Zhong Zhenchen, doctor, distinguished professor, doctoral supervisor. He got the bachelor’s degree in 1982 and master’s degree from the Department of Magnetic Material and Magnetics Research of the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1990. He was engaged in the research of sintered NdFeB permanent magnet. He got the doctoral degree from the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge and carried out the frontier research on rare earth nano-composite. During 1997-1999 when he did post-doctoral research at the Advanced Magnetic Material and Nano Research Center of University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), he was engaged in the R&D of new magnetic material and nanotechnology. During 1999-2002, he served as JFAP assistant professor at the Micro-manufacturing and Nanotechnology Research Center and Department of Physics of the Louisiana Tech University as well as the principal of Magnetic Material and Nanotechnology Research Group, and gained funding from U.S. Department of Energy’s Science and Technology Plan. Later, he started his career in the industry. He worked in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Nanchang University of Aeronautics during 2010-2015. After joining the Jiangxi University of Science and Technology in September 2015, he took over the establishment of the Institute of Rare Earth Magnetic Material and Device and served as the first director of the Institute. In recent years, he has undertaken more than 20 projects, including the National Science and Technology (Support) Program, National Natural Science Foundation, National High-tech R&D Program (863 Program), International Science and Technology Cooperation Project and Major Science and Technology Project in Jiangxi. He has published more than 30 high-quality academic papers and applied for 8 patents with 2 patent obtained in the U.S. Furthermore, he has established a long-term cooperative relationship with many well-known enterprises in domestic market which focus on NdFeB production and application.

Zhan Haihong, senior engineer, deputy director of Metallurgical Engineering & Material Institute of Guangxi Research Institute of Metallurgy, principal of Guangxi Scandium Material Engineering Technology Research Center, and principal of Comprehensive Recovery of Scandium Resources and High Purity Scandium Production Demonstration Project.

He undertook 6 scientific and technological development projects at or above the provincial level and won the second prize of 2015 Guangxi Science and Technology Progress Award. He has published 14 papers in international and domestic academic journals and applied for 12 patents with 6 having been granted.

Niels Hachmann joined thyssenkrupp Raw Materials in 2013 where he works in the areas of raw materials trading and project management. Embedded in the global thyssenkrupp corporate group, thyssenkrupp Raw Materials is able to pool resources and technical expertise to provide solutions for several applications in different industries. Based in Essen (Germany), the company is exceptionally well connected in the raw material markets, trades various products and to some extent has exclusive marketing rights. Niels Hachmann plays a key role in the rare earth activities at thyssenkrupp Raw Materials.

Nick Kotaki began his career with Hitachi in 1981 and in 1985 began to specialize in the importing of rare earths from China to Japan. He successfully developed many rare earths business contracts that involved trading between China, Japan, the United States and Europe. After seven years in the division he had managed to triple its sales and profits.In 1993 Nick transferred to Hitachi’s London office to head up the European Materials Division. The operation thrived under his leadership but after six years he decided the time was right to create his own trading company.Nick celebrated 10 years of independence in 2009 and decided to move his operations back to his native home of Tokyo, where he established the Materials Trading Company (MTC) Ltd.In the short time since then he has had a great impact on Japan’s rare earths’ industry, including the impressive fact that 80% of his customers are Nikkei Index listed companies.In August of 2012, MTC was selected as one of only 30 enterprises to share in government grants worth several million US$.

Melvin Hill joined GE Chaplin in 2015. Established in 1987 as a manufacturer’s representative/sales agency, GE Chaplin has grown into a global specialty chemical distributor. Melvin has played a pivotal role in the expansion of the company’s rare earth business.

Melvin is a graduate of Wake Forest University, where he double majored in Economics and Mandarin. He completed a year of post-graduate study at the Harbin Institute of Technology where he focused on Mandarin Language studies and applied natural resource economics.

Yonggang Chen, male, born in November 1977, senior engineer. He graduated from Xi'an University of Technology in 2003 with a master's degree in materials science. He has taken over and participated in a number of R&D and industrialization projects related to rare earth hydrogen storage alloys and permanent magnets since joining Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd. (XTC). He took part in the R&D of new hydrogen storage alloys which won the prize of 2012 National Strategic Innovation Product as well as the advanced NdFeB permanent magnetic materials, National 863 project of new rare earth hydrogen storage materials preparation and application, etc.

Currently, he serves as a senior engineer in the Battery Material Division and deputy director of R&D and sales in the Hydrogen Storage Manufacturing Department of Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd.

Yi Haibo got his Doctor’s degree from Lanzhou University in 2012 and joined Tianhe Magnets in the same year.

He undertook the task of developing automotive, wind power and other key products and was responsible for technologies. In addition, he participated in the production manganese.

Tianhe Magnets is committed to the R&D, production and sales of high-end sintered rare earth permanent magnet materials. Their products, which are energy-saving and environmentally friendly, are widely used in the communication, automotive, energy, household appliances, medical equipment, aerospace, computer, elevator and other fields.

George Bauk is the Managing Director / CEO of Northern Minerals since 2010. Mr Bauk has been involved in the Rare Earth Industry since 2005 and during his tenure at Northern Minerals has taken the company from a greenfield exploration company to a mining company. Mr Bauk is also the Chairman of Lithium Australia and the Vice-President of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy in Western Australia. Mr Bauk has over 25 years’ experience in the resource industry and has worked for global companies including WMC Resources. Mr Bauk has visited China over 25 times in the past 5 years and developed strong working relationships which has included recent deals with Sinosteel and JFMAG (51% owned by Guangdong Rare Earths Group).

Ju Guoxian, chief analyst, Master of Materials. He served as a researcher in General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals (GRINM) for 4 years and worked as an investment analyst of mining and new material industries for 4 years. With 11 years of experience within the securities industry, he was awarded the first prize of New Fortune Best Analyst in 2013, 2014 and 2016, and the second prize of New Fortune Best Analyst in 2012 and 2015.

The Group that led by Ju Guoxian is well-known as the forward-looking perspective. They propose opinions such as “Revolutional material foundation” and “Heavy asset cycle”, which gained high respect among the market.