Professor Maziar Arjomandi is a leading expert in fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, energy systems, and atmospheric boundary layer research, with a strong focus on renewable energy applications including wind turbines, solar thermal systems, photovoltaic farms, and heliostat development. He leads the University of Adelaide node of the HelioCon - the Heliostat Consortium for Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power, a US National Renewable Energy Laboratory led consortium focused on improving component performance for the concentrating solar-thermal power industry. His research encompasses wind load analysis, atmospheric surface layer characterisation, and flow control technologies - all critical for the development of robust renewable energy systems. As the Director of the University of Adelaide's Industrial-Scale Wind Tunnel and the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Research Facility, he combines expertise in fundamental research with extensive experience in the industry-focused commercialisation of advanced energy technologies.

Nathan Picarsic is a senior fellow at FDD with a focus on China policy. Nathan has closely monitored trends of Chinese impact across key economic and military balance areas for over a decade and is a leading expert on Chinese global and economic strategy. Nate’s work on US-China relations and the battle to define the post-COVID global order has also recently been briefed to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s China Center as well as to a range of US government agencies. Nathan’s work was the first Western analysis to document Beijing’s China Standards 2035 national plan. He is at the cutting edge of US analysis on China’s military-civil fusion strategy and platform geopolitics, as well as their implications for global security and the economic order. He uses primary-source, Chinese-language materials to provide insight on geopolitical, technological, and economic change for decision-makers. His commentary has appeared in a variety of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Tech Crunch, CNBC, Bloomberg, and The National Interest. Nathan is co-founder of Horizon Advisory, a consulting firm focused on the implications of China’s competitive approach to geopolitics. Nate earned a B.A. from Harvard College and has completed executive education programs at Harvard Business School and Defense Acquisition University. Nathan contributes to the China work within FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power, Center on Military and Political Power and Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation.

Ronald Stein, P.E. is an engineer, U.S. Citizen, energy consultant, speaker, author of books and articles on energy literacy, environmental policy, and human rights, and Founder of PTS Advance, a California based company. He advocates that energy literacy starts with the knowledge that renewables, like wind and solar, do different things than fossil fuels. Renewables only generate occasional electricity from unreliable breezes and sunshine but are incapable of supporting the supply chain of products and transportation fuels demanded by today’s societies and economies. Ronald is an Ambassador for Energy & Infrastructure, policy advisor on energy literacy for The Heartland Institute, The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, and National TV Commentator- Energy & Infrastructure with Rick Amato. Ron is a columnist of Op Ed articles on Energy Literacy at America Out Loud NEWS https://www.americaoutloud.news/author/ronald-stein-p-e/. He is co-author of three books that focus on energy literacy, and an internationally published columnist, and speaker. His books are easily available from Amazon: The 2021 Pulitzer Prize nominated book Clean Energy Exploitations, the 2020 book Just GREEN Electricity, the 2019 book Energy Made Easy.

Krishnamachar Prasad is a Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the Auckland University of Technology since 2006. He received his PhD from the University of Western Australia, Australia. His research interests are in smart grids, renewables, electric vehicles and battery management systems.

She has authored over 140 scientific publications, including more than 50 on caloric cooling technologies, and has an h-index of 40 with 3193 citations (Scopus, 2026). She was Principal Investigator of the SUSSTAINEBLE project, funded by the Italian Ministry of University, and leads the Italian unit of the EIC Pathfinder Challenge 2023 project SMACOOL. Prof. Greco collaborates internationally with institutions in China, Spain, Germany, and India. She is Editor- in-Chief of Journal of Sustainability for Energy, Associate Editor of International Journal of Heat and Technology, and serves on editorial boards of several journals. She is a reviewer for over 100 international journals and an active member of IIF-IIR, IES, and AIGE. She was listed among the World's Top 2% Scientists in 2020 and 2022, 2023, 2024 for career impact and annual output.

Xuming Zhang is currently a full professor with Department of Applied Physics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He received BEng degree in Precision Mechanical Engineering from the University of Science & Technology of China (USTC) in 1994, M.Eng. in Optical Engineering from Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOFM) in 1997, another M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2000, and Ph.D. in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2006. He has published about 160 journal papers with a H-index of about 58. He has filed 4 US patents and 11 China patents.

Mark Howitt is founder and owner of Cleanergi Ltd, having invented its technologies. An entrepreneurial and experienced company director with a proven international track record of both advising and managing success within many market sectors and functions. A serial entrepreneur and inventor, he is both commercially and technically innovative, with an unorthodox and whole-systems approach. He is results orientated, highly ethical, financially savvy with well-balanced track record in strategic planning, marketing, operational management, business improvement, R&D, manufacturing, procurement and supply chain, sales and capital investment. Many contacts in diverse industries. Politically aware (not partisan), familiar with the main drivers of a wide variety of markets. Mark has launched and advised 2 independent businesses and 3 new subsidiaries, all growing strongly and becoming influential in their sectors; took 2 businesses into new markets while re-positioning and marketing them as major premium suppliers; supported development and implementation of numerous successful business and marketing strategies; and helped many businesses become more efficient and effective in their ordinary work by making their structures, systems and processes world-class.

Ahmed Abdelbaky has completed his Bachelors at the age of 22 years from Univeristy of Debrecen in Mechatronics Engineering. He has expeirence working in the automotive industry iwth companies such as GB Corp and BMW group and is currently researching and developing novel Vehicle and robotics control methods with a focus on real-time algorithmic and autominous control.

Mohamed Zarid holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT), Spain, and gained additional international research experience at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. He conducted postdoctoral research at INRAE in Avignon, France, and also served as a member of the Teaching and Research Staff at UPCT. He is currently part of the professorial staff at the Faculty of Science, Ibn Tofail University, Morocco. His research focuses on food technology, omics sciences, and sustainable food systems, with particular emphasis on food quality, safety, and resilience. Dr. Zarid is the innovator of the Green HACCP approach, which integrates sustainability principles into food safety management.

Shanikumar Vaidya is a PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand. His research focuses on developing advanced control algorithms for multilevel inverters to mitigate harmonics and enhance power quality in smart grids integrated with renewable energy sources. His research interests include Smart grids and renewable energy integration, Harmonic mitigation and power quality

Yaser Ibrahim Alshdaifat is a PhD student in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand, supervised by Prof. Krishnamachar Prasad and Dr. Jeff Kilby. His PhD research, titled ‘Optimal Integration of Energy Storage Technologies in Renewable Energy Systems’, focuses on hybrid optimization, artificial-intelligence forecasting, and energy-storage challenges, including high capital cost, sizing optimization, degradation

Fredrik Skaug Fadnes, a specialist in building energy systems at Norconsult Norge and external consultant at the University of Stavanger (UiS), received his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 2011. From 2020 to 2025, he completed an industrial PhD at UiS, where he explored operational data from heat pump systems. Fadnes has held his current position at Norconsult since 2011. Fadnes has played a central role in designing the UiS thermal energy central and aims to position himself at the intersection between academia and industry. He was a key contributor to the design and implementation of the research infrastructure at the Living Lab, the geothermal research setup at the UiS campus. This is a unique test and research facility for shallow and semi-deep geothermal energy, which will enable further knowledge development in the field of geothermal energy.

Dr. Joanna Piotrowska-Woroniak is a faculty member at the Bialystok University of Technology, Poland, in the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Department of HVAC Engineering. She holds a Ph.D. from the Military University of Technology in Warsaw, where her research focused on thermal diffusivity, and a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Bialystok University of Technology. Her research interests include renewable energy systems, ground and solar energy, heat exchangers, and the energy efficiency of buildings, including zero-energy concepts. She is actively involved in both simulation-based and experimental studies on heat pumps and sustainable energy solutions.

Kwan San Oscar Hui, FRSC, is a Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Saudi Arabia. He previously held academic positions at the University of East Anglia in UK (Lecturer, 2016–2019; Reader, 2019–2024), Hanyang University in South Korea (Assistant Professor, 2013–2016), and City University of Hong Kong (Lecturer, 2008–2013). He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2008. Professor Hui’s research focuses on energy storage, conversion, and advanced materials. Recognised among the world’s top 2% of scientists in Materials, Energy, and Nanoscience since 2020, he has published over 263 peer-reviewed papers (h-index: 65; citations: 13,308+) in leading journals such as Advanced Materials, Energy & Environmental Science and Advanced Energy Materials. He holds a U.S. patent (US9040007B2) and actively contributes to international expert panels, including the Royal Society and UKRI. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and the Higher Education Academy (UK).