Speakers

Dr. Soteris Kalogirou received his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Glamorgan, UK (1995). In June 2011 he was awarded from the University of Glamorgan, UK the title of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.). From January 2019 is a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and from April 2019 he is a Founding Member of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts. He is considered internationally as an expert in the field of solar thermal collectors, hybrid photovoltaic/thermal systems and to the use of artificial intelligence techniques for the performance prediction of energy and renewable energy systems. He is member of CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers), Chartered Engineer (C.Eng), member of FEANI (Eur Ing), member of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers), member of ISES (International Solar Energy Society) and member of the Institute of Refrigeration (IoR).

He has published many papers in international journals and refereed conference proceedings, mainly on solar thermal systems, on computational simulation and optimization of solar systems and on the use of artificial intelligence systems for the performance prediction of energy and renewable energy systems. His work received many citations. He was invited/keynote speaker in 65 conferences. He has also authored or contributed chapters in 54 books, he is the editor of the book Artificial Intelligence in Energy and Renewable Energy Systems, editor of the book Soft Computing in Green and Renewable Energy Systems, editor of the book McEnvoy's Handbook of Photovoltaics, and author of the book Solar Energy Engineering: Processes and Systems and Solar Thermal Desalination, both published by Academic Press. He has participated in the organization of more than 90 international conferences. He has supervised a large number of undergraduate, Masters and Ph.D. theses. He is Editor-in-Chief of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Editorial Board Member in another 20 international scientific journals. 

Dr. Shuai Yong is a Professor at the School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin, China. He earned his B.S. (2001) and Ph.D. (2006) in Engineering Thermophysics from HIT, joining the university's faculty in October 2004. From April 2011 to April 2012, he served as a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, Atlanta, USA.

His research focuses on low-carbon energy systems, advanced energy storage, smart thermal management, and thermal measurement technology/instrumentation development. He has authored/co-authored ~160 journal papers and holds 30 patents in solar energy utilization and thermal radiation measurement.

An internationally recognized scholar, Dr. Shuai serves as a regular reviewer for leading journals in radiation heat transfer, optics, and solar energy, and sits on the Editorial Boards of Solar Energy, Energy Storage and Saving, Science China: Technological Science, and Carbon Neutrality. His accolades include the 2013 New Century Excellent Talents Program (Ministry of Education), 2015 NSFC Outstanding Youth Science Fund, 2016 Young Yangtze River Scholar, and 2019 Yangtze River Scholar.

Dr. Ruina Xu is Professor (tenured) and Dean of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, China. She also serves as the Director of Shanxi Research Institute for Clean Energy, Tsinghua University. She obtained a B.S. in 2002 and PhD in 2007 from Tsinghua University. Her research aims at providing answers to fundamental questions on the dynamics of multiphase flow, heat and mass transfer in micro-/nano-scale and complex porous network, which are applicable to practical low carbon and carbon neutral solutions, for example CCUS, CO₂ enhanced unconventional gas/oil exploitation, and next generation of solar-thermal and geothermal systems. In-situ high pressure visualization experiments and numerical models from atom-, molecular-, pore-, core-scale to field scale are developed in her lab. In addition to providing test platforms for CO₂ geological storage projects in UK, Canada and France, her team is the key technical supporter for the CCS demonstration projects in China. As the Principal Investigator, she has been in charge of several grants from NSFC, MOST, and international cooperation, such as National Distinguished Young Scholars of NSFC. She won China Youth Science and Technology Award in 2022 and the XPLORER Prize in 2025.

Professor Vivien L. Lu is a full professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and is internationally recognized for her pioneering contributions to energy engineering and sustainable energy innovation. She is recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in Engineering by Clarivate Analytics and is ranked among the top 2% of energy scientists worldwide by Stanford University. Her prolific output includes four published books and more than 350 SCI-indexed journal papers in leading journals, including Nature Communications and Advanced Materials. As a principal investigator, Prof. Lu has secured over HK$90 million in research funding from various prestigious organizations. Her research has established two spin-off startups. Prof. Lu’s groundbreaking work has garnered numerous international accolades, including Gold Medals at the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions (2016, 2024, 2025), the TechConnect Global Innovation Award (USA, 2017), the PolyU Faculty Award for Excellent Performance in Research (2018), the Second-Class Innovation Award from the Ministry of Education of China (2019), and the Gold Medal at the 4th Asia Exhibition of Innovations and Inventions (2024). She currently serves as Associate Editor for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews and as Associate Editor-in-Chief of Energy Engineering.