Simon Elias Bibri, PhD, is a senior research scientist and project coordinator at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Computer and Communication Sciences (IINFCOM), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), and Media and Design Laboratory (LDM). He has a diverse professional background, having served as head of a computer department, software engineer, IT business engineer, green ICT and environmental sustainability strategist, research associate, assistant professor, and consultant. Currently, he serves as an expert in Artificial Intelligence and Applied Machine Learning for Climate Action for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international expert in Sustainable Cities for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and an expert for Focus Group for Smart Sustainable Cities, Environmental Sustainability, and Digital Twin for the United Nations Agency of International Telecommunication Union (ITU). He also holds the position of Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Environmental Studies at Taylor & Francis Group. Dr. Bibri's academic journey exemplifies both interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, traversing and bridging the knowledge domains of science, technology, innovation, and society. His intellectual background encompasses computer science, computer engineering, systems science, innovation science, environmental science, social sciences, and humanities. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer engineering and an advanced management program (AMP) degree. Notably, he earned 9 master's degrees at esteemed Swedish universities, namely, Lund University, West University, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Stockholm University, Malmö University, and Mid-Sweden University. Additionally, he earned a PhD in computer science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), specializing in computational technology and urban informatics, with a focus on data-driven smart sustainable cities.Dr. Bibri is a prolific author with numerous highly cited journal articles, six authored books, two edited books, and 8 co-edited books to his credit. His work has been cited over 10500 times, resulting in an h-index of 48. His impact is further underscored by his recognition by Stanford and Elsevier as one of the top 2% of scientists globally for five consecutive years. He has also been listed by ScholarGPS in 2022 as the #1 highly ranked scholar in sustainable cities, #4 in big data, and #8 in sustainability in the world. Dr. Bibri's research interests and expertise cover a broad spectrum of areas, including smart cities, sustainable cities, smarter eco-cities, sustainable smart cities, urban artificial intelligence, urban artificial intelligence of things, urban digital twin, smart urban metabolism, urban circularity, cyber-physical systems of systems, Internet of City Things, platform urbanism, environmental planning and governance, environmental sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, smart sustainable energy, smart sustainable transportation, smart sustainable waste management, sustainability transitions, and technological innovation systems.
Giuseppe Resta is an integrated researcher at the Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto, in the Centro de Estudos de Arquitectura e Urbanismo. He is currently working on the ERC project ID-SCAPES (ERC/COG/101125057), in which he experiments with tools of digital humanities applied to heritage sites in India. He previously held teaching positions at Yeditepe University, Istanbul (2021-23) and Bilkent University, Ankara, TR (2019-21) as an assistant professor, at Politecnico di Bari, Bari, IT (2019) as an adjunct professor, and at Polis University, Tirana, AL (2017) as a lecturer. Resta received his Ph.D. in architecture from Università degli Studi Roma TRE, Roma (2017). He is the owner and curator of Antilia Gallery (IT) and co-founder of the architecture think tank PROFFERLO Architecture (IT-UK). His research has been published in architectural journals, including The Plan Journal, STUDIO, FAM, Architecture and Urban Planning, CIDADES, and Vitruvio. His latest monographic works include "Journey to Albania: Architectures, Expeditions, and Landscapes of Tourism" (Accademia University Press, 2022) and "The City and the Myth" (Libria, 2023). Additionally, Resta co-led the WG2 of the COST Action titled "Writing Urban Places."
Dorina Papa, Ph.D,Graduated in architecture in 2007 at "Universita Degli Studi Gabrielle D'Annunzio, Italy,". He was awarded a PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning, from Ferrara University in Italy and she developed part of his PhD dissertation research at the HIS Institute of Erasmus University in Rotterdam. She has been Teaching assistant, and lecturer for 14 years, between 2008-2020 At the Department of Architecture and Design, Polis University, Tirana, where she also served as Vice Dean. During this period, she took part in numerous national and international competitions, exhibitions and research projects. From October 2021 she is a full-time Lecturer at the Department of Architecture and Design, University of New York Tirana. Her academic contributions include leading design studios, teaching architecture, supervising diploma and Ph.D. theses and active participating into research projects. Dr. Dina Magnaye is an Associate Professor and Dean of the University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP SURP), where she completed her PhD in Urban and Regional Planning. She is a licensed environmental planner and a member of the College of Fellows of the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners. She has contributed extensively to the development of the planning profession through teaching and research and through extension work of providing technical assistance to the national government and local government units and in the capacity building of government-owned and controlled corporations and non-governmental organizations.
Dr. Magnaye became the Program Chair of the Diploma in/Master of Land Valuation and Management of the UP Open University from 2016 to 2019. From 2019 to 2022, she heads as the Program Chair of the Diploma in Land Use Planning. From 2020 to 2022, Dr. Magnaye became the Director of the Office of Research and Publication of the UP SURP, where she also served as the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal in Urban and Regional Planning (JURP). She assumed her deanship from 2022 until 2025. She has been engaged in research and development and technical assistance on agricultural development. Her expertise includes urban and regional planning, local economic development, and financial/economic analysis, among others. She has been involved in the preparation of national and locally mandated plans.