Abdul Karim Salim ALLAF  has been an Emeritus Professor of Process Engineering at La Rochelle University since 2019 and has mentored the research team focused on "Eco-Intensification of Agro-Industrial Processes" at the Laboratory of Engineering Science for the Environment (CNRS) in France since 1994. Born on February 15, 1952, in Tripoli, Lebanon, Dr. Allaf earned a master’s degree in physics from Lebanese University in 1973, a doctorate in low-temperature plasma physics from the University of Paris XI in 1976, and a PhD in thermodynamics and chemical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse in 1981.

Dr. Allaf began his career in 1981 as an Associate Professor and led the Department of Physics in the Faculty of Science at the Lebanese University. From 1988 to 1994, he served as an Associate Professor and scientific co-mentor for the Agro-Industrial Technologies research team (DTAI) at the University of Technology of Compiègne (UTC). He also served as a Professor at the University of Paris VIII from 1993 to 1994.

In 1994, Dr. Allaf joined La Rochelle University, where he established and led the Department of Process Engineering, the Institute of Industrial Process and Equipment, and the Laboratory for Mastering Technologies in Agro-Industry (LMTAI). During this period, he developed initiatives focused on innovative thermodynamic technologies.

Research Innovations and Expertise

From the Eco-Intensification perspective, Prof. Allaf has researched innovative drying technologies, including Instant Controlled Pressure-Drop (DIC), swell-drying, three-stage expanded granule spray-drying, multi-flash drying (MFD), and Interval Highly Activated drying (IHAD). He has also defined a new extraction unit and biofuel operations, and designed appropriate equipment for industrial-scale applications.

Prof. Allaf holds 12 patents and 30 extensions, mainly related to Instant Controlled Pressure Drop (DIC) technology and interval highly activated drying (IHAD). He has published 435 international papers and books and delivered 158 presentations at international conferences, along with numerous European and industrial reports (34). Since 1993, he has mentored 48 PhD candidates and coordinated 8 European projects. He has been actively involved in transferring technology to industry by founding ABCAR-DIC Process in France and contributing to the establishment of several international companies, including Nutrimezza in Queretaro (Mexico), Bio-essential and ABCAR-Malaysia in Malaysia, and Bio-Golden in Spain.

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Solar power in the desert: challenges and solutions for sustainable photovoltaic plants

Pierre-Olivier LOGERAIS is a Professor in Energy Systems at the University Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC, France) where he leads a research on the durability of photovoltaic systems at the CERTES laboratory. After completing his PhD thesis on Heat Transfer in 2007 and a post-doctoral position in Fluid Mechanics between 2007 and 2009 at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers (ENSAM) in Angers (France), he was appointed Associate Professor at the IUT Sénart-Fontainebleau (UPEC) in 2009. He obtained his state doctorate (HDR) with honors in 2016 and became a full Professor in 2024. Over sixty of his authored and co-authored articles are visible in international journals.

Solar power in the desert: challenges and solutions for sustainable photovoltaic plants

The large-scale deployment of photovoltaic systems in desert regions represents a major opportunity for accelerating the global energy transition, thanks to exceptional solar resources and vast available land. However, the harsh environmental conditions such as extreme temperatures, dust accumulation and high irradiance significantly affect the performance and durability of these systems. By combining field experience, experimental research, and innovative monitoring tools, this presentation highlights practical pathways to enhance the reliability, efficiency and economic viability of large-scale photovoltaic systems in desert environments. First, it provides an overview of some major photovoltaic installations in desert areas worldwide, emphasizing their technical features and operational constraints. It then focuses on two experimental platforms—ATOMOS-TEC in Chile and the Green Energy Park in Morocco—which enable to investigate key degradation mechanisms, such as soiling, delamination and thermal stress. The resulting insights support the development of more resilient photovoltaic module designs for desert environments. Besides, a comprehensive maintenance strategy implemented at the Tozeur 2 photovoltaic plant in Tunisia, integrating in-situ performance monitoring, inspection protocols, maintenance planning, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and simulation results at the scale of one PV module so as to ensure the long-term sustainability of the system is outlined. Finally, advanced diagnostic and maintenance technologies are showcased, including robotic and waterless cleaning solutions, infrared thermography, electroluminescence imaging, and UAV-based inspections combined with artificial intelligence for automated fault detection.

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Extrusion optimization of based Additive Manufacturing process of biodegradable NiTi-PLA

Abel Cherouat received the engineer degree diploma in Mechanical Engineering in 1989. He also received the Master degree and the Ph.D. in Mechanics of Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Franche-Comté, France, in 1999 and 1995 respectively. From 1995 and 1997, he was postdoctoral researcher at Arts et Métiers Paris, France to develop software for composite manufacturing and numerical simulation. He has spent short periods as visiting scientist at the Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, Japan and Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center at the Institute of Living in USA.

Between 1997 and 2002, he was associate professor at the University of Technology of Troyes, France. He has obtained the HDR degree from the University of Technology of Compiegne France in 2002. Since 2003, he is Full Professor at the University of Technology of Troyes.

His research is related to innovate materials, mechanical models and modeling of manufacturing processes and especially the numerical simulation of engineering structures and materials forming. The approaches developed in various activities combine the description of the physical and mechanical problems related to structure and processes, their mathematical formulation, numerical simulation methods associated techniques for meshing and adaptive remeshing and finally methods for the identification, the optimization, the reliability and the processes control. He is the principal investigator of many research projects and industrial partnerships at Unit Research Automatic Mesh Generation & Advanced Methods GAMMA3 of University of Technology of Troyes. He has supervised 35 PhD theses. He also is the author and co-author of more than a 3 books and more than 200 papers published in international journals and conferences.

Extrusion optimization of based Additive Manufacturing process of biodegradable NiTi-PLA

Extrudate swell, also known as die swell, is a common phenomenon in polymer extrusion processes where the extruded material expands as it exits the die. This expansion can cause dimensional inaccuracies, which is a significant concern in extrusion-based additive manufacturing, particularly with polymers like polylactic acid (PLA).

Extrudate swell can be affected by multiple factors including viscoelastic properties, die geometry and processing parameters (speed and temperature) that can be coupled and it is difficult to fully understand their effects, especially in absence of accurate online measurement devices. In this study, we investigated experimentally the extrudate swell as a function of the extrusion rate, melt temperature and nozzle diameter for PLA material.

To optimize the extrusion-based process, numerical modeling techniques such as The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Level Set (LS) method in COMSOL Multiphysics can be employed to simulate flow behavior and predict extrudate swell.

Plenary conference title  

Electric mobility powered by the sun: A key pillar for sustainable and smart engineering

Prof. Dr. Ali Mansouri was born in Kasserine, Tunisia, in 1978. He received the M.Sc. degree in Automatic Industrial Computing from National Engineering School of Sfax, Tunisia in 2003, the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the same university in 2010 and the HDR degree in Electrical machine design and optimization in 2016 from the University of Gafsa. He is currently Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, 

Higher School of Applied Sciences and Technology of Gafsa, Tunisia. His research interests are related to the analysis and design of electrical machines dedicated for electrical vehicles. He works also on renewable energies modeling and optimization.

Electric mobility powered by the sun: A key pillar for sustainable and smart engineering

Today, the decarbonization of transportation requires not only the deployment of electric vehicles, but also the use of renewable energy for their supply. Powering electric vehicles with solar photovoltaic energy represents a key pathway toward sustainable mobility. This plenary session focuses on the integration of electric vehicles with photovoltaic generation and smart charging infrastructures. The electric vehicle is considered both as an energy consumer and as an active component of future smart energy systems. Key challenges related to solar intermittency, charging management and grid interaction are discussed. Smart engineering solutions such as PV-aware charging, energy management systems and vehicle-to-grid concepts are highlighted. The session provides a concise vision of solar-powered electric mobility as a cornerstone of sustainable and smart engineering.

Plenary conference title  

Méthodes de synthèse des nanomatériaux et leurs  applications dans différentes domaines

Prof. Essebti DHAHRI physicien du solide renommé, est spécialiste des matériaux magnétiques, qui se distingue par ses contributions significatives à la compréhension et au développement de composés aux propriétés uniques. Ses recherches couvrent un large éventail de composés, des phosphures et arséniures ternaires étudiés dans sa thèse, aux oxydes magnétiques qu'il a développés par diverses méthodes (solide-solide, sol-gel, etc.). Actuellement, ses travaux se concentrent sur les ferrites, manganites, cobaltites, et autres matériaux aux propriétés physiques prometteuses pour des applications telles que la réfrigération magnétique, les capteurs de gaz ou le photovoltaïque. Très actif dans la recherche, il a établi de nombreuses collaborations internationales, est co-auteur de plus de 600 publications (citées plus de 11500 fois, h-index 55), et participe régulièrement à des conférences en tant que conférencier invité. Il est également un évaluateur très sollicité pour des publications et des projets.

Méthodes de synthèse des nanomatériaux et leurs  applications dans différentes domaines

Les oxydes magnétiques de type pérovskite ABO3 ou spinels AB2O4 ont suscité un intérêt croissant au cours des dernières décennies en raison de la diversité de leurs propriétés physiques et de leurs potentielles d’applications technologiques.  Ces matériaux présentent de fortes interactions entre leurs compositions chimiques, leurs propriétés électriques, magnétiques et de transport, ainsi que leurs structures cristallines. Ces corrélations les rendent particulièrement attractifs pour des applications dans l’électronique, les systèmes de stockage d’énergie, les technologies de détection et les dispositifs de réfrigération magnétique.

Les principaux défis actuels résident dans l’élaboration de nouveaux matériaux fonctionnels et la compréhension des phénomènes physiques qui les sous-tendent. Ces enjeux requièrent des efforts de recherche fondamentale et appliquée dans un cadre pluridisciplinaire, impliquant physiciens, chimistes et ingénieurs des matériaux. La conception de nouveaux matériaux présentant des propriétés pertinentes pour les applications énergétiques et environnementales est au cœur de cette démarche. L’association d’éléments chimiques aux caractéristiques distinctes peut induire des propriétés inédites, ouvrant la voie à des matériaux multifonctionnels. Dans ce contexte, le contrôle précis des procédés d’élaboration constitue une étape cruciale.

Le présent travail s’inscrit dans cette thématique. Il vise à approfondir l’étude des propriétés physiques de différentes phases déjà explorées au laboratoire (matériaux à base de terres rares, de métaux de transition, manganites, ferrites, etc.). L’objectif est d’examiner l’influence des substitutions de la terre rare et/ou du métal de transition, ainsi que celle des défauts d’oxygène, sur les propriétés structurales, magnétiques et électroniques. L’étude combinera des investigations expérimentales et des calculs ab initio afin de mieux comprendre les paramètres gouvernant l’effet magnétocalorique et d’identifier les voies d’optimisation pour des applications proches de la température ambiante.

Plenary conference title  

Circular economy innovation to mitigate the climate change

Prof. Moktar Hamdi is Professor at the University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia and he is founding director of the Laboratory Microbial Ecology Technology. He received his Engineer degree in industrial microbiology and PhD in Microbiology from University of Provence in France (Integrated bioprocess for anaerobic digestion of olive mill wastewaters after fungal pretreatment).

Professor Hamdi is faculty member of National Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology as full Professor in Biological Engineering since 2004.  He held the position of the Director of Department of biological and Chemical Engineering (2003 – 2008), and Director of Doctoral School Science Technology Engineering (2009 - 2012). He served DG of National centre of nuclear science and technology (2014 - 2019) and as member of Scientific Council of many agencies and institutes (Institut Pasteur, Tunac, Ancep …). Professor Hamdi served as advisor to several government organizations and private companies on education-research-innovation, quality system (ISO 9001, ISO 31000, ISO 17025, ISO 22000), water-energy-environment nexus, bioprocess engineering, waste management and biofuels (biogas and biohydrogen), food biotechnology and security.

Professor Hamdi is the author of more than 260 peer-reviewed publications (Scopus Hindex : 58 and Top 2% Scientist), 20 patents and some chapters in books. He is a frequent member of scientific committees and keynote speaker in International Conferences and Forums. He was Chairman of 5th International Symposium on Anaerobic Digestion of Solid Wastes and Energy Crops, Hammamet, Tunisia, May 25 to 28 (2008) – Interntional Water Association.

He is/was Member of editorial Board of peer review journals with impact factor : Foods, Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration, Journal of Sustainable Food Systems, Review of Scientific Env. Biotechnology, Bioprocess Eng., American Journal of current Microbiology (advisory editor), African Journal of Biotechnology. He has received numerous research grants and Presidential award for Scientific Research and Technology of Environmental technologies related to water and renewable energy (2014) and award of young Arab researcher in life sciences from Shoman foundation (1997).

Circular economy innovation to mitigate the climate change

The unbalance between the organic carbon and the carbon dioxide caused by fossil carbon mineralization is a great challenge to mitigate the climate change that boost innovation to develop sustainable solutions.

The systematic development of innovation process structure (creativity, invention, innovation) is required in tacking in count the contextual factors, organisations and sources. The creativity will be expressed differently in scientific research, applied science, technology, and innovation. The companies invest in  innovation to ensure  a  sustainable  competitive  advantage  in  a  dynamic environment. Moreover, innovation generation is developing new products,  ideas,  processes,  technologies,  and  venturing  into  new  markets. The innovation is an outcome of employees’ skills, the commitmrnt to improvement and the risk taking ability.

The circular economy innovation should strengthen advanced low carbon footprint engineering and develop innovative recycling technologies. The application of the bionic innovation process to natural ecosystems (ocean, river), leads to the use of microalgae and bacteria in bioreactor simultaneously for coupling organic pollution mineralization and photosynthesis in order to contribute in restoring the carbon cycle.

In our laboratory, specialized monotrophic bioreactors were coupled to obtain multitrophic bioprocesses to promote the low carbon technology (LCT) and strengthen circular economy in wastewaters treatment. In deed, the coupling the aerobic heterotrophic bacteria with microalgae to avoid O2 supply and CO2 release demonstrate the feasibility and sustainability of process. This multitrophic process (MaB biofloc) produces recyclable feedstock biomass and contribute in the climate change mitigation. Others examples will be prsented and discussed.