Dr. Ravi Shukla received PhD in Nano biotechnology jointly from National Centre for Cell Science (DBT*) and National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR**), India. After PhD, he chose to work at National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Nanotechnology (NIH) Platform at University of Missouri, USA. During his NIH Fellowship (2007-2011), Dr. Shukla worked closely with National Characterization Laboratory (NCL), a collaborative venture of US FDA and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA) to accelerate the development of promising nanotech therapies and diagnostics. The NCL’s mission is to develop an “Assay Cascade” of scientific tests that would help determine the reproducibility, safety, and efficacy of nanomedicines to facilitate FDA regulatory review.

In 2011, Dr. Shukla moved to Australia as a Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellow, to join advanced materials and Nano-devices research program at the School of Science in RMIT University. He is currently an Associate Professor and leads targeted theranostics & biosensing research. Ravi has pioneered the field of nanomaterials and developed a global reputation with extensive experience in methodologies toward tailor made nanoparticles for myriad of applications spanning imaging, therapy, gene delivery, diagnostics and biosensing. Ravi’s research for the first time provided scientific evidence that gold nanoparticles are biocompatible, which is now universally accepted and regularly employed in a range of biomedical investigations. His cross-disciplinary training in understanding of materials-cell/biomolecular interactions fosters collaborative inventiveness in the wider research areas encompassing health, environment and food. Over last 5 years he published 45 peer reviewed articles, his h-index is 32 and the research has been cited over 5500 times. Dr. Shukla has authored over 100 research publications, 15 patents and multiple invention disclosures. He is an adjunct professor at Institute of Green Nanotechnology at University of Missouri USA, and a Visiting Professor at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, India and University of Padova, Italy.

Dr. Fethi Abbassi received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and mechanics of Materials (2008) from Toulouse University (France). Fethi Abbassi is currently an Associate Professor at the American University of the Middle East, Kuwait, Prior to his appointment at the AUM, Dr. Abbassi was an Associate Professor, Chair of mechanical Department and Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering at Dhofar University Oman, until July 2018. He had also held the position of Assistant professor at University of Carthage (2009–2011). He received research awards especially from the Research Council of Oman and IFC (France). Abbassi’s research interests are in the Solid mechanics, mechanical damage, metal forming, Composite materials behaviors and computational geomechanics for resource engineering applications, Enhanced Oil Recovery modeling and Energy challenges. He is currently a member of ASME, SPE. He has published several papers in many well-known international journals and proceedings of refereed international conferences.

Dr. Waleed Ejaz (S’12-M’14-SM’16) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Lakehead University, Barrie Campus, ON, Canada. He was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering & Applied Science at Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC, Canada from Sep. 2018 to Aug. 2020. Previously, he held academic and research positions at Ryerson University, Carleton University, and Queen’s University in Canada. He received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Computer Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila, Pakistan and the National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan, and the Ph.D. degree in Information and Communication Engineering from Sejong University, Republic of Korea, in 2014. He has co-authored over 90 papers in prestigious journals and conferences, and 3 books. His current research interests include Internet of Things (IoT), energy harvesting, 5G and beyond networks, and mobile edge computing. He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Communications Magazine, IEEE Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the IEEE ACCESS. Dr. Ejaz completed certificate courses on “Teaching and Learning in Higher Education” from the Chang School at Ryerson University. He is a registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Ejaz is a senior member of IEEE, member of ACM, and ACM distinguished speaker.

Mouaz Abouzaid is a Cairo-born architect Founder and design principal of Verform Studio. He strives to create designs that both simplify and enhance the interaction of people and the built environment & key focus on simple and functional buildings which also emphasize context and aesthetics. Abouzaid strive to contribute in building the urban and humanitarian societies to be linked with the heritage, social and political understanding & context. His expertise encompasses multiple market sectors, including residential, commercial, cultural, hospitality and mixed-use & urbanism. Abouzaid was voted Middle East Architect Young Architect of the Year in 2016 and nominated for Architect of the Year in 2018. That same year he was appointed curator for the Egyptian National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Other recognition includes the World Architecture Festival, both overall award and first place in the Smart Cities category, for his X-Space project, in 2019. The previous year, at the same event, his Sheltainer design won the Ethics and Value category and also Middle East Architect’s Concept of the Year. For the last four years Abouzaid has been included in the 50 most influential architects in the Middle East, in Middle East Architect magazine. For more than 15 years he has worked at top international practices in the region, thus acquiring a vast range of experience in both specialist design and technological innovations across the sector. He embraces challenges and individual complexities which attach themselves to each project. Implementing high standards and utilizing cutting-edge technology allows Abouzaid to manage multiple projects and accelerate timelines to meet client specifications and achieve deadlines.

Dr. Saleh Al-Saadi has a diversified work experience in industry and academia. Dr. Saleh held several positions in PDO between 1997-2003 and then worked in Saudi Arabia as an MEP engineer between 2005-2007. Since 2007, he is a faculty member at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). Dr. Saleh is now an associate professor of building energy systems and the program coordinator of the Architectural Engineering program at SQU. In 2020, he became the first president of the ASHRAE Oman Chapter. Dr. Saleh holds a Ph.D. in Building systems engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder (USA). His current research interests include modeling, design and analysis of building energy systems, energy conservation, energy auditing and retrofitting opportunities in existing buildings, renewable and sustainable energy applications for buildings.