Raw materials and melting training

Cristian graduated as a Materials Engineer from the University of Antioquia, Colombia. Then he obtained a Master’s degree in Metallurgical and Materials Science at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He worked for 8 years as a Glass Science engineer at OI for different plants in South America, supporting them in color changes, glass quality issues, furnace and batch house ramp-ups, raw materials standardization and implementation of new ones. He joined CelSian as a Project leader acting as a supporter and technical advisor.

Eugenia Cruz earned her Chemical Engineering degree from the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional in Buenos Aires before pursuing postgraduate studies in Geology and Nanomaterials. She built a strong industrial background at V.A.S.A. (NSG/Saint-Gobain), where she worked in various technical and operational leadership positions, including Raw Materials Manager, Batch Manager, and Furnace Manager. She subsequently conducted Ph.D. research at the Glass and Ceramic Institute (CSIC) in Spain on innovative nano-glass-ceramic materials and became Furnace Manager for O-I in both Spain and France. Eugenia joined CelSian in 2026 as a glass scientist, combining hands-on manufacturing expertise with advanced research capabilities.

Katelyn Kirchner obtained a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, USA. She holds 2 collegiate-level Teaching Certifications and is a certified online and in-person professor. In addition to her 4 years of experience teaching, Katelyn brings 8 years of experience investigating structure-property-performance relationships in glass. Her expertise centers around glass structure, statistical mechanics of glass forming, and the physics of critical atomic glass behaviors, including glass viscosity, relaxation, crystallization, crack propagation, and heat transfer. Katelyn has worked in industrial and academic research groups in Japan, Germany, and the USA. She now studies glass melting at the manufacturing scale, as a Glass Process Scientist at CelSian.