Zouhour Khila is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Process Engineering at the National Engineering School of Gabes (ENIG), Tunisia. She holds an exceptional academic background including a joint PhD in Process and Product Engineering from both the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (France) and ENIG (Tunisia) obtained in 2014, as well as a Habilitation (HDR) in Process and Product Engineering completed in 2024, focusing on thermo-environmental analysis of processes in the bio-energy field.
Her research interests concentrate primarily on Product Environmental Footprint (PEF), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Circular Economy, Carbon Footprint, process design and simulation, and biomass and bio-energy systems.
She has published several articles in reputable international journals addressing thermo-environmental assessment of hydrogen production and biodiesel, as well as biomass valorization, and has participated in research projects on product environmental footprint. She collaborates with numerous international institutions including LRGP Nancy, CIRAD Montpellier, CNAM-Paris, Dokuz Eylul Turkey, and CD2E-Lille.
Pr. Zouhour KHILA, University of Gabes, Tunisia
Life Cycle Assessment and Eco-design: Tools for sustainable innovation
Currently, sustainable innovation has become a strategic priority for industries seeking to address environmental challenges while remaining competitive. Life Cycle Assessment and Eco-design are two tools that support the integration of sustainability principles into product development. Indeed, this presentation explores the fundamental roles of these tools in guiding sustainable innovation across all sectors. LCA provides a systematic approach to quantify environmental impacts throughout a product’s entire life cycle (from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal). It offers data-driven insight for decision-making. Eco-design translates these insights into practical design strategies that optimize product design in order to minimize resource use, energy consumption, and waste generation. Together, LCA and eco-design can promote circular economy practices and optimize environmental performance.
Abdeljalil Gattal is a professor in Computer Science at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science in University of Tebessa, Algeria. He received his PhD in 2016 from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Informatique (ESI-Algeria) and his research focuses on segmentation-verification for handwritten digit recognition. He is currently an associate professor at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science in Larbi Tebessi University, Tébessa, Algeria. He has published several papers and has supervised many Master and License students. His research interests include image analysis, pattern recognition, and recognition of handwriting.
Pr. Abdeljalil GATTAL, University of Tebessa, Algeria
Handwriting Analysis and Recognition: Techniques and Applications »
Handwriting analysis and recognition have become crucial areas in biometrics, forensics, and document processing, with a wide range of applications including personality assessment, script identification, Handwriting recognition, keyword spotting, gender classification, writer identification, and signature verification. This presentation delves into the methodologies, challenges, and real-world implementations of these handwriting-based technologies. Traditional approaches rely on handcrafted features such as Gabor filters and Local Binary Patterns (LBP), while modern deep learning techniques, such as Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Siamese Networks, have significantly improved accuracy in tasks such as writer identification and offline signature verification. In addition, graphology-based personality assessment and gender classification utilize stylistic features such as stroke pressure, slant, and word spacing to infer behavioral traits. Despite these advancements, challenges still exist, including variability in handwriting styles, limited datasets (especially for historical scripts), and adversarial attacks in forgery detection. Future research directions focus on few-shot learning, explainable AI for graphology, and cross-script generalization. This comprehensive overview highlights the interdisciplinary nature of handwriting analysis, showcasing its potential in security, psychology, and digital archiving, while addressing open challenges and future trends in the field.
Mejdi Azaïez is a prominent researcher and professor in numerical fluid mechanics and applied mathematics. Born in Paris, France, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Paris and began his career at the University of Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier. Since 2010, he has been a full professor at the Bordeaux Institute of Technology, heading the TREFLE department. His research focuses on the numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations, Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) methods, and thermal and phase change phenomena. Notable publications include « A finite element model for the data completion problem » (2011), « An intrinsic Proper Generalized Decomposition for parametric symmetric elliptic problems » (2018), and « Two Phases Stefan Problem with Smoothed Enthalpy » (2016). He is the author of « Finite Element Methods for Incompressible Fluids ». In 2025, he introduced PODNO, an innovative method for solving PDEs. His work continues to advance the field and inspire future researchers.
Pr. Majdi AZAIEZ, University of Bordeaux, France
A monolithic numerical model of solid-liquid phase change problem
In latent heat storage, certain non-phase change materials (non-PCMs) with high thermal conductivity are incorporated into the phase change materials (PCMs) with the aim of enhancing the efficiency of heat/cold storage. We term this type of non-PCMs as “enhancer”, which includes materials like graphite and copper foam, usually with a complex skeleton structure. In this talk, we propose a phase field model to describe the solidification and melting phenomena of PCMs with enhancer from a microscopic point of view. Our model is governed by the energy equation coupled with the Allen-Cahn equation. A penalty technique is applied in the Allen-Cahn equation to describe the complex structure of the non-PCMs. We use the concept of thermal resistance to define the boundary condition on the contact interface of two materials to ensure the temperature jump. Thanks to the hybrid dual formulation, the temperature can be solved as a monolithic function while satisfying the temperature jump on the material interface. In temporal discretization, a numerical scheme is developed to decouple the phase field from the temperature. In the spatial discretization, the hybrid finite element method, the Raviart-Thomas elements are used to solve the temperature and to satisfy the temperature jump on the interface. 2D and 3D simulations are carried out for both melting and solidification processes of a fossil based organic PCM, RODATHERM60 in the graphite skeleton on different porous structures to validate our model.
