Michael Schutze, born in 1952, studied materials sciences at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg from 1972 to 1978, and then joined the Karl Winnacker Institute of DECHEMA as a research associate. He received his doctorate in engineering sciences from the Technical University of Aachen (RWTH) in 1983, and his lecturing qualification in 1991, becoming a member of the external teaching staff of the RWTH, where he has held a professorship since 1998 and has been director of the Karl Winnacker Institute since 1996. He is a recipient of the Friedrich Wilhelm Prize, the Rahmel Schwenk Medal and the Cavallaro Medal, a past chairman of the Gordon Research Conference on Corrosion, editor of the journal Materials and Corrosion, past president of the European Federation of Corrosion, and of the World Corrosion Organization, as well as chairman of the Working Party Corrosion by Hot Gases and Combustion Products of the European Federation of Corrosion.

Born in 1948, Bernd Isecke gained his PhD in metallurgy and electrochemistry from the Technical University Berlin in 1977. The following year he joined the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in Berlin, initially as a project manager for research, becoming head of the Materials Protection and Surface Technologies Department in 2008. In 1993 he was made full professor for Corrosion and Surface Technology at the University of Erlangen. He has chaired and been on expert committees for European and national research programs, the boards of the Karl Winnacker Institute of DECHEMA and the Max-Planck Institute for Iron Research, and a member of several standards working groups. Professor Isecke is president of CEN TC 219 Cathodic Protection, past president of the European Federation of Corrosion, Chairman of the Society for Corrosion Protection (GfKorr), and the German delegate to the International Corrosion Council. He has published 120 articles, co-authored several books, and is editor of the journal Materials and Corrosion.

Roman Bender, born 1971, studied chemistry at the Justus Liebig Universtity of Gie?en from 1992 to 1997. After he received his diploma he joined the Karl Winnacker Institute of the DECHEMA in Frankfurt (Main) as an research associate. Since 2000 he is head of the group materials and corrosion at the DECHEMA and editor in chief of the worlds largest corrosion data collection the DECHEMA Werkstofftabelle and the Corrosion Handbook. In 2001 he received his doctorate in natural sciences from the Technical University of Aachen (RWTH Aachen). He was appointed chief executive officer of the GfKORR - The Society for Corrosion Protection - in 2008.