Prof. Javier Aizpurua is a Research Professor of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) at the Center for Materials Physics in San Sebastian, the Basque Country, where he leads the “Theory of Nanophotonics Group”. He studies the interaction between light and matter at the nanoscale, with special emphasis in the optical response of metallic nanoantennas and quantum effects in plasmonics.

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  He has developed theoretical models and calculations which have helped to understand the excitation of surface plasmons in a variety of spectroscopy and microscopy techniques. The study of the optical response in extreme nanostructures guided his scientific career, taking him to a leading role in the research of Quantum Plasmonics worldwide, with several seminal contributions in the field, which includes the prediction of tunneling in plasmonic gaps at optical frequencies, or the identification of a novel regime in optomechanics involving molecular vibrations in plasmonic cavities.

Prof. Christian Bauer graduated 1991 in mechanical engineering from the University of Stuttgart. In 2000 he finished his PhD in the field of Hydraulic Fluid-Flow Machinery. After several years in the industry he changed to the TU Wien in 2008. Currently he is dean of the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

Prof. Dr. Elina Gaile-Sarkane is the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at Riga Technical University (RTU). She has experience as the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management and the Chair of the Senate. Elina's scientific and academic interests are related to innovation management, technology transfer, new product development, and strategy and change management.

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  She has been the Director of the doctoral study program in Economics and Management a supervisor for many Ph.D. students and seven doctoral candidates. She has also contributed as an expert in the promotional procedure of new doctors and as a consultant in doctoral thesis development, both in Latvia and abroad. Elina is an expert in the Latvian Academy of Sciences; within the accreditation and quality assurance field at higher educational institutions, she collaborates with several organizations, including ACEEU, ACSUG, and EQUAA.

Prof. Detlef Günther studied chemistry at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany) and completed his PhD in Analytical Chemistry in 1990. Subsequently he joined the Institute of Plant Biochemistry in Halle. In 1994 he became Postdoc at Memorial University Newfoundland (Canada) and in 1995 he worked on elemental analysis at the Institute of Isotope Geology and Mineral Resources at ETH Zurich.

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  Appointed Professor at the Department of Chemistry (Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry of ETH Zurich) in 1998, Detlef became Associate Professor in July 2003. In February 2008 he was promoted to Full Professor for Trace Element and Micro Analysis and his research is focused on instrument and method development for trace element analysis and isotope ratio determinations. Since 2014 he has been a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. From January 2015 until 2020, he was Vice President for Research and Corporate Relations, and from 2021-2022 Vice President for Research of ETH Zurich.

Chris Hill is a media curator, artist, and currently on the faculty at CalArts where she served for six years as Associate Dean in the Film/Video School. Hill received an MFA from SUNY Buffalo (1984), and was video curator at Hallwalls, an artists-run space.

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  She published interviews with artists involved with the Czech parallel culture before 1989 (Walking Trips in Czech Lands, 1996), and curated Surveying the First Decade: Video Art & Alternative Media in the U.S. (1996). She taught at Antioch College (Ohio) where she co-curated four Documentary Institutes (1997-2001) including surveys on Latin America and East Central Europe. Her research and publications have investigated contemporary artists’ work that re-embodies experimental film and grassroots video projects of the early 1970s, the U.S. incarceration crisis, tactical media initiatives in response to an educational community emergency, and beekeeping. In 2019 she was an artist-in-residence at the Agosto Foundation in Prague.

Prof. Alan Chalmers is a Professor of Visualisation at WMG, University of Warwick, UK and a former Royal Society Industrial Fellow. He has an MSc with distinction from Rhodes University, 1985 and a PhD from University of Bristol, 1991.

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  He is a former Vice-President of ACM SIGGRAPH, has published over 265 papers in journals and international conferences on virtual experiences, virtual archaeology, and High Dynamic Range imaging, successfully supervised 51 PhD students and been investigator on many UK and EU grants. He is a UK representative on IST/37 considering standards within MPEG, a STEM advisor to a local school, and a Town Councillor, and currently Deputy Mayor, for Kenilworth where he lives.

Shraga Shoval received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in 1985 and 1987 (both Cum Laude). Between 1987-1990 he worked at the Australian Commonwealth Science and Research Organization - CSIRO – Division of Manufacturing Technologies in Sydney, Australia.

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  In 1994 he completed his Ph.D. at the Mobile Robotics Laboratory - University of Michigan in Ann-Arbor. He joined the Faculty of Industrial Engineering & Management at the Technion in 1994 as the Head of the Robotics and Computer Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory. Between 1996-1997 he worked as a consultant for Chrysler Corporation in the development of the first unmanned vehicle for their Automatic Durability Road test (ADR) facility at the Chrysler Proving Ground in Chelsea Michigan. Since 1998 he works at Ariel University, where he served as the department chair of Industrial Engineering and Management between 2000-2007, and 2009-2015. Since 2017, he serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Ariel University.
  Prof. Shoval has authored more than 200 scientific publications. His current research areas include the development of mobile robotics and autonomous systems, motion planning, traffic safety and trusted autonomy.

Prof. Sabine Seidler studied materials engineering at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Since 1996 she has been Professor of Non-Metallic Materials at TU Wien. In 2007-2011 she was Vice Rector for Research and from 2011-2023 she was the Rector of TUW.

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  She also serves on various supervisory boards in Austria and abroad, including as a member of the supervisory board of the Helmholtz Centre HEREON in Geesthacht and at AMAG Austria Metall AG, as well as chairing the board of trustees of the Natural History Museum in Vienna. She was President of the Austrian University Conference from January 2020 to September 2023.

Nasrin Seraji is an architect and educator, she taught at many architecture schools including The Architectural Association, Columbia University, Princeton University. She served as Dean of ENSAPM, professor and Head of the Institute for Art and Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna as well as professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture at Cornell University.

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  Seraji’s practice and research concentrates on collective housing as well as new models of urbanism which she calls ‘Integrative Architecture©’. Her book and exhibition “Housing Substance of our cities” is a critical view on one hundred years of collective housing in Europe, it traces and superimposes the conditions in which collective housing was produced and contributed to the foundation of the modern European cities. Her co-edited book “From Crisis to Crisis: debates on why architecture criticism matters today” examines how reading, writing and criticism can address urgent issues that architecture faces today. Her forthcoming book on architectural education is to be published by Actar. She has lectured widely, in Europe, North America and Asia and South Africa, served as a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and an Officer of the Order of “Arts et Lettres” and the Order of Merit in France.

Prof. Jarmo Takala is currently Provost at Tampere University, Finland since 2018. He served as Vice President responsible for research and doctoral education (2017-2018), Dean (2014-2016) and Vice Dean (2011-2013) of Faculty of Computing and Electrical Engineering, and as Head of Department of Computer Systems (2001-2012) at Tampere University of Technology (TUT), Finland.

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  He has been a Professor on computer engineering since 2000. Earlier he had research positions in Nokia Research Center and VTT-Automation. He received his M.Sc. (hons) degree in Electrical Engineering and Dr.Tech. degree in Information Technology from TUT. Prof. Takala is Co-Editor-in-Chief for Springer Journal on Signal Processing Systems. During 2007-2011 he was Associate Editor and Area Editor for IEEE Transactions of Signal Processing and during 2012-2013 he was the Chair of IEEE Signal Processing Society's Design and Implementation of Signal Processing Systems Technical Committee.

Prof. Humberto Varum is full professor at the Civil Engineering Department of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), Portugal. Since October 2010, he has been Honorary Lecturer at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College of London (UCL), UK.

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  He was professor of the Master in Evaluation Control and Reduction of Environmental Seismic Risk, at University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy. Since 2016, he is Visiting Professor at the College of Civil Engineering, Fuzhou University, China. He has been Seconded National Expert to the European Commission (July 2009 to August 2010), at the Joint Research Centre, in Ispra, Italy. He was director of the PhD program in Civil Engineering at FEUP and Vice-Coordinator of CONSTRUCT research unit: Institute of R&D in Structures and Construction. Since 2015, he is member of the directorate body of the Construction Institute of the University of Porto, and President since 2019. He is Member of the Mexican Academy of Engineering, since 2018. Since 2019, he is External Researcher of the Disaster Risk Management Group in Social Infrastructure and Low-Cost Housing (GERDIS), PUCP, Peru.