Dr. Tonica Bončina is a senior researcher in the Research Group for Materials Science and Technology and a lecturer in doctoral studies for the Materialography and Light Metals course in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maribor. She graduated in Metallurgy and Materials in 1992, and she gained her PhD in Materials in 2010 at the University of Ljubljana in the field: “Stabilization and identification of quasicrystalline phases in alloy of Al-Mn-Be”. Her research work mainly focuses on the characterization of materials, synthesis of novel complex metallic materials, especially aluminium and nickel base alloys, and material processing such as coatings and friction stir welding.