Claudio Zilio is a Mechanical Engineer and Full Professor at the University of Padova (Italy), where he teaches "Energy Management and Digitalization" and "Thermal Systems".

He has been actively involved in numerous European research projects, primarily focusing on Refrigeration Technology and Heat Transfer. He is the author or co-author of over 200 scientific papers (more than 170 indexed in Scopus and Web of Science), addressing topics such as thermodynamics of inverse cycles, heat transfer (both theoretical and applied aspects), energy applications in HVAC systems for buildings, refrigeration for food preservation, and refrigerating equipment and heat pumps.

He serves as Secretary of Commission B2 (Refrigerating Equipment) of the International Institute of Refrigeration and has been President of AiCARR (Italian Association for Air Conditioning, Heating, Ventilation and Refrigeration) from 2023 to 2026. He is also an Associate Editor of the Science and Technology for the Built Environment journal published by ASHRAE.

Craig Bradshaw is the Executive Director of the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Center (ACRC) and Associate Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering at University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. At ACRC, Dr. Bradshaw oversees 25+ pre-competitive research projects supported by 20+ industry partners applied to HVAC&R and other thermal management applications. He earned his BSME and PhD from Purdue University in 2007 and 2012, respectively. Until 2024, he was an Associate Professor and Carol M. Leonard Fellow at Oklahoma State University where he founded an industry/university cooperative research center, emphasizing collaborative development in HVAC&R systems. Prior to 2016 he was the Manager of Research and Development at Torad Engineering, a compressor technology development startup. Dr. Bradshaw is an expert in compressor modeling and development for heat pump, air-conditioning, refrigeration, waste-heat recovery, and industrial air applications. His research has led to over 100 peer-reviewed publications, 4 patents, and resulted in several awards including the Mortar Board societies Golden Torch Award, the Excellent Faculty Award at Oklahoma State University and ASHRAE’s Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Majid Bahrami is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a Tier-1 Canada Research Chair in Alternative Energy Conversion Systems at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (FCAE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (FASME).

Dr. Bahrami is internationally recognized for championing interdisciplinary and industry-engaged research focused on sustainable thermal and energy systems. His work spans the harvesting and upcycling of low-grade waste heat for high-impact applications, including next-generation heat pumps, sustainable cooling and dehumidification, thermal energy storage, atmospheric water harvesting, and hybrid thermal-electric microgrids. These technologies target critical sectors such as buildings, data centres, transportation, agri-food systems, and climate-resilient cities.

He has led extensive collaborations with national and international research institutions, utilities, municipalities, and industry partners. Dr. Bahrami is the founder of two technology start-ups, an inventor on 12 patents, author of more than 350 publications, recipient of multiple national and international innovation awards, and has supervised over 180 highly qualified personnel, including eight professors.

Prof. Min Soo KIM received the B.S. (1985), M.S. (1987), and Ph.D. (1991) degrees in mechanical engineering at Seoul National University. He is a Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University since 1994. His major is thermal engineering including refrigeration and heat pump systems. He spent three years from 1992 to 1994 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in U.S. as a guest researcher. He has more than 250 journal papers and more than 480 conference papers together with about 50 patents in the field of thermal engineering and refrigeration. He is a member of ASME, ASHRAE, IIR, KSME, and SAREK.

Pradip Dutta is currently Professor in the Centre for Energy Research and in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.Currently, Prof. Dutta’s research group focuses on thermal energy storage, advanced cooling technologies for EVs and high-power electronics, and on technologies related to phase change and adsorption.Prof. Dutta received his Bachelor’s degree from IIT Kharagpur, Masters from IIT Madras and Ph.D. from Columbia University, New York, all in Mechanical Engineering. He has been elected Fellow of ASME, ASTFE, AUTSE, Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), and of Indian National Science Academy (INSA).  He has received Distinguished Alumnus Awards from both IIT Kharagpur and IIT Madras, J. C. Bose National Fellowship, and Outstanding Teacher Award from the Indian National Academy of Engineering. He is a former President of the Indian Society of Heat and Mass Transfer.

Prof. Stefan Elbel received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2007. His thesis was on high-side pressure controlled two-phase ejectors for transcritical CO₂ systems under guidance of the late Prof. Pega Hrnjak. As one of the first employees of Creative Thermal Solutions, which started as a spin-off company of UIUC’s Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center (ACRC), he helped develop and grow the start-up into a sizeable and independent R&D company.

Professor Yunting Ge is a Professor of Building Services Engineering in the School of Engineering and Design at London South Bank University (LSBU), where he also serves as Director of the Centre for Civil and Building Services Engineering (CCiBSE) and Head of the Hydrogen Laboratory. He holds BSc and MSc degrees from Xi’an Jiaotong University and a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University, with academic expertise spanning Thermofluids, Energy and Hydrogen. With over 25 years of research and development experience, Professor Ge has led numerous research projects in energy. He is currently the principal investigator on research projects funded by EPSRC and Innovate UK, with a cumulative funding portfolio exceeding £7.13 million. He has supervised more than 15 Ph.D. students and several post-doctoral researchers and has authored over 170 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications. Externally, Professor Ge is the President of the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) Commission E1, a Fellow of the UK’s Institute of Refrigeration (IOR), and an Associate Editor of Energy Reports (Elsevier).