PROF. V. RAMGOPAL RAO
Plenary Speaker
Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao is currently the Vice-Chancellor for the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani group of institutions. Prior to joining the BITS Group in 2023, Prof. Rao had served as the Director of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi for 6 years, from 2016-2021, and as a Chair Professor for Nanoelectronics at both IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi.
Prof. Rao is a Nanoelectronics researcher with over 480 research papers and 50 patents, which include 20 issued US patents and 15 industrial patents. Prof. Rao is a co-founder of two deep technology start-ups at IIT Bombay (Nanosniff & Soilsens) which have successful commercial products in the market. For his research accomplishments, Prof. Rao has been elected as a Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), the Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc), the National Academy of Sciences (NASI) & the Indian National Science Academy (INSA).
Prof. Rao's research and leadership contributions have been recognized with over 35 awards and honors in the country and abroad. He is a recipient of three honorary doctorates. The recognitions Prof. Rao received include the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Engineering Sciences, Infosys Prize, IEEE EDS Education Award etc. Prof. Rao serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of several leading international journals such as the ACS Nano Letters, AIP Applied Physics Reviews, IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics etc.
PROF. DATO’ TS. DR. KAMARUZZAMAN SOPIAN
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Kamaruzzaman Sopian graduated with the BS Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985, the MS in Energy Resources University of Pittsburgh in 1989 and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Dorgan Solar Laboratory, University of Miami-Coral Gables. He is a Fellow of the Malaysia Academy of Sciences. Prof. Kamaruzzaman is a former Director of Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia from 2005 to 2022. Currently, he works in Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS.
His main contributions are in solar radiation modelling and resource assessment, advanced solar photovoltaic systems (grid-connected photovoltaic, solar powered regenerative fuel cell, solar hydrogen production, thin film silicon solar cell), and advanced solar thermal systems (solar cooling, solar heat pump, solar assisted drying, combined photovoltaic thermal or hybrid collector). He has published over 900 articles in journals and proceedings. He has 30 intellectual properties (patents, copyrights, and trademarks) for his innovation in renewable energy technology.
He won several international awards for his academic contribution in renewable energy, including the IDB (Islamic Development Bank) S&T Prize & World Renewable Energy Network Pioneer Award. His innovation and invention have won over 100 medals in national and international innovation and invention competitions, including special innovation awards; Energy and Environmental Award at INNOVA and the World Green Technology Grand Award in South Korea and the ASEAN Energy Award. He is listed in the Highly Cited Researchers Web of Science, Clarivate Analytics (2019 - 2022) in field of engineering. He is ranked 58th in the world in the field of Engineering and Technology by Research.com in 2022.
PROF. YOGENDRA KUMAR MISHRA
Keynote Speaker
Professor Yogendra Kumar Mishra is Professor MSO and Leader of Smart Materials group at Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Sønderborg, Denmark. Prior to SDU, he was leading an independent research group on 3D Nanomaterials at Functional Nanomaterials Chair, Kiel University, where he introduced the new flame-based technology for tetrapod nanostructuring including their 3D highly porous networks as flexible ceramics. These networks can be used as sacrificial templates to create hybrid and new 3D architectured materials. At SDU, NanoSYD, the Smart Materials group’s main focus is to develop new class of ‘Functional Materials for Advanced and Sustainable Technologies’.
He is Editorial Board Member and referee for many prestigious magazines. He has received many notable awards, like, Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2008), Young Investigator Award (under 40) from BHJ Fonden-Denmark and has won several successful grants. Prof. Mishra is very well known worldwide for his research activities on 'Functional Tetrapod based Nanology'.
PROF. DATO' IR. DR. ABDUL WAHAB MOHAMMAD
Keynote Speaker
Prof Dato’ Ir. Dr. Abdul Wahab Mohammad graduated with his PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Wales Swansea, United Kingdom in 1998. Currently, Prof Abdul Wahab is a Dean of the College of Engineering, University of Sharjah, UAE (Secondment from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM). He is a former Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation at UKM, from 2019 to 2022.
Prof Abdul Wahab is a Fellow of Institution of Chemical Engineers UK and Malaysia Academy of Sciences. He also holds the position of Chief Co-Editor for Journal of Water Process Engineering (Elsevier). Prof Abdul Wahab is recognized with over 33 awards and honors (Top 2% Scientist, Prince Sultan International Prize for Water, Top Research Scientist Malaysia, Malaysia's Research Star Award etc.). He is awarded with International/National/Industry grant worth more than RM 25 million.
His main research interest is on the development and application of membrane technology (UF, NF, RO, FO) for various applications in desalination and water/wastewater treatment. Prof Abdul Wahab has published over 400 research articles and intellectual properties.
DR. EVANGELOS A. BELLOS
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Evangelos Bellos is a Post-Doctoral in the School of Mechanical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens (Greece) and also a Research Associate at Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH), Greece. He holds the position of Associate Editor in the Elsevier Journal "Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments", and he belongs to the Editorial Board of several Journals such as "Thermal Science and Engineering Progress - Elsevier", "Solar Energy Advances - Elsevier", "International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering - Springer", "Applied System Innovation - MDPI".
He has published over 200 papers in scientific journals and many papers in conference proceedings. According to Scopus Base, his h-index is 54, while according to Google Scholar Base is 63. Also, he is listed in the top 2% of Scientists Worldwide according to the Stanford University list for the last three years. His research is mainly focused on thermodynamics, solar concentrating collectors, refrigeration, ORC, heat pumps, energy in buildings, trigeneration systems and CO2 cycles.
ASSOC. PROF. DR. HAFIZ MUHAMMAD ALI
Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Ali, currently working as an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. His fields of research are thermal sciences and heat transfer with focus on electronics cooling, condensation, nanofluids, heat transfer devices, and thermal management. Over the span of several years, he supervised numerous undergraduate and postgraduate students and his work produced more than 350 papers featured in various reputed international journals. He has participated at several international and national conferences as an invited speaker and delivered various keynote talks. His supervision experience is vast with over 50 postgraduate students supervised.
Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Ali has more than 350 paper publications with 19500 citations. He is an Editor-in-Chief for Emerging Technologies and Materials in Thermal Engineering (Elsevier) and Associate Editor for few other journals. Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Ali is listed in the Highly Cited Researchers Web of Science, Clarivate (2021 - 2022) in field of engineering.
ASSOC. PROF. DR. S. K. TYAGI
S. K. Tyagi, presently working as Associate Professor at Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi since April, 2017. Earlier he was working as Director/Scientist-E at Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy, Kapurthala. He has also worked as Assistant Professor at SMVDU, Katra (J&K).
Dr. Tyagi has more than 27 years of research experience and expertise in the area of renewable energy both solar thermal and biomass energy and other energy related fields. He has made a significant contribution in RD&D activities and having more than 250 publications of repute and > 9000 citations. He has also completed several RD&D projects (as PI/Co-PI) of worth of 150 Million INR funded by MNRE, CSIR, DRDO, CPCB, British Council, Indian Industry, etc. He is member several reputed societies such as, Indian Science Congress, Indian Physics Association, Solar Energy Society of India, Indian Society for Heating, Refrigeration, Airconditioning Engineers (ISHRAE). Dr. Tyagi has also been recognized as among top 2% of global scientists from India in the field of Energy, a study published by Stanford University and Elsevier in 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.
ASSOC. PROF. DR. ZAFAR SAID
Dr. Zafar Said is working as an Associate Professor at the Department of Sustainable Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Sharjah. He is also working as Adjunct Faculty at the U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E) National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Pakistan. He also serves as the coordinator of the Functional nanomaterials’ synthesis lab. Dr. Zafar completed his Ph.D. at the University of Malaya, Malaysia. He has graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (Hons.) from University Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the iSmart group in the Department of Engineering Systems and Management, Masdar Institute, U.A.E. He also worked with industrial collaborative projects which were confidential with Masdar Institute.
He works in the field of Renewable Energy, Energy and Exergy Analysis, Solar Energy (Solar Collectors, Energy Efficiency, Efficiency Improvement), Heat Transfer (Heat Transfer, Cooling, and Heating), and Nanofluids (Thermophysical properties, optical properties, Application of nanofluids). He has published over 200+ papers as per Scopus, including one in Progress in Energy and Combustion (IF: 35.339), One in Physics Reports (IF: 30.105), One in Nano Energy (IF: 19.069), and 6 in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (IF: 16.799), 2 books, 20 book chapters, 26 conference papers), with about 7651+ citations and an H-index of 51. He also edited and authored a book titled “Hybrid Nanofluids and applications” with Elsevier as the First Edition. He ranked in World's Top 2% Scientists 2021 and 2020 by Elsevier BV and Stanford University) in the field of Energy. He is also ranked in the top 100 scientists in the United Arab Emirates. He secured 2 million AED in research grants. Dr. Zafar serves as the Editorial Board Member for several ISI Journals. He is also serving as a guest editor for several special issues in Q1 journals with Elsevier, Frontiers, MDPI, etc. Moreover, he is a reviewer in more than 40 Journals.
PROF. DR. JEYRAJ A/L SELVARAJ
ASSOC. PROF. DR. VINEET VEER TYAGI
