Dai-Yeun Jeong is presently the Director of Asia Climate Change Education Center and an emeritus prof. of environmental sociology at Jeju National University in South Korea. He received BA and MA degree in sociology from Korea University (South Korea), and PhD in environmental sociology from University of Queensland (Australia). He was a prof. of environmental sociology at Jeju National University (South Korea) from 1981 to 2012. His past major professional activities include a teaching professor at University of Sheffield in UK, the president of Asia-Pacific Sociological Association, a delegate of South Korean Government to UNFCCC and OECD environmental meeting, and a member of Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development Republic of Korea, etc. He has published 60 environment-related research papers in domestic and international journals and 13 books including Environmental Sociology. He has conducted 100 unpublished environment-related research projects funded by domestic and international organizations.

For the past six years, Dr. Shahria Alam has been extensively involved in research related to smart materials and their structural applications, seismic rehabilitation of deteriorated structures, and performance based design of reinforced concrete, prestressed concrete, and masonry structures. He is a winner of many awards and scholarships, and his research contribution has been recognized by various professional bodies and institutions. Prior to join at UBC-Okanagan, Dr. Alam has worked in several industrial projects while working as a structural engineer for Halcrow Yolles (Toronto) and JNE Consulting Ltd. (Hamilton, ON). Few notable projects are Canadian Museum for Human Rights, City Center Las Vegas, and Burlington Performing Art Centre, Burlington, ON and several steel structures for US Steel Canada and Praxair Canada Inc. Currently Dr. Alam is involved in several industrial projects in BC.

Vistasp M. Karbhari is a Professor in the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, & Civil Engineering, at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he served as the 8 th president from 2013 to 2020. Dr. Karbhari is an expert in the processing and mechanics of composites, durability of materials, infrastructure rehabilitation, and multi-threat mitigation. He has authored/coauthored over 500 papers in journals, book chapters, and conference publications and has edited/co-edited 7 books. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); the National Academy of Inventors (NAI); the American Society of Civil Engineers; ASM International; the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM); the International Institute for Fiber-reinforced Polymers in Construction; the International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure; ASCE’s Structural Engineering Institute, and is an elected member of the European Academy of Science and Arts.

Dr. Yi Bao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering and directs the Smart Infrastructure Laboratory at Stevens Institute of Technology. Before joining Stevens, Dr. Bao was a Postdoc at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. He was also a Guest Researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). His research focuses on developing smart and sustainable infrastructure. His research interests include smart materials, intelligent sensors, and innovative structures that integrate various AI technologies such as advanced machine learning, computer vision, and optimization.

Dr. Sandhya Babel is an associate professor in School of Biochemical Engineering and Technology at Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thammasat University, Thailand. Currently, she is a visiting professor at Kyoto University, Japan. Dr. Babel’s professional experience in teaching and research spans over 25 years. She has experience in teaching both graduate and undergraduate level courses such as Industrial Pollution Control, Biochemistry, Physiology, Environmental Health and Sanitation, Water Quality, Solid waste Management etc. She has more than 100 publications in International Journals and conferences, and book chapters. Her major area of research includes biohydrogen production, solid waste management and treatment, hazardous waste, water and wastewater treatment, phytoremediation and adsorption. Dr Babel has carried out several capacity building, research, and sponsored projects.

Doctor of Sciences (Engineering), Professor, Academician Mikayel G. Melkumyan (born on June 10, 1951) is a distinguished Armenian scientist and engineer specializing in earthquake resistant construction. After graduating from the Civil Engineering Department of Yerevan Polytechnic Institute in 1973 he began researching the behavior of various reinforced concrete structures under seismic actions. Following the devastating 1988 Spitak earthquake, Melkumyan focused on analyzing of structural failures and developing of innovative seismic isolation techniques. His research at the Institute of Industrial Science the University of Tokyo resulted in the “Melkumyan Hysteresis Model”, enhancing the understanding of shear behavior in structures. From 1992 through 1996 he was a teaching Professor at the College of Engineering of the American University of Armenia (AUA), giving lectures on non-linear behavior of reinforced concrete structures and design principles in earthquake resistant construction. He pioneered methods for retrofitting buildings by base isolation while keeping them operational. His patented technologies have been implemented in seismic isolation design for construction of new and retrofitting of existing buildings in Armenia, Russia, Romania, Peru, Kazakhstan, and Turkey. Melkumyan has authored 260 scientific works, including 21 books (6 monographs), 11 normative documents, codes, and standards, and 12 inventions. He is the president of the Armenian Association for Earthquake Engineering, CEO of the “Melkumyan Seismic Technologies” LLC, and has served on various international committees and editorial boards. His efforts have significantly advanced seismic engineering, positioning Armenia among the leaders in this vital field.

Dr. Gang Zhang is a University Distinguished Professor at Chang’an University (CHD). He serves as Director of Research Center on Bridge Extreme Loading and Protection, and Deputy Director of Bridge Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Research Office and Head of Bridge Structure and Material Fire Laboratory at Chang’an University, and also Deputy Director of Energy-Absorption-Device Technology Innovation Center of Bridge at Hebei Province. He has been “elected” as “Fellow” of the International Association of Advanced Materials and Vebleo-Science, Engineering and Technology. Prof. Zhang’s expertise is on the evaluation and protection of bridge structure and material behavior under extreme fire conditions. His research has focused on the experimental behavior, analytical modeling and numerical prediction of bridge structure under extreme fire exposure conditions, constitutive modeling of material properties at high temperatures, fire-resistant design of bridge structure, and bridge collapsed investigations. He has developed fundamental understanding on the behavior of bridge structure and materials subjected to extreme fire hazard. His research accomplishments, in the field of bridge fire safety and material at elevated temperatures, has great contribution and major impacts to improve development of disaster prevention and mitigation in transport infrastructure. Prof. Zhang, along with his students and collaborates, has led to over 130 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences. The most recent contribution from Zhang is a new text book on “Bridge Structure Fire Theory and Calculation Method” published by China Communications Press.

Dr. Biao HU is currently an Assistant Professor at the College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University, P.R. China. He obtained his Ph.D. from the City University of Hong Kong in 2017. His main research focuses on composite materials & structures, structural retrofitting, and sustainable construction materials. He has published 47 SCI journal papers. The publications have attracted more than 1200 citations recorded in Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com.hk/citations?user=dgo3y7gfI3AC&hl=zh-TW ) with a H-index of 18. He is the principal investigator of 6 research projects and the co-investigator of more than 10 research projects. He serves as the editorial board member of several journals and the guest editor of five SCI journals. He is a regular reviewer of more than 30 peer-reviewed international SCI journals. He received the Moisseiff Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2018. He received the IAAM Scientist Medal Award (2023) from the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) and was selected as a Fellow of IAAM (Junior) in 2023.