Prof. Dr. Joachim Müller is a Professor and Head of the Department of Agricultural Engineering in the Tropics and Subtropics and the Institute of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Hohenheim. He earned his Dr. habil. sc. agr., venia legendi in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Hohenheim in December 1999 with his thesis on the visualization, evaluation, and optimization of seed placement in drill seeding. In December 1992, he received his Dr. sc. agr. with a dissertation on the solar drying of medicinal plants, and in April 1985, he completed his diploma in Agricultural Sciences with a thesis on climate studies in a greenhouse with evaporative cooling in Crete. Prof. Müller has held several prestigious positions, including Full Professor at the University of Hohenheim since October 2004, Head of the Agricultural Engineering in the Tropics and Subtropics, and previously as Full Professor and Head of the Farm Technology Group at Wageningen University. His career also includes a post-doctoral position and fellowship at the University of Hohenheim in various groups focusing on efficient water and energy use such as water-saving irrigation strategies, use of renewable energies and (solar) drying, decentralized energy supply and sustainable bio-energy systems, and quality monitoring in fruit production and processing. He is actively involved in numerous professional organizations and committees, including the Board of Experts for "Agrosystems of the Future" of the BMBF, and editorial boards of several journals. His research interests are centered on non-invasive sensor systems for in situ measurements of physiological conditions such as growth stage, maturity, abiotic stress, and diseases, with expertise in systematic design, computer-aided engineering, machine vision, hyperspectral imaging, and image processing. Prof. Müller has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles.

 

 

Dr. Eldon Raj Rene is affiliated with the Water Supply Sanitation Environmental Engineering Department, IHE Delft, The Netherlands. He is a dedicated researcher with a strong focus on advancing biological treatment processes for wastewater and waste-gas treatment. His expertise also extends to non-point source pollution prevention, resource recovery from waste gases, and the application of artificial intelligence tools for environmental monitoring. He is actively involved in environmental process control and the development of eco-industrial parks. He has authored two comprehensive books on Sustainable Heavy Metal Remediation, published in 2017. Currently, he serves as the managing editor for Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/technology (Springer) and as an associate editor of the Journal of Environmental Engineering (ASCE). Dr. Rene's contributions to environmental science have been recognized with prestigious awards, including the 'Young Scientist Award' conferred by the Challenges in Environmental Science and Engineering conference organizers in Sydney (Australia) and Kaohsiung (Taiwan). In 2007, he was honored with the 'Juan de la Cierva' fellowship by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Spain). Furthermore, he has edited special thematic issues and volumes for respected journals such as Bioresource Technology, International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, ASCE-Journal of Environmental Engineering, and the Journal of Hazardous Materials. He is also a distinguished life member of the International Bioprocessing Association (IBA).

 

 

Eakalak Khan is a Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Department, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). From 2002 to 2017, he was a Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, North Dakota State University (NDSU). He also served as the Chair of Civil Engineering Department, NDSU from 2010 to 2013. Prior to NDSU, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Polytechnic University, New York from 1999 to 2002. He received his Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Engineering from Chiang Mai University, Thailand in 1990, M.S. in Agricultural Engineering from University of Hawaii in 1993, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1997. In 1998, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Institute of Environment, UCLA. Eakalak has published more than 180 refereed journal articles. He was awarded a CAREER grant from NSF in 2005. His honors include the NDSU Odney Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2008; Researcher of the Year, College of Engineering, NDSU, 2005; Water B. Booth Endowed Distinguished Professorship, NDSU, 2017; Water Environment Federation Fellow, 2019; Distinguished Researcher Award, Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, UNLV, 2023; and Fair Distinguished Engineering Educator Medal, Water Environment Federation, 2023.

 

 

Dr. Murat Sartas is a scientist, developer, and professional coach specializing in innovation, knowledge, and multi-stakeholder network management systems. He has published more than 50 research and communication products. He is the principal designer and developer of Scaling Readiness, a performance assessment and management system that have been used in more than 20 countries globally. He advises international organizations, development programs, and projects on achieving impact at scale and ensuring high value for money. He currently works with Wageningen University, GIZ, and 6 CGIAR centers in developing, disseminating, and scaling agriculture technologies and innovations.

 

 

Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Anlauf, born in 1956, holds a Diploma in Agronomy from Göttingen University, with a focus on Soil Science and Plant Production in the Tropics. His early career includes internships at farms in Israel and Norway, as well as practical training in an agricultural rehabilitation project for leprosy sufferers in Northern Thailand. He served as a research assistant at the Department of Soil Science, Hannover University, where he worked on reclamation of salt-affected soils and computer simulation of nutrient and pollutant transport in soils. He completed his Ph.D. in Soil Science in Horticulture at Hannover University in 1987, with a thesis on "Modeling the Reclamation of Salt-affected Soils Considering Spatial Variability". From 1990 to 1997, he worked for the Hannover Public Waterworks, focusing on Hydrology and Groundwater protection. He then became a Professor for General Soil Science/Soil Physics/Soil Information Systems at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences in 1997, where he continued until his retirement in October 2021. Despite retirement, he remains active in research projects and thesis supervision, specializing in the physics of soils and growing media (water and solute transport, physical properties of horticultural substrates), PC-based simulation models for water and solute transport, soil use and pollutant inputs, and geographical information systems (soil information systems), including the combination of GIS and simulation models.

 

 

Margaret Graham is a Professor and Personal Chair of Environmental Geochemistry at the School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh. Her research interests span soil geochemistry, climate change, ICP-MS, mass spectrometry techniques, environmental analytical chemistry, groundwater, and isotopes. Currently serving as a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Geochemistry, she has led several active research projects, including PRELUDE, focusing on predictive modeling of lead concentrations in urban environments, and LO-RISE, which investigates long-lived radionuclides in the surface environment. Another project explores the relationship between humic substances and total phosphorus in catchment soils. Graham has an extensive publication record, with around 70 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and has received funding from various UK central government bodies, local authorities, and health and hospital authorities for her research endeavors.

 

 

Dr. Kwanrawee Sirikanchana is a research scientist II at Chulabhorn Research Institute, Thailand. Her specialties include microbial source tracking, disinfection, environmental microbiology, water and wastewater treatment, and water quality, with a particular focus on antimicrobial resistance. She earned a B.E. in Environmental Engineering with first-class honors from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, followed by an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. Her postdoctoral experience includes working with Prof. Stefan Wuertz at the University of California Davis, USA. Over the years, she has received several awards recognizing her academic achievements and research contributions, including the IWA-HRWM Willie Grabow Young Investigator Award, the Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers, and the Huw Taylor Prize for exceptional scientific contribution to provide water and sanitation solutions in developing settings, among others. 

 

 

Dr. Siwaporn Meejoo Smith is a professor at Mahidol University, Thailand. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham, UK, specializing in Materials Chemistry. Her expertise includes ceramics and composites, catalysts and sorbents for environmental applications, and waste and by-product utilization. Her research focuses on materials innovation to develop simple, economical, and energy-efficient environmental remediation technologies. By tailoring surface and defect structures in solid materials, she aims to understand structure-property relationships and design technological materials with desirable properties for environmental remediation and greener chemical processes. Her current projects include the development of reusable hybrid organic-inorganic sorbents for effective removal of heavy metals in polluted water, reusable (or easily regenerated) catalysts for rapid removal of organic pollutants from wastewater, and low-cost catalysts derived from biomass waste.

 

 

Dr. Eldon Raj Rene is affiliated with the Water Supply Sanitation Environmental Engineering Department, IHE Delft, The Netherlands. He is a dedicated researcher with a strong focus on advancing biological treatment processes for wastewater and waste-gas treatment. His expertise also extends to non-point source pollution prevention, resource recovery from waste gases, and the application of artificial intelligence tools for environmental monitoring. He is actively involved in environmental process control and the development of eco-industrial parks. He has authored two comprehensive books on Sustainable Heavy Metal Remediation, published in 2017. Currently, he serves as the managing editor for Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/technology (Springer) and as an associate editor of the Journal of Environmental Engineering (ASCE). Dr. Rene's contributions to environmental science have been recognized with prestigious awards, including the 'Young Scientist Award' conferred by the Challenges in Environmental Science and Engineering conference organizers in Sydney (Australia) and Kaohsiung (Taiwan). In 2007, he was honored with the 'Juan de la Cierva' fellowship by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Spain). Furthermore, he has edited special thematic issues and volumes for respected journals such as Bioresource Technology, International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, ASCE-Journal of Environmental Engineering, and the Journal of Hazardous Materials. He is also a distinguished life member of the International Bioprocessing Association (IBA).

 

 

Dr. Murat Sartas is a scientist, developer, and professional coach specializing in innovation, knowledge, and multi-stakeholder network management systems. He has published more than 50 research and communication products. He is the principal designer and developer of Scaling Readiness, a performance assessment and management system that have been used in more than 20 countries globally. He advises international organizations, development programs, and projects on achieving impact at scale and ensuring high value for money. He currently works with Wageningen University, GIZ, and 6 CGIAR centers in developing, disseminating, and scaling agriculture and food innovations.