Rotork

Peter Blake is a mechanical engineer working in New Product Development at Rotork in Bath. He studied mechanical engineering to master’s level at the University of Bath, publishing research in protective structures. He also has experience in process automation design, and at Rotork has been involved in the design and testing of electric actuator geartrains.

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Peter will be presenting his work "Investigation of the effects of axial misalignment of a Worm & Wheel gearset on torque" at GEARS 2025.

RD Motion

Dr. Borut Černe is a co-founder and CEO at RD Motion. Having previously worked as a researcher at the University in Ljubljana, he has authored more than 30 scientific and technical papers in the fields of gear transmissions, plastic and composite gear design solid mechanics, polymers testing, and numerical analysis.

His research has mostly been focused on numerical modeling of engineering polymers, with focus on polymer power transmissions, along with testing and development of novel experimental methodologies for this type of applications.

As part of his work at RD Motion, he is mostly involved in R&D operations including test rig design, software development, data analysis, testing methodology and testing standard implementation. 

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Dr Černe will be presenting his work "Towards the use of ML DL models for accelerated design of plastic gears and optimized material selection" at GEARS 2025.

Rotork

Mike is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with a PhD in the tribology of polymer-steel spur gear contact mechanics. He has spent his career in a variety of design roles in nuclear, space and industrial equipment manufacturer organisations. He now leads a small team of research engineers at Rotork in Bath.

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Mike will be presenting his work "Investigation of the effects of axial misalignment of a Worm & Wheel gearset on torque" at GEARS 2025.

Design Unit - Newcastle University

Rob Frazer is a senior engineer and worked for Design Unit at Newcastle University for 35 years.  That has proved more than enough time for his mistakes to catch up with him. 

Rob leads the UK’s National Gear Metrology Laboratory (NGML), is chair of BSI’s gear committee MCE/5 and a member of the ISO gear accuracy committee (ISO TC60 WG2). 

He provides technical support to the British Gear Association’s Technical and Research Management Committee (TRMC) and helps deliver the BGA’s Knowledge Transfer programme.

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Rob will be presenting his work "The performance of gear measuring machines in the UK National Gear Metrology Lab" at GEARS 2025.

Zeiss

2000 – 2005    Mechatronics Studies University HTW Aalen, Aalen
2005 – 2013    Metrology Application Engineer Specialized in gear metrology ZEISS, 
2013 – today    Product Expert Gear Metrology
                           Product Manager (GEAR® PRO, Rotary tables, Tailstocks)
                          ZEISS, Oberkochen
2016 – today   Member of the technical committee VDI/VDE-GMA FA 4.41 Measurement of                                 Cogs and Gears
2020                 ZEISS Expert Ladder Senior
2020 – 2025    Technical Group Leader VDI/VDE 2612 Part 2

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Roman will be presenting his work "Measurement and evaluation methods for noise analysis on gears" at GEARS 2025.

Rotork

Aaron Lopez is a Graduate Engineer at Rotork, having done rotations in New Product Development, Sustainability, and Product Management. He has a master’s degree in Mechanical engineering from the University of Bath, specialising in static structural Finite Element Analysis. Throughout his time at Rotork, he has worked on numerically modelling Worm and Wheel mechanical advantage and efficiencies. 

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Aaron will be presenting his work "Investigation of the effects of axial misalignment of a Worm & Wheel gearset on torque" at GEARS 2025.

Design Unit - Newcastle University

Tom Reavie is an engineer at Design Unit, Newcastle University since starting in 2017 after achieving his masters in Mechanical Engineering.

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He first worked on gear design and analysis and has since moved into the National Gear Metrology Laboratory where he leads gear research. The current focus of research is characterisation of gear flank surfaces with both tactile and optical methods, this is also the topic of his PhD which is due to complete in 2025.

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He also teaches on the Design for Mechanical Power Transmissions (MEC8029) undergraduate course at Newcastle University.

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Tom will be presenting his work "An introduction to a new surface measurement capability for gears" at GEARS 2025.

Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA)

Matheus Rubik holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering from the Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA), Brazil.

He is currently a PhD candidate at the same institution, with his research focusing on binder jetting for aerospace applications, post-processing strategies for residual stress and fatigue performance.

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Matheus will be presenting his work "Improving the Binder Jetting Gear Performance Through Shot Peening" at GEARS 2025.

Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA)

Naiane Souza holds degrees in Science and Technology and in Materials Engineering. She is currently a master’s student in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering at the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA), Brazil. Her research, conducted at the Competence Center in Manufacturing (CCM-ITA), focuses on isotropic superfinishing and its effects on the surface integrity of agricultural gears.

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Naiane will be presenting her work "Improving Agricultural Gear Performance: The Influence of Surface Integrity on Torque Density" at GEARS 2025.

FZG

PROF. DR.-ING. K. STAHL is full professor at the Institute for Machine Elements of
the Technical University of Munich and director of the Gear Research Center (FZG).

In the focus of his research are experimental and analytical investigations of endurance,
tribology, NVH, materials and condition monitoring on gears, transmission
components and drive systems with the target to develop methods and tools for reliable
determination of fatigue life, efficiency, and vibration characteristics.

Prof. Stahl is author of several hundred scientific publications, board member of scientific
associations, convenor of DIN and ISO working groups, editor of scientific
journals and president of the VDI International Conference on Gears.

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Prof. Stahl will be presenting his work "Activities and Responsibilities of ISO/TC 60/SC 2/WG 6" at GEARS 2025.

Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA)

Matheus Vieira is a PhD student at the Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA) and a research assistant at the Gear Innovation Group (GIE), part of the Competence Center in Manufacturing (CCM).

His research focuses on design strategies to improve Noise, Vibration, and Harshness (NVH) behavior in gears, integrating computational simulations with experimental verification. He explores advanced manufacturing technologies, such as powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing, to develop high-performance lattice structures with enhanced vibration attenuation

Matheus will be presenting his work "Application of a Local Resonant Lattice Structure for Vibration Attenuation in Gears" at GEARS 2025.

RD Motion

Dr. Damijan Zorko is a Co-founder and Co-CEO at RD Motion. He studied Mechanical Engineering at University of Ljubljana, and received his Ph.D. in 2019.

Having 15 years of experience on gear transmissions, he was deeply involved in developing RD Motion’s modern test benches and testing methods for experimental research on gears. Working at RD Motion he has been collaborating with world leading companies from several different industry sectors such as automotive, aerospace, materials, e-mobility, appliances, and chemical.

He has authored more than more than 50 scientific and technical papers, published in elite scientific journals as well as held lectures at top conferences hosted by Engineering Associations ASME, VDI, and JSME.

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Dr Zorko will be presenting his work "Investigating the Effects of Wear, Lubrication and Material Pairing on the NVH Performance of Plastic Gears" at GEARS 2025.