaping the future of environmentally friendly and sustainable construction for decades. With a background in Metallurgy and Material Science from Aachen Technical University, Dr. Feuerborn has focused his career on the reuse of industrial residues in construction materials. He has conducted research on binder materials and provided expertise on environmental strategies for coal-fired power plants. Beside his position as adviser for by-products from energy production in vgbe energy e.V., he acts as secretary of the European Coal Combustion Products Association (ECOBA) and of the World-Wide Coal Combustion Products (CCP) Network. As a member of European standardization committees, he brings exclusive insights into the latest developments, innovations and market opportunities.

Heidelberg Materials Poland – Polish Cement Association

For 18 years, Maciej Batog has been associated with Heidelberg Materials Poland, where he mainly focus on technical advisory for clients and R&D activities. Currently, he hold the position of Chief Technical Advisor at the BETOTECH Technology Center sp. z o.o. He is a member of the technical committees KT 196 (for cement and lime) and KT 274 (for concrete) at the Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN), as well as a member of the Working Group ‘CEN/TC 51/WG 6 – Definitions and terminology of cement’, CEN/TC 104/WG 4 « Fly ash for concrete” and CEN/TC 51/WG 14 « Hydraulic binders for road bases » at the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). Author and co-author of publications in national and international journals and presentations at scientific conferences on cement and concrete.

AGH University of Krakow, Faculty of
Civil Engineering and Resource Management

The main areas of his scientific interest are broadly understood environmental engineering, including waste management, the impact of industry, especially mining, on the environment and society, reducing emissions and CO2 sequestration. He is particularly interested in mining waste and by-products of thermal conversion, and methods of their use both in mining (for backfilling), in construction, and geoengineering as artificial aggregates. An important area of its activities is to support the reclamation and revitalization of waste management facilities and the reduction of pollution originating from them.

ČEZ Energetické produkty,s.r.o.

Surschiste

University of Greenwich

LMGC, IMT Mines Alès