Dr. Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, a respected figure in the field of climate change and environmental policy, was the former Minister of Climate Change and Environment in the UAE, beginning his tenure in July 2020. In this pivotal role, he was instrumental in shaping and executing the nation's climate resilience and ecosystem protection strategies through the formulation of impactful policies and initiatives. Beyond his ministerial duties, Dr. Belhaif chaired both the UAE Council for Climate Change and Environment and the National Biosecurity Committee.

Prior to this, from 2013 to 2020, he held the position of Minister of Infrastructure Development. During his tenure, he was a driving force behind the advancement of federal infrastructure projects, including inter-emirate highways and government facilities. He also presided over the Sheikh Zayed Housing Program and the Federal Transport Authority.

Recently, Dr. Belhaif has transitioned into a thought leadership role, delivering keynote speeches on navigating uncertain environmental futures for various organizations. Currently, he is an active lecturer and author, focusing on topics related to climate change, renewable energy and the built environment.

Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) Senior Research Fellow

Executive Chairholder, NSERC/P&WC Industrial Research Chair on Propulsion System

With P&WC from 1978 to 2010, he was Senior Manager of Technology from 1999 to 2009 and was named Senior Research Fellow in 2011.

He is the Canadian industry member of NATO. He is Adjunct Professor at Carleton University (Canada) and Rzeszow University (Poland), as well as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (U.S.A.). He is an active member of committees within the CRIAQ and Aero Montreal. He is the founder of the Montreal Aerospace Institute and a co-founder of CRIAQ.

He is a Fellow of the ASME, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute and the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering. He is the author and co-author of over 100 publications and two books on gas turbines. He is the recipient of 30 national and international awards since 1980, including: Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec (2013), James C. Floyd Award AIAC (2012), CASI Senior McCurdy Award (2008), ADRIQ Prix Carrière industrielle (2007), etc.

https://www.aeromontreal.ca/card-hany-moustapha-109.html

University of Indonesia (UI).

She graduated with a BSc in Electrical Engineering from UI. She gained a master's in human resources management from the Atmajaya University Jakarta. Subsequently she completed her MSc degree in Software Systems and Parallel Processing from the Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, UK, funded by British Council Chevening Award. She holds a PhD in Computer Networks from the School of Computing, University of Leeds, UK. Her PhD research was on Active Networks-based Congestion Control Protocols.  Since April 2010, she has been the Chairperson of UI GreenMetric Ranking of World Universities, a flagship program of the University of Indonesia to rank university worldwide based on their green campus and sustainability programs.  Prof Riri Fitri Sari has also received an Honorary Professorship from Kazakh National Agrarian University (KAZNAU) in 2017, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) in 2024, RUDN University in 2025 and many other research and lifetime achievement award

His research activities, mainly focused on Artificial Intelligence and Data Management, were initially devoted to theoretical and practical issues in knowledge representation and automated reasoning. In these fields, he proposed innovative solutions to knowledge-aware resource retrieval and matching by exploiting non-monotonic automated reasoning techniques. Then, he moved to study how to apply knowledge representation techniques and tools both to automated negotiations among rational agents with preferences and to mobile and ubiquitous computing scenarios and protocols. Following these ideas, he started to study applications of knowledge graphs and Linked Open Data datasets to user modeling and recommender systems.

He has recently been publishing many works covering theoretical, algorithmic, and experimental aspects on the subject of recommender systems. During the last years, he has also focused on security and privacy issues related to recommender systems with a specific emphasis on adversarial and federated machine learning.

Tommaso Di Noia has published many papers in international journals, conferences, and book chapters related to his research interests. Some of them have been awarded the Best Paper Award in different conferences. He is a recipient of IBM Ph.D. Fellowship in 2015 and HP Labs Innovation Research Program Award in 2011 and 2012.

https://sisinflab.poliba.it/people/tommaso-di-noia/

Also serves as the Director of the Sharjah Smart Research Center for Climate Resilience. He is the chairman of the Scientific Publishing Unit and has previously held leadership roles, including Director of IT for one year and Chairman of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department for two years.

In his current role, Prof. Nasir teaches a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses, including Digital Forensics, Secure Software, Ethical Hacking, Mobile Computing, Error Control Coding, Digital Telecommunication Engineering, Computer Networks, Network Programming, Computer System Architecture, Quantum Computing, and Programmable Logic Controllers. He also supervises numerous master’s and Ph.D. students across diverse research areas. As a co-coordinator of the OpenUAE research group, Prof. Nasir is involved in research on open-source applications such as Embedded Systems, Blockchain, Network Programming, AI in Robotics Process Automation (RPA), Cybersecurity (Advanced Persistent Threat Intelligence), Fake News/Video Detection, Modulation Classification, Blockchain Performance, Radar Applications in Signal Identification and Classification, and more.

Prof. Nasir's primary research interests are in cybersecurity and the application of Generative AI for cybersecurity, among other related fields. Prior to joining the University of Sharjah in 2001, he worked for six years at Nortel Networks, Canada, where he served as a Senior Consultant Optical Engineer for data products like OC-12 and OC-192. He later moved to the ADSL Modems group as a Senior Firmware System Designer. Additionally, he was an adjunct part-time assistant professor at Ottawa University from 1999 to 2001, teaching Telecommunication Software Engineering. Prof. Nasir also held visiting professor positions at Helsinki University of Technology (2002–2009) and GIPSA Lab in Grenoble, France, where he collaborated on a joint research project on Sensor Networks.

With over 139 scientific publications and technical reports in international journals and conferences, Prof. Nasir has contributed significantly to his field. He holds several professional certifications, including CISSP (Security), Juniper Associate, Cisco Trainer, ITIL v4, and AI in Fintech.

Yousuf Alazizi is a seasoned aviation safety expert with 26 years of experience in the industry. He currently serves as the Acting Assistant Director General of Strategy and International Affairs at the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

Yousuf began his career with Emirates Airline, where he spent a decade as a Senior Aircraft Engineer. He then joined the GCAA, dedicating 16 years to various leadership roles, including Senior Director of Airworthiness. Throughout his career, he has played a pivotal role in managing aircraft aviation organization certification, regulatory oversight, and the development of aviation safety policies and regulations across Airworthiness and Flight Operations.

He holds a Master’s degree in Aviation Safety, a Bachelor's degree in Aviation Management, and a Higher Diploma in Aircraft Engineering. His extensive expertise and leadership have contributed significantly to enhancing aviation safety standards and strategic initiatives within the industry.

Currently serving as the Business Development Director at Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), EDGE. With a Ph.D. in progress and extensive expertise in military systems integration, digital transformation, and production control, he has led key defense projects, including naval electronic systems and C4I operations. His strategic leadership and technical acumen drive innovation and growth in the defense sector.

Currently serving as a Senior Design Engineer in Integrated Systems Engineering at Siemens Energy Innovation Center in Abu Dhabi. Saleh brings nearly a decade of experience in R&D, innovation, and continuous improvement within the energy and industrial sectors. He is actively engaged in advancing the field through numerous publications and invention disclosures, with several of his works featured in prestigious international journals and conferences. Saleh’s commitment to driving technological advancements makes him a valuable contributor to the industry.

Walid is the Vice President- Compliance Monitoring at Emirates since Feb 2025.
He started his career after graduating from the Higher Colleges of Technology in aircraft maintenance engineering.
He worked in several aviation entities before moving the General Civil Aviation Authority, where worked as an Inspector, moving to become Director- Safety Policy and Regulation and then becoming the Assistant Director general- Strategy and International Affairs. Walid was also the CEO-Innovation at the GCAA while heading also multiple teams such as digitalisation,  and customer experience.
Walid is a passionate trainer and has been lecturing on the subjects of innovation and simplification for many years

Eng. Mohamed Yousef Abdulla Mohamed Hasan is an Environmental Analyst within the Climate Change and Green Development Sector at the Ministry of Climate Change & Environment (MOCCAE), UAE.

A graduate of Sustainability Studies from Hosei University, Japan, his work focuses on advancing the UAE’s Green Agenda, enhancing ESG frameworks, promoting green energy and technology, and shaping circular economy policies. He is also actively involved in awareness initiatives, capacity-building workshops, and policy developmentto drive sustainability forward.

Committed to fostering climate resilience, innovation