EFC President
Prof. Dr. Gareth Hinds
(term of office: 1 January 2025 - 31 December 2026)
2002 - present: NPL Fellow/Science Area Leader, Electrochemistry Group, NPL, United Kingdom
2022 - present: President, World Corrosion Organization
2018 - 2020: President, Institute of Corrosion
2019 - present: Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow
2017 - present: NACE Fellow
2015 - present: IOM3 Fellow
2014 - present: ICorr Fellow
1992 - 2002: Electrochemistry PhD, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Gareth served as the Vice-President of the EFC in 2023-2024.
EFC Vice-President
Dr. Patrick Keil
(term of office: 1 January 2025 - 31 December 2026)
Patrick Keil is Research Fellow and Director for Corrosion Protection Research & Electrochemistry at the Coatings division of BASF. He studied physics at the Universities of Düsseldorf and Wuppertal in Germany and received his PhD in Experimental Physics. Prior joining BASF, Patrick worked as senior scientist at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH (now known as Max-Planck-Institute for Sustainable Materials).
Patrick is serving the European Federation of Corrosion (EFC) as Vice-President. He is a member of the board of the German Society of Corrosion Protection (GfKORR) and EFC since 2016 and 2020, respectively. Furthermore, he is an advisory committee member for various research organizations and institutions.
Complementing his work in the industry, Patrick has been appointed as Honorary Professor of RMIT University in Melbourne, Guest Professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, and Adjunct Professor of RMIT University, with appointments spanning 2021, 2022, and 2024, respectively.
His research interests include coatings, metal pre-treatment, and applied electrochemistry. He is dedicated to the development of innovative protection technologies by means of fundamental understanding the impact of corrosion on material performance. This includes utilizing state-of-the-art analytical methods and machine learning techniques, promoting innovation through collaboration with both academia and industry throughout the value chain.
EFC Past President
Associate Prof. Dr. Tomáš Prošek
(term of office: 1 January 2025 - 31 December 2026)
Tomáš Prošek graduated from the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague in 1996. From 2001 until 2015, he worked at RI.SE in Stockholm, Sweden, and at the Institut de la Corrosion in Brest, France. He was responsible for construction, building, and infrastructure activities with a focus on atmospheric corrosion of galvanised and coil-coated steel materials. Since 2016, he has been leading the Department of Metallic Construction Materials at Technopark Kralupy of the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague.
His research focusses on corrosion protection by metallic and organic coatings, atmospheric environmentally assisted cracking, interactions of hydrogen and metals, outdoor and accelerated corrosion testing, and corrosion monitoring.
In addition to teaching and research activities, Tomáš Prošek is the president of the Association of Czech and Slovak Corrosion Engineers (AKI) and the European Federation of Corrosion (EFC). He serves as a member of the Board of Administrators (BoA) and the Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) of EFC.
He was awarded by the Prize of the Polish Corrosion Society in 2018, Edward C. Greco Award of the International Corrosion Council for leadership in organisation and conduct of the 20th International Corrosion Congress in 2017, EFC Kurt Schwabe Prize to young scientists in recognition of the scientific and technical contribution to the field of corrosion in 2006 and the Czech Business Council for Sustainable Development Award in 1996.
He served as the Vice-President of the EFC in 2021-2022 and as the EFC President in 2023-2024.