Prof. Dr. Vladimir E. Zarko is Head of the Condensed Systems Combustions Laboratory of the Institute of Chemical Kinetics and Combustion, the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He graduated from Tomsk State University and obtained a PhD in 1971 and a DSc in 1985 from the Institute of Hydrodynamics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk. He became a professor at Novosibirsk Technical Institute in 1989. His scientific activity has focused on the processes of ignition and transient combustion of the condensed systems. Results of his research have been generalized in the monograph Ignition of Solids, co-authored with Prof. V.N. Vilyunov, Elsevier, 1989. He has since published several books and more than 170 papers in peer reviewed journals, and he has been issued 11 patents. He has served as Associate Editor of the journal Combustion, Explosion, and Shock Waves in Novosibirsk for many years, and he serves on the advisory board of two international journals. Since 2000 he has served as President of the Novosibirsk Division of the Russian Federation of Cosmonautics. Prof. Zarko has traveled to institutions all over the world as a researcher and lecturer. At present his scientific interests are focused on energetic nanomaterials and initiation of high explosives by laser and electron beam pulsed irradiation. Prof. Alexander Gromov is currently working at the Process Engineering Faculty, Nuremberg Technical University Georg Simon Ohm, Nuremberg, Germany. He obtained his academic degrees from Bijsk Technologic Institute (1998, Chem.Eng.) and Tomsk Polytechnic University (2000, PhD). Since 2001 he has worked at Tomsk Polytechnic University (Russia), University of Ulsan (South Korea), and Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe and Fraunhofer Institute of Chemical Technology (Germany). He was a visiting professor at the Aerospace Engineering Department of Milan Polytechnic University in 2011-2013 before obtaining the Humboldt Grant for Experienced Researchers and moving to Nuremberg Technical University George Simon Ohm in 2013. Prof. Gromov has authored over 100 scientific publications and several books and has received numerous scientific awards, including the Russian Academy of Science Medal in 2009. He is also a member of the European Committee of the ""Global Energy Prize.""