Michael Scheffler received his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, in 1993. In 1994, he joined the Institute of Physical High Technology, Jena, where he was involved in the development of glass fibres for active optical applications. From 1999-2003 he was head of the Polymer Derived Ceramics group of the Department of Materials Science, Glass and Ceramics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He was awarded a DFG grant and a fellowship as Visiting Scholar at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2003. Michael Scheffler's research focuses on the fabrication, characterisation and novel applications of inorganic functional materials/multifunctional ceramics.

Paolo Colombo graduated from the University of Padova, Italy, with a degree in chemical engineering. In 1991 he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for the Pennsylvania State University. He worked as a research associate at the University of Padova before becoming associate professor at the University of Bologna. He is currently also an adjunct professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Paolo Colombo's research interests include the development of advanced ceramic materials and components from preceramic polymers as well as the use of hazardous industrial and natural wastes as raw materials for glass products such as foams and fibers.