**About the Editors**

**Michael Zinigrad** is the Rector and the Head of Materials Research Center at the Ariel University (AU), Israel. Prof. Zinigrad earned his M.Sc. in 1968 in Metallurgical Engineering at the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute, his Ph.D. in 1972 in the metallurgy of non-ferrous, noble and rare metals at the former USSR Academy of Science (currently Russian Academy of Sciences), Institute of Electro-chemistry in Sverdlovsk/Yekaterinburg, and his D.Sc. in 1982 in physical chemistry at the former USSR Academy of Science, Institute of Metallurgy in Sverdlovsk/Yekaterinburg. After his repatriation to Israel, he took part in establishing the Faculty of Natural Sciences at AU and served as its first dean for 13 years. He also founded the Materials Research Center and currently serves as its head. Prof. Zinigrad has over 40 years of experience in materials science and engineering, and he conducts theoretical and experimental investigations into high-temperature physico-chemical processes. The results of his research are being applied to the automotive, aircraft and metallurgy industries, among others. Prof. Zinigrad has published over 200 scientific publications (including monographs, scientific papers and patents). He has supervised 19 Ph.D. students, 38 M.Sc. students and five post-docs.

**Konstantin Borodianskiy** is a senior lecturer at the Ariel University (AU), Israel. Dr. Borodianskiy earned his PhD in 2011 in Chemistry of the Materials at the Bar-Ilan University, Israel. After the completion of his postdoctoral studies at the University of Windsor, Canada he established the Metallurgy and Applied Nanoscience research lab at AU. His scientific interests focus on the metallurgy of non-ferrous alloys, the improvement of metallic properties by nanomaterials and the development of advanced coatings and surfaces. He published 18 peer-reviewed papers and two chapters in books. Dr. Borodianskiy is a member of several international conference organizing committees in the field of material sciences, a guest editor of several peer-reviewed journals and an active reviewer of some high-quality scientific journals. He currently (June 2020) supervises one Ph.D. and five M.Sc. students.
