José Ignacio Verdeja González received his Bachelor of Engineering from the School of Mines (Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain) in 1968. He received his Master of Science both in Metallurgy and Physics of the Solid State in 1971/72 from the University of Paris. He obtained his Ph.D. both from the University of Oviedo (1974) and the University of Paris (1978). He was appointed Assistant Professor (1978) and Professor of Physical Metallurgy (1983) in the Oviedo School of Mines (Oviedo, Asturias, Spain). He became the first Head of the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Oviedo (1987-1991) on behalf of Professor José Antonio Pero-Sanz Elorz (1934-2012), and he worked closely with him in academic and industrial problems throughout his professional career (1974-2012). The focus of his current activities is the broadening and strengthening of the academic programs in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Oviedo. Daniel Fernández González received the Bachelor of Engineering and the Master in Mining Engineering (Oviedo School of Mines, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain) in 2013 and the Master in Materials Science and Technology from the University of Oviedo in 2014. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Oviedo (granted by the Spanish Government) in 2019 with a dissertation about the utilization of concentrated solar energy in metallurgy and materials. He received prize to the best Ph. D. in the category of Experimental Science and Technology by the Real Academy of Doctors of Spain. Now he is postdoctoral researcher of the Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Research Center from the Spanish National Research Council granted within the Juan de la Cierva-Formación program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Luis Felipe Verdeja González has a Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences from the University of Oviedo,where he is Professor of Materials Science and Head of the Siderurgy, Metals and Materials Group (Sid-Met-Mat), and Head of the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering of the University of Oviedo. His research focuses on the application, maintenance, and wear of refractory linings in blast furnaces and other metal and steels production processes.
