Join us for our next lunchtime fireside chat, where we explore a German and European perspective on the critical materials supply chain. The discussion will look at opportunities and challenges in Germany and across Europe, before broadening out to an international perspective on accelerating progress toward global critical material circularity.

This event will be recorded and available for playback in the Critical Materials Standards Hub afterwards.

Our panel

Professor Carlo Burkhardt

Prof. Carlo Burkhardt holds a Ph.D. in metallurgy and materials from the University of Birmingham, UK, and is the current scientific director at the STI–Institute for Precious and Technology Metals.

He is professor of manufacturing technologies at Pforzheim University in Baden-Württemberg, Germany and also professor of materials at the Jožef-Stefan International Postgraduate School in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

He has coordinated several large European Union-funded research and development projects with budgets exceeding €45 million in total.

Carlo is the recipient of the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) Powder Metallurgy Thesis Award in 1993, the German Raw Materials Efficiency Prize in 2017 and the Baden-Württemberg Environmental Technology Award (material efficiency category) in 2017 and fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM).

Gareth Hatch

Gareth Hatch is founder of UK-based Strategic Materials Advisory, a consulting and advisory firm operating in the critical-raw-materials sector. He was co-founder of USA-based Technology Metals Research, co-founder of Canada-based Innovation Metals Corp. and was previously Director of Technology at USA-based Dexter Magnetic Technologies, where he began his career focused on rare-earth permanent-magnet design and engineering. He is a named co-inventor on five US patents on magnetic applications.

Gareth is the Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor of Critical Minerals and Materials, at the University of Birmingham. He is a member of the UK ISO TC/298 Mirror Committee, working to develop international standards for the rare-earth industry, and is a Strategic Advisor to the Belgium-based Rare Earth Industry Association.

Gareth is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining and is a Chartered Engineer. He holds a B.Eng. (Honours) degree in materials science & technology and a Ph.D. in metallurgy & materials, both from the University of Birmingham, where he conducted postgraduate research focused on rare-earth permanent-magnet alloys.