Speakers

I am a data scientist at Spartha Medical (Strasbourg, France), where I apply artificial intelligence to the design of biomaterials and antimicrobial peptides. I develop predictive models, generative algorithms, and optimization tools to accelerate the creation of antibacterial solutions for medical devices. With a background in data science and biotechnology, I integrate advanced AI methods into Spartha Medical’s R&D pipeline.

Cécile Balloffet is an Application Development Engineer at Celanese, specializing in medical devices, with a strong focus for translating material science into real-world healthcare solutions. With extensive experience in engineered polymers and masterbatches technologies, Cécile is involved in supporting her customers optimizing device performances, particularly in drug delivery systems. Cécile holds a MSc in Fine Chemistry from INSA Rouen and in General Management from IAE Aix-en-Provence.

Matthieu Besse est Responsable Innovation et R&D Santé au sein du groupe Clayens. Diplômé de l’ENSAM ParisTech en ingénierie de la recherche et du développement, il possède plus de dix ans d’expérience dans la conception et l’industrialisation de dispositifs médicaux et de solutions plastiques à haute valeur ajoutée. Il pilote aujourd’hui les activités d’innovation technologique du pôle Healthcare, avec un focus particulier sur la fonctionnalisation de surface et les nouvelles technologies de procédés.

Hakim Bout holds a master's degree in Materials Engineering obtained in 2020 in Morocco and a second master's degree in Chemistry and Materials Science from the University of Toulon in 2022. He has three years of professional experience in research, development, and modeling of physico-chemical phenomena in the automotive field. I recently joined Sartorius as a Material Scientist.

Application Development Engineer for Healthcare Applications, with focus on pharmaceutical packaging film. 30+ years of experience in various roles in the plastics industry. 20+ years in application development, process development, troubleshooting and technical guidance, with expertise in extrusion, thermoforming and injection molding.

Dr. Hans de Brouwer is Chief Scientist Healthcare for SABIC’s Polymers business, developing applications and products to meet the future needs of the healthcare industry. He has 20+ years of experience in a range of technical roles including the development of plastics for the healthcare, telecom, lighting and automotive markets and execution of continuous improvement projects in production and technology. Hans holds an engineering degree in chemical technology and a doctorate in polymer chemistry from Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands).

He holds a Ph.D. in Photonics from Aix-Marseille University, obtained in 2014. Before joining Sartorius in 2019, he gained experience working in the nuclear and aerospace industries. Currently, he serves as a Material Scientist at Sartorius.

Vincent Darcos is a CNRS Research Engineer at the Max Mousseron Institute of Biomolecules (IBMM). After defending his PhD in the field of organic chemistry (2000, University of Bordeaux), he joined the group of Prof. Dave Haddleton at the University of Warwick in UK (Marie-Curie Fellowship, 2000-2002). Then, he moved for a one-year post-doctoral fellow at the University of Bordeaux (LCPO) in the group of Dr. Yves Gnanou (Rhodia funding). In 2004, he joined the IBMM and defended his HDR in 2017. His research interests focus on the field of macromolecular engineering in order to develop original polymeric biomaterials for health applications. He is also the scientific responsible of the SynBio3 facility at IBMM (IbiSa labelled, ISO9001 certified). SynBio3 is a platform for the synthesis, characterization and purification of bioactive molecules, mainly peptides and polymers. At SynBio3, Vincent Darcos is particularly interested in the characterization of polymers with complex architectures using liquid chromatography.

Matthew Dwyer is a biochemist by training and has held industry roles in the United States, the United Kingdom and France across commercial operations, project management, finance, development, and manufacturing. In his thirty years at Lilly, Matthew has contributed at operational and an Executive Committee level. I his current role as ESG Director, Matthew built and facilitates the implementation of Lilly’s 2030 ESG Roadmap, aiming to deliver carbon neutrality by 2030.
For the past three years, Matthew has led the Récypen® initiative in France, a pioneering partnership designed to collect and recycle the millions of injection devices used every year by patients with chronic diseases in home‑care settings. The program relies on an existing pharmacy network, local collection, and recycling entirely within France, reducing environmental impact and improving material recovery for metals and plastics.
Matthew is passionate about designing collaborative, inclusive and scalable solutions within the healthcare ecosystem.

Céline FALENTIN DAUDRE : Titulaire d'un doctorat en chimie organique de l'université de Picardie Jules Verne (2009) - Maître de conférences-HDR à l'Université Sorbonne Paris Cité depuis 2019 et co-directrice d'une thèse.

Philippe De Groote: chemical engineer in polymers, paints and varnishes (Institut Meurice, Belgium, 1990), he obtained a Master and Ph. D. degrees in polymer material science (1991 and 1998, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium). He worked in the coating resins industry (Allnex, Belgium, previously Cytec Coating Resins and UCB Chemicals) as R&D analytical scientist involved in physical characterisation of resins and coatings (1998-2002), R&D elemental analysis team leader (2002-2006) and EMEA technical support engineer for ultra-violet (UV) curable resins used for protective coatings on plastic substrates (2006-2015). He joined Certech (Seneffe, Belgium) in November 2016 as coordinator of the materials technology group (polymers and composites, emissions & odours from materials).

Samuel Guigo est un professionnel hospitalier (de formation manipulateur en imagerie) qui s’est orienté vers l’innovation en impression 3D. Il coordonne aujourd’hui la plateforme W.Print au CHU de Brest, et mène une action transversale : faire de la fabrication additive non un gadget, mais une réelle ressource hospitalière — pour la chirurgie, la formation, les aides techniques, l’ergonomie, et même la production de pièces hospitalières. Son travail se situe à l’intersection du soin, de l’imagerie médicale, de l’ingénierie et de l’innovation.

Nancy Hummel is a R&D Project Manager at Fibroline (Limonest, France). Since 2021, she has been a materials engineer and has led work on powder impregnation for medical devices. She has one patent (Device And Method For Impregnating A Fibre Support With Powder) since 2023. She collaborates with a lot of different companies on projects dedicated to the development of implantable devices, wound dressings, wipes and other medical devices.

Yijie Li is the Product Manager at Spartha Medical, where she spearheads the development of innovative polyelectrolyte antimicrobial coating applicators. She holds a PhD in Physics with a specialization in Materials for Health from the University of Strasbourg. With a strong background in Mechanical Engineering and a keen interest in medical device design and development, Yijie is dedicated to transforming cutting-edge scientific research into practical healthcare solutions. Her expertise bridges fundamental science and product innovation, driving advancements in infection control technologies.

Julian co-founded BIOVOX in 2020, a company focussing on renewble plastics for healathcare. Before that he lead modular system development at Voith, a technology corporation, was research associate at TU Darmstadt from which he holds a PhD for his work about the control of uncertainty in mechanical systems. In parallel to his studies in mechanical and process engineering, he had his own company producing carbon fibre reinforced plastic parts and consulting in that field.

Nicolas Ludwig completed a Ph.D. thesis in radiation chemistry on water radiolysis and radio-induced modifications of biomolecules under heavy ion irradiation. Sensible to societal challenges, he is now working from 2019 as a project manager Aerial-CRT on the development and the optimization of industrial applications to radiation. His interest centers are broad, coming from radiation sterilization, curing of polymer, gemstone coloration, to the integration of e-beam to recycling or environmental processing.

Christian Pommereau from Sanofi is Principal Engineer for Device Sustainability

With his background as mechanical engineer with specialization in polymer engineering and almost 30 years background in design, industrialization, supplier management et sustainability, he provides within Sanofi but also in associations and consortiums his expertise in “Sustainability-by-Design” for devices.

Pierre del Pozo is Sr Sales Account Manager for Healthcare, Polymer Engineer (CNAM), I am working since 25 years in the polymer industry from automotive molder to raw material supplier. I got a strong experience in various polymer from Polyolephin to PolyEtherImide & Polycarbonate.

Chemist engineer, PhD Polymers Materials and CompositesR&D Radiation Processing Expert at IONISOS S.A.S.

Titulaire d'un Master en ingénierie médicale et biomatériaux. Ingénieure en R&D chez CANOE depuis 2022.

Manuel Scherer is a seasoned B2B professional with over a decade of experience in the medical and healthcare industry, specializing in customer-facing and strategic roles such as account management, business development, and technical marketing. Currently serving as Global Marketing Manager at Celanese since 2021, he drives strategic initiatives in portfolio management and value-based content development to enable market diversification. Manuel holds an MBA in Finance, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certifications, and a BA in Political Science. He is known for his analytical mindset, value modeling expertise, and commitment to continuous improvement.

Frank De Smedt holds a PhD in analytical chemistry (K.U.Leuven) and has 17+ years of expertise in analytical lab testing under ISO17025/GxP accreditation.
Before setting up DyFrNd to provide consulting services, he was the operational director of an analytical laboratory focusing on the Medical Device and Pharmaceutical industry with core testing being Extractables and Leachables (E&L) and chemical characterization studies, method development and validations projects, monograph testing on polymeric materials for pharmaceutical use.
He also has been working in a global role on scientific improvements for the chemistry laboratories, including E&L.
Frank has been a member of MedPharmplastEurope (MPPE), is an active speaker on conferences on compendial and E&L testing, and also teaches at university on analytical spectroscopic techniques.

Pauline Spard est ingénieure en Recherche et Développement au sein de la division Healthcare de Clayens. Titulaire d’un master en physique appliquée et ingénierie physique et diplômée de l’INSA de Strasbourg en plasturgie, elle met à profit ses compétences dans le développement de solutions innovantes pour les dispositifs médicaux. Depuis près de cinq ans, elle conduit et coordonne des projets de recherche portant notamment sur la fonctionnalisation de surface des pièces plastique injectées.