Maculan is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Systems Engineering and Computer Science of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (COPPE/UFRJ). He worked as Visiting Professor in European and North American universities, supervised over 60 Ph.D. theses and 150 M.Sc. dissertations, published 6 books and over 100 papers in scientific journals. Currently President of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies – IFORS, former President of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1990-1994) and National Secretary for Higher Education (2004-2007), his membership includes the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (Paris, France). He was honored with several awards such as: Doctor Honoris Causa (Université Paris 13), Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite (France) and Grand-Cross for Scientific Merit (Brazil).

Marwala is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and the rector of the UN University. He was previously vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg and deputy vice-chancellor for research, postgraduate studies and the library, and was previously dean of engineering and the built environment, University of Johannesburg. He was professor of electrical engineering, and Carl and Emily Fuchs Chair of systems and control engineering, University of the Witwatersrand. He has been chair of the Local Loop Unbundling Committee and non-executive director of SITA, EOH, Denel and City Power. He has received more than 40 awards including: Order of Mapungubwe, and President Award, National Research Foundation. He holds a PhD in engineering from University of Cambridge. He has supervised 47 masters and 37 PhD students and published 25 books, 300 refereed papers in journals, proceedings and book chapters and holds 3 international patents. He is a fellow of many organizations including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, National Research Professor, served as the Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), with thirty eight laboratories and about 20,000 employees (1995-2006). He was also the President of Indian National Science Academy (2004-2006), President of UK Institution of Chemical Engineers (2007) as also the President of Global Research Alliance. 42 universities from around the world have honored him with honorary doctorates, which include Universities of London, Salford, Pretoria, Wisconsin, Swinburne, Monash and Delhi. Dr. Mashelkar is only the third Indian engineer to have been elected (1998) as Fellow of Royal Society (FRS), London in the twentieth century. He was elected Foreign Associate of US National Academy of Science (2005) and also National Academy of Engineering (2003), Associate Foreign Member, American Academy of Arts & Sciences (2011), Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, U.K. (1996), Foreign Fellow of Australian Technological Science and Engineering Academy (2008), Corresponding Member of Australian Academy of Sciences (2017), Fellow of World Academy of Arts & Science, USA (2000), Fellow of US National Academy.

Mitra is a Professor, Machine Intelligence Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. She was in the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH), Aachen, Germany (1992–94) as a Fellow under the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). She was Visiting Professor at Computer Science Department, University of Alberta, Canada; Meiji University, Japan; and Aalborg University Esbjerg, Denmark. Mitra received the National Talent Search Scholarship (1978–1983) from National Council of Educational Research and Training, India; the University Gold Medal (1988); the Outstanding Paper Award (1994) by Transactions on Neural Networks, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), for her pioneering work in neuro-fuzzy computing, the CIMPA-INRIA-UNESCO Fellowship (1996), and Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellowship (2018–2020). She was the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) Chair Professor 2018–2020. Mitra has been awarded the prestigious J. C. Bose National Fellowship, 2021. She is a Fellow of IEEE, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR), Fellow of INAE, and of National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI).

Murty (PhD, 1992, Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore) is Professor, Dept. of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Inst. of Technology (IIT) Madras. He is Institute Professor and Girija and R. Muralidharan Chair Professor, IIT Madras. He is also Adjunct Professor, Ryerson Univ., Toronto, Canada since 2011 and Associate faculty of School of Engineering, Univ. of British Columbia, Canada since 2016. His is a Fellow of Asia Pacific Acad. of Materials (2013), Indian National Science Acad. (2013), ASM International - the Materials Information Society (2010), Indian Acad. of Sciences (2008), National Acad. of Sciences (2008), Indian National Acad. of Engineering (2007). He is a recipient of a number of awards including JC Bose Fellowship award (2018-2023), Honorary Doctorate from Deakin Univ., Australia (2017), Life time Achievement Award of IIT Madras (2016), Distinguished Alumnus Award of Visvesvaraya National Inst. of Technology (2010), Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (2007), Metallurgist of the Year Award (2004), Indian National Acad. of Engineering Young Engineer Award (1997), Indian National Science Acad. Young Scientist Award (1995), Young Metallurgist Award (1994).

Pal is a distinguished scientist and former Director of Indian Statistical Institute. He founded its Machine Intelligence Unit & the Natl. Center for Soft Computing in Calcutta. Currently, he is a SERB-National Science Chair; ISI-President and Emeritus Professor; and AICTE-Distinguished Chair Professor. Obtained PhD (Sc) from Calcutta U. and PhD (Engg) & DIC from Imperial College, London. Worked at UC Berkeley; UMD, College Park; NASA JSC, Houston; and US Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC. His awards include: SS Bhatnagar; Padma Shri; GD Birla; OP Bhasin; J Nehru Fellowship; FICCI; Vikram Sarabhai; IETE-Wadhwa Gold Medal; INSA-Zaheer Medal; ISC-PC Mahalanobis Gold Medal; INAE Chair Professor; INSA Distinguished Professor; INAE-SN Mitra; INSA-JNBC Lecture; JC Bose Natl. Fellow; DAE Raja Ramanna Fellow; Al-Khwarizmi Intl. 1st Prize; NASA Space Act Tech Brief; NASA Patent Appl.; IEEE Distinguished Speaker; IEEE NN Soc. Outstanding Paper; NRC (USA) Senior Associate; and IEEE Editor. He is Fellow of all 4 Indian sci. and engg. academies, IEEE, IAPR, IFSA, IRSS & AAIA; and Member of European Acad of Sci & Arts. He has visited 45 countries as keynote/invited speaker and academic visitor.

Patnaik is INSA Senior Scientist and Adjunct Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies,and was Vice Chancellor, Defence Inst. of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Deemed Univ., Pune, India. He was previously Honorary Professor, Dept of Electronic Systems Engg, Prof., Dept. of Computer Science and Automation, and Convener, Computational Neurobiology Group, IISc. He obtained his PhD (1978) and DSc (1989) in computer science and engineering from IISc. He has been honoured with over 20 awards for contributions to electronics, communications, and information technology including the Technical Achievement Award (1999), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA, Computer Society; Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Natl. Award for Engineering and Technology, 1999; and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Award for Innovation in Applied Research, 2002. He is a Fellow of IEEE and all 4 leading science and engineering academies in India.www.lmpatnaik.in.

Paulraj is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, USA. He obtained his PhD in 1973 at IIT (Delhi). He served in the Indian Navy from 1965 to 1991 where he led the development of military sonar systems. He also founded three national level research labs in India. He joined Stanford in 1992 where he pioneered MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) wireless technology that has revolutionized wireless performance and is incorporated into all Wi-Fi and mobile 4G./ 5G systems His recognition includes the 2024 RAE Prince Phillip Medal, the 2023 IET Faraday Medal, the 2011 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal, the 2014 Marconi Prize, the 2010 Padma Bhushan (Indian national award), the 2017 induction into the US Patent Office National Inventors Hall of Fame and the 2018 China Friendship Award. He is a member of nine academies, including the US National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering and several Indian S&T Academies . He is a fellow of IEEE and AAAS.

Poor (PhD, 1977, Princeton) is the Michael Henry Strater University Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University, where he served as Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science from 2006 to 2016. His research contributions are in the areas of communications and signal processing, particularly in wireless networking, smart grid, and related fields. His awards include: the IEEE Education Medal, the IET Fleming Medal, the URSI Booker Gold Medal, the IEEE Eric Sumner Award, the EURASIP Athanasios Papoulis Award, the AAES John Fritz Medal, the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal, and honorary doctorates from five universities. His memberships include: U.S. National Academy of Engineering, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, U.S. National Academy of Inventors, Royal Society, U.K. Royal Academy of Engineering, Academia Europaea, Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Pun (PhD, 2003, Middlesex University United Kingdom) is Professor, Faculty of Engineering, and past Campus Coordinator, School for Graduate Studies and Research, University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago. He is Chinese engineering educator, Chartered Engineer, UK, Registered Professional Engineer, Australia and Trinidad and Tobago, European Engineer. He is Fellow of Institution Engineering Technology (UK), Institution Engineers Australia, Hong Kong Institution Engineers; he is Chair, Technology and Engineering Management Society Chapter, the IEEE Trinidad and Tobago Section; Chair, Local Member Community of the American Society for Quality, Trinidad and Tobago; Visiting scholar, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Baptist University of Hong Kong, China. His work includes designing self-assessment scoring methods and developing process framework for manufacturing enterprises. Received the Most Outstanding Researcher Award, the IEOM Outstanding Service Award, the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence, the Emerald Literati Network Award.

Ramamurty is a Professor in the Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India. He obtained B.E. (Andhra, Metallurgy, 1989), M.E. (IISc, Metallurgy, 1991), and Ph.D. (Brown, Engineering, 1994) degrees and gained post-doctoral research experience at UCSB and MIT. Before joining IISc's faculty in October 2000, he worked as an Assistant Professor for three years at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is a recipient of the Scopus Young Scientist Award, Swarnajayanthi and JC Bose National Fellowships of the Govt. of India, National Metallurgist Day, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, and TWAS Prizes. He is an elected fellow of national academies of engineering and sciences of India. He is an Editor for Acta Materialia and Scripta Materialia journals.

Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao is the Group Vice-Chancellor of BITS Pilani, overseeing campuses in Pilani, Hyderabad, Goa, Dubai, and Mumbai. Before joining BITS in 2023, he served as Director of IIT Delhi (2016-2021) and was a Chair Professor at IIT Bombay & IIT Delhi. A globally recognized Nanoelectronics researcher, he has 500+ research papers, 50+ patents (20 US-issued), and 15 licensed patents, including IP used in millions of ICs. He co-founded two deep-tech startups, Nanosniff & Soilsens, with successful products. Prof. Rao played a key role in India's Nanoelectronics programs and is a Fellow of IEEE, TWAS, INAE, IASc, NASI, and INSA. He has supervised 52 Ph.D. students working globally. His 40+ awards include the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, Infosys Prize, IEEE EDS Education Award, and three honorary doctorates. He also chairs multiple national committees on Education, Research, and Innovation. He is the BoG Chairperson of JNCASR & NIFTEM, two institutions of national importance in India..

Rodríguez-Iturbe is Distinuguished University Professor at Texas A&M University and James S. McDonnell Dist. Univ. Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He is author of over 300 papers in international journals and 3 books. His memberships include: US National Academy of Sciences, US National Academy of Engineering, Pontifical Vatican Academy of Sciences, Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, Mexican Academy of Engineering, Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. His awards include: Stockholm Water Prize, Prince Sultan Abdulaziz Water Prize, Bowie Medal, Horton and Macelwane Medals, American Geophysical Union; Langbein Lecture, AGU; Huber Prize and VT Chow Award, American Society of Civil Engineers; Horton Lecture Award, American Meteorological Society; Premio Mexico of Science and Technology; National Science Prize of Venezuela; and Honorary Degrees from the universities of Genova, Cantabria and Zulia.

Rolz-Asturias was educated at the U. de San Carlos, Guatemala and UC Berkeley. He is Director, Biochemical Engineering Center, Research Inst., U. del Valle de Guatemala. His previous positions include: Research scientist, Central American Research Inst. for Industry (ICAITI) (1965-69); head, Applied Research Division (1969-89); coordinator and prof., Center for Science and Technology Studies (CECT), ICAITI (1989-94); head and principal scientist, Science and Technology Unit (UCT), ICAITI (1994-96); vice president, Guatemalan Acad. of Sciences (1993-96); Dean, Research Inst., U. del Valle de Guatemala (1997-2000, 2004-09); and lecturer at San Carlos University (1965-80), Rafael Landivar U. (1985-90) and Del Valle University (1985-90). He has been awarded the Guatemala Science and Technology Medal in 2000. He is fellow, Guatemalan Acad. of Sciences and the Latin American Acad. of Sciences.

Salih is a professor of Civil engineering at Khartoum University, Sudan. After his PhD and DIC at Imperial College, London, he returned to Sudan in 1973 and has since worked in various teaching, research and consulting capacities at the University and abroad. These positions include the deputy vice chancellorship of the University; UNESCO's environmental adviser (Arab Region), deputy secretary of the IHP and director of Cairo and Tehran Offices and director of Water Sciences Division in Paris. He initiated regional and international networks on water resources management in arid zones and served as a jury member of many international water prizes. He is a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences and the International Water Resources Association. He is a member of many International Scientific Associations (IAHR, IAHS, etc.).

Salit is a professor (Grade A) of composite materials at the Department of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). He is also head of the Advanced Engineering Materials & Composite Research Centre, and chief executive editor of Pertanika journals in office of deputy vice-chancellor, both at UPM. He earned a BEng in mechanical engineering at University of Newcastle, Australia, a Master of Science in engineering design at Loughborough University (UK), and a PhD in material engineering at De Montfort University (UK). He is a professional engineer, and Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers International, Academy of Sciences Malaysia, International Society for Development and Sustainability, Plastic & Rubber Institute Malaysia, Malaysian Scientific Association, International Biographical Association and Institute of Material Malaysia. He is an honorary member of the Asian Polymer Association and founding chairman and honorary member of the Society of Sugar Palm Development & Industry, Malaysia. He was the recipient of a TWAS Award in engineering sciences, and of the William Johnson International Gold Medal.

Sayed is dean of engineering, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. He has served as distinguished professor and chairman of electrical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he founded the Adaptive Systems Laboratory (1996). Recognized as a highly cited researcher and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, he served as president of the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) in 2018-19. An author of over 570 scholarly publications and six books, his research involves several areas including adaptation and learning theories, data and network sciences, statistical inference, and multi-agent systems. His awards include: 2020 Norbert Wiener Society Award, 2015 Education Award from IEEE-SPS; 2014 Papoulis Award from European Association for Signal Processing; 2013 Meritorious Service Award and 2012 Technical Achievement Award from IEEE-SPS, 2005 Terman Award from American Society for Engineering Education, 2003 Kuwait Prize, and several Best Paper awards from scientific organizations. He is a fellow of IEEE, European Association for Signal Processing (EURASIP), and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Shahnaz, Senior Members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Fellow of Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, received her PhD degree from Concordia University, Canada, as a winner of the Canadian Common Scholarship. She has been a professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology since 2015. She was a recipient of Bangladesh Academy of Science Gold Medal for her contributions in science and technology. Recently, her nomination has been approved and she has been inducted into IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu as a Professional Member into the Eta Chapter of the board of governors. She has been elected as 2022 IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Committee chair-elect and she is serving as the 2023–24 IEEE WIE committee chair. She has been appointed as 2022–23 member, IEEE New Initiative Committee; 2021–23 Member, IEEE History Committee; liaison between IEEE History Committee and IEEE WIE. She has served as 2021–23 chair, IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) Women in Signal Processing; 2021–23 liaison between IEEE SPS and IEEE WIE; 2021–22 member, IEEE Educational Activities Board Faculty Resource Committe.

Ashutosh Sharma was Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Science and Technology (January 2015-August 2021) where he initiated several new policies and programs. He is an Institute Chair professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, India and the elected President of INSA (2023-25). He obtained his BTech from IIT, Kanpur in 1982, MS at the Pennsylvania State University and PhD from State University of New York at Buffalo in 1988. He has received several honors including the Infosys Prize, TWAS Science Prize in Engineering, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Award of the Humboldt Foundation, J. C. Bose National Fellowship, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, The Syed Husain Zaheer Medal of INSA, Distinguished Alumnus Award of IITK and SUNY Buffalo and the Life-time Achievement Award of the Indian Science Congress and several honorary doctorates including from SUNY Buffalo and Jadavpur University. He is a fellow of INSA, the Indian National Academy of Engineering, Indian Academy of Sciences and a member of several editorial boards including an Associate editor of ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

Sharma was educated at the Universities of Rajputana (Jodhpur), Mumbai, and Cambridge. He obtained his BSc in chemical engineering (1958), MSc (tech.) by research (1960) and PhD (Cantab) in 1964. He is honorary Kothary research professor, JNCAR, and professor of eminence, Inst, of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. He was previously: professor (1964-97) and director (1989-97), Dept. of Chemical Technology, Univ. of Mumbai. His awards include: Om Prakash Bhasin; Padma Vibushan; FICCI Award in Science and Technology; JC Bose Memorial Lecture, Royal Society, London; Shatabdi Puraskar, Indian Science Congress. He is a fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences; INSA; Maharashtra Academy of Science; Royal Society, London; and hon. fellow, Natl. Academy of Sciences; foreign assoc., US Natl. Academy of Engineering; intl. fellow, Royal Academy of Engineering.

Shyamasundar is senior professor and JC Bose Natl. Fellow, Faculty of Technology and Computer Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India. He obtained his BE in electrical engineering at Mysore U. in 1970, ME in electrical engineering (1972) and PhD in computer science (1975) at the Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore. He worked under legendary Prof. E.W. Dijkstra at Eindohoven and has held various postions in PennState, UCSD, UIUC, SUNY Alabany, INRIA, JAIST, Max Planck Institute, IEEE Standards etc. He is the founding Dean of Technology and Computer Science at TIFR, and founding president of the India Association for Research in Computer Science. He is a fellow of IEEE USA, fellow Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) USA, the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, Indian National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Sivaram is an Emeritus Professor and INSA Emeritus Scientist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, India. His previous positions include CSIR Bhatnagar Fellow (2010-15), J.C.Bose National Fellow(2005-14), and Director, CSIR-NCL, Pune, (2002-10). He has led research in polymer chemistry in the area of controlled synthesis of polymers, transition metal catalyzed polymerization of olefins, bio-degradable polymers, and new chemistry/catalysts for high-performance polymers. He has to his credit over 250 papers and 100 issued and applied patents. Awards: Padma Shri; Prof. Santappa Silver Jubilee Award; KG Naik Gold Medal, MS Univ. of Baroda; FICCI Award; Prof. SR Palit Memorial Award; Millennium Medal, Ind Sci Congress Assoc; Goyal Prize in App Sci; Gold Medal of Chem Res Soc of India for lifetime achievement in chemistry; International Award in Polymer Science, awarded by the Japan Promotion of Advancement of Science and DSc (h.c), Purdue Univ., USA. He is a fellow of the Indian Acad. of Sciences, Natl. Acad. of Sciences, Indian Natl. Science Acad., Indian Natl. Acad. of Eng., Roy. Soc. Chem., UK and IUPAC.

Soboyejo is a materials scientist whose research focuses on the mechanical properties of materials. His work has explored the structure and properties of metals/alloys, intermetallics, ceramics, composites, porous materials, cancer cells/tissues, biomaterials, and materials for energy and the environment. He received his BSc in mechanical engineering from King’s College London in 1985, and a PhD in materials science from Cambridge University in 1988. He worked as a Research Scientist at the McDonnell Douglas Research Labs, USA (1988–1992). Since then, he has been a faculty member at The Ohio State University, MIT, Princeton, African University of Technology (AUST) and Worcester Polytechnic (WPI). Soboyejo served as President and Provost of AUST (2012–14). He then returned to Princeton (2014–16), before moving to WPI as the Bernard M. Gordon Dean of Engineering (2016–18). He was Senior Vice President and Provost at WPI from September 2018 to May 2022, when he was appointed as Interim President of WPI. He is the recipient of National Young Investigator Awards by National Science Foundation/Office of Naval Research. He is a Fellow of the US National Academy of Engineering.

Sorooshian is dist. prof. and dir., Departments of Civil and Env. Eng. and Earth System Science, U. of California Irvine, USA. He is renowned for contributions to hydrometeorology and development/application of remote sensing for operational hydrology and water resources management. He is a member of the US Natl. Acad. of Eng. (NAE) and Intl. Acad. of Astronautics (IAA) and fellow of the American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); American Geophysical Union (AGU); American Meteorological Soc. (AMS); and Int. Water Resources Assoc. (IWRA). He serves on advisory committees, including NASA, NOAA, WMO and UNESCO. Recent honours include: Ven Te Chow Award, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) (2017); Robert E Horton Medalist, American Geophysical Union (AGU) (2013); American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Life Member Award (2013); Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Intl. Prize for Water Resources Management and Protection (2010); Honorary professorship, Beijing Normal University (2010); Walter Orr Roberts Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Sciences Award (AMS) (2009); UNESCO Great Manmade River Water Prize (2007); and NASA Dist. Public Service Medal (2005).

Suresh is President, Nanyang Technological U., Singapore. Previously, he served as Pres., Carnegie Mellon U. (2013-17), Dir., Natl. Science Foundation of the United States (2010-13), and as dean of engineering (2007-2010) and Vannevar Bush prof. of engineering, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT). He received his bachelor of technology (1977) from Indian Inst. of Technology, Madras; MS (1979) from Iowa State U.; and ScD (1981) from MIT. He is world renowned for his pioneering work on the mechanical properties of engineered and biological materials and for establishing connections between cell mechanics and human diseases. He has authored over 240 research articles, 20 patents and 3 books. A recipient of 11 hon. doctorates, he has been elected to 15 engineering/science academies incl. the US Natl. Acad. of Engineering, Natl. Acad. of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Inventors, and the American Acad. of Arts and Sciences, as well as the French, Chinese and German science academies.

Tan is Professor & Director, Center for Research on Intelligent Perception and Computing, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China. He received his BSc in electronic engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University, China in 1984, and his MSc and PhD degrees in electronic engineering from Imperial College London, UK in 1986 and 1989 respectively. He worked at the University of Reading, UK (1989-97) until he joined the Natl. Lab. of Pattern Recognition (NLPR), CAS Institute of Automation, as full professor. He served as Dir. Gen. of the Institute (2000-07), Director of NLPR (1998-2013), Dep. Sec.-Gen.(2007-2015) and Vice President (2015-2016), CAS. His current research interests include biometrics, image and video understanding, and information forensics and security. He is a Fellow, CAS; Internatl. Fellow, UK Royal Academy of Engineering; Corresponding Mem., Brazilian Aca. Sci.; Fellow, IEEE; Fellow, Internatl. Assoc. of Pattern Recognition.

Tang is emeritus professor in the department of optical engineering at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China; former chairman, Optical Coatings Speciality Association of China; and member of the dditorial board of Acta Optica Sinica and Acta Photonica Sinica. His research has resulted in significant contributions to computer aided design of optical multilayer systems, specifically in applied optics. His awards include: Award of Science and Technology Progress, First Rank; Chinese National Outstanding Expert in Science and Technology; Chinese National Award in Natural Science, Fourth Rank, State Science and Technology Committee; and the Chinese National Invention Prize, Fourth Rank. He was former vice president of the Zhejiang Provincial Association of Science and Technology and former Vice President of the Zhenjiang University.

Tao is the Inaugural Director of the JD Explore Academy and a Senior Vice-President of JD.com, China’s largest online retailer. He is also an advisor and Chief Scientist of the Digital Sciences Initiative in the University of Sydney. He mainly applies statistics and mathematics to artificial intelligence and data science, and his research is detailed in one monograph and over 200 publications in prestigious journals, and proceedings at leading conferences. He received the 2015 Australian Scopus-Eureka Prize, the 2018 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Data Mining (ICDM) Research Contributions Award, and the 2021 IEEE Computer Society McCluskey Technical Achievement Award. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association for Computing Machinery and IEEE.

Toledo Filho is a full professor of materials and structures at Coppe-Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (PEC/COPPE/UFRJ), Brazil. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, of the National Academy of Engineering, Researcher 1A with the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and a senior scientist of the Carlos Chagas Foundation (FAPERJ), Rio de Janeiro State. He is the CEO of the Science Park of UFRJ, president of the board of the China-Brazil Center for Climate Change and Energy Technology Innovation, head of the Sustainability Center for Research and Education on Environmental Friendly Materials and Technologies (NUMATS) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, member of the INBAR construction task force and vice-president of the Brazilian Society for Non-Conventional Materials (ABMTENC). He has conducted extensive research on sustainable materials for construction, decarbonisation of the construction industry, vegetable fibre-reinforced cement composites, bamboo materials characterization, and structural use, cement replacement by bioashes and the use of waste materials in the construction industry.