Mike O’Driscoll has over 35 years’ experience in the international mining and minerals industry, specializing in industrial minerals and markets. He has extensively researched, written, and devised editorial, event, and research report concepts on all aspects of the industrial minerals mine-to-market supply chain.

After a time as Deputy Editor, he served as Editor of Industrial Minerals (IM) for 17 years before becoming Global Head of Research and launching IM Research in 2012. He has visited a wide range of mineral supply and end user operations worldwide, meeting senior executives from all key sectors, and has regularly organised, chaired, and presented at many industry conferences.

In 2015, with Ismene Clarke, Mike founded and launched IMFORMED Industrial Mineral Forums & Research (www.imformed.com) to provide the market with specialist mineral forums, research reports, consultancy, market briefings and news updates. IMFORMED’s Magnesia and Refractories forums have become well established in the calendar over the past decade.

Mike holds an MSc in Mining Geology from the Camborne School of Mines. He is a recipient of the Hal Williams Hardinge Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement benefiting the field of industrial minerals and aggregates. He is a member of the SME, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and the Association of Mining Analysts, and is interviewed by media and investment consultants as an expert on industrial minerals.

Mike will moderate the conference session on ‘Raw Materials: Global Supply Chain Challenges and Opportunities in the Refractory Industry’ on 28 October, and will present his own paper on ‘A Critical Mineral? Magnesia Supply Trends & Developments for the Refractories Market’ on 27 October.

Yakup Bayram, PhD, is the Founder and CEO of PaneraTech, a global leader in data-driven asset health and process management solutions for heavy industries such as glass and steel. Under his leadership, PaneraTech has become a pioneer in managing refractory-based assets, ensuring safety, extending asset life, and addressing the workforce experience gap in asset management. Supporting over 150 plants globally, PaneraTech introduced the world’s first radar-based refractory thickness sensor in the glass industry and is among the first to deploy an industrial AI copilot for managing critical refractory assets in the steel industry. Through a human-centric manufacturing strategy supported by AI, Yakup focuses on driving efficiency, sustainability, and innovation across the manufacturing sector. He holds a BSc from Bilkent University (2001) and a PhD from The Ohio State University (2006), both in Electrical Engineering.