Partner No 11: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UNIVERSITY OF MARIBOR (acronym: UNIMB)
Prof. Dr. Lidija Fras Zemljič (born 1973) received a PhD in Chemistry at University Maribor in 2004. Currently she has position as full professor at University Maribor, in the Laboratory for characterisation and processing of polymers. She is principle investigator and project manager in many national (ARSS agency) and industry funded research projects (EURECA; COST) also with focus on new packaging material. Her research team has established an acknowledged expertise in polymer chemistry with aspect to processing and surface modification of oriented polymers with bio-based compounds and macromolecules using bio-chemical and physical approaches. Her research is focused on: surface and colloid chemistry structure of fiber forming polymers, surface properties characterisation, characterisation of specific dissociable accessible polymer surface groups, hydrophilic/hydrophobic characterisation of polymers, determining the surface free energy, performing the colorimetrical, biotechnological-enzymatic and ecological investigations as well as the enzymatic surface processing optimization. Dr. Lidija Fras Zemljič is author/co-author of over 76 scientific publications, 3 patents and 2 patent applications and numerous contributions at scientific conferences.
Prof. Dr. Simona Strnad, Dr. Tech. Sci., is an expert in structure and properties of fibrous materials and advanced materials engineering. Her research work is focused in investigations of structure/properties relationships of polymer materials; surface functionalization and characterisation. Her bibliography comprises 327 bibliographic items including 56 scientific papers, 7 Invited lectures, 5 book chapters, 2 patents and more than 50 research and industrial project collaborations. Currently, she has a full professor position at the University of Maribor.
Dr. Zdenka Peršin received her PhD in textile chemistry in 2004. She was awarded (Futurum 2006) for the best doctoral thesis in the fields of natural sciences, technology, biotechnology and medicine during 2003-2006. She is dealing with complex scientific and technological problems in the area of textile technology, surface modifications and analytical techniques. In 2010, she joined the Centre of Excellence as project leader “Multilayer medical materials”.
