Prof. Dr. Ardeshir Mahdavi, Technical University of Vienna, Austria.

Professor Mahdavi is the Director of the Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology and the Chair of the Graduate Studies Program in Building Science and Technology at the Vienna University of Technology, Austria. Pro- fessor Mahdavi's area of research and teaching covers building physics, energy-efficient and sustainable buildings, computational building perfor- mance simulation, building systems control, and human factors. Professor Mahdavi is a frequent keynote speaker at international scientific conferences and Visiting Professor in various universities in the USA, Europe, and Asia. He has authored over 400 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and conference proceedings. In the last three years, Professor Mahdavi has been consecutively awarded the “Austrian Building Award” in the research projects category.

Prof. Dr. Bernard O'Kane, American University of Cairo, Egypt.   

Bernard O'Kane is professor of Islamic art and architecture at The American University in Cairo, where he has been teaching since 1980. Previously, he was assistant director of the British Institute of Persian Studies in Tehran, from 1976 to 1979. O'Kane was also the principal investigator of a conspicuous award granted to the Egyptian Antiquities Project of the American Research Center in Egypt. A prolific author and devoted faculty member, O’Kane has served in multiple capacities at AUC; Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley. With a career that spans more than 35 years, O’Kane has published extensively and received high honors for his academic contributions. His research interests are directed in Iranian and Egyptian Islamic architecture Persian painting Eptigraphy and tilework. 

Hermann Knoflacher is a senior professor at Vienna University of Technology.

He is the director of the Institute for Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering. His main research focus is on Design of transport elements; Transport system user behavior; Traffic-infrastructure and mobility; Sustainable development of cities and mobility; Traffic safety; Energy-consumption; Environment; Basic interdisciplinary research Human system behavior and evolution, dynamic of complex urban systems, sustainable urban and transport development, traffic safety from a system view, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, building a sound-scientific background for transport and urban planning.He is author of many articles and books related to the above mentioned topics. Prof. Knoflacher is member of many national and international organizations including OECD-research groups, European Academy of Science, PIARC (World Road Association), Austrian Urban Road Scientific Committee. He is also lecturing in USA, Japan, China and several European countries.