Kay Van Damme is a zoologist, active in biological/biodiversity research in mainly (sub)tropical areas. Since 1999, he has been involved in research and biodiversity conservation and climate change resilience through green solutions in the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen). He was the scientific coordinator of the most recent UNEP-GEF biodiversity/conservation project for Socotra (Phase 1) and is currently co-coordinating the ongoing Frankincense Tree replantation project in Socotra, working with local communities.

Kay Van Damme is the author of over 80 scientific publications and has coordinated the scientific aspects of large-scale awareness campaigns (connect2socotra) for the importance of biodiversity in Socotra and associated challenges, in cooperation with UNESCO.

Van Damme’s current research mainly focuses on freshwater biodiversity (including research on zooplankton as model organisms) and water resource issues in Socotra. This is complemented with research on general conservation and raising awareness of the need for it, together with research on and replantation of Socotra’s endangered endemic trees which are crucial for increasing climate change resilience. (These plants are also of high importance to local communities for livelihoods and local cultural connections).

Kay Van Damme works at the fascinating intersection where cutting-edge science, international collaborations, biodiversity conservation, capacity building and awareness meet. He translates science into a more basically understandable form for global debates and initiates research projects focused on overcoming challenging conditions to improve both the conservation of nature and human livelihoods.

Steven Vanonckelen is passionate about the link between people, businesses (economy) and environment (ecology). He is proficient in the application and coordination of European projects, where cross-border and multidisciplinary partnerships are key. He is responsible for integrated knowledge sharing within the Department of Environment and partnerships with companies, regional administrations, educational institutions and civil society organisations.

Vanonckelen is coordinator of the €50 million Flemish Action Programme for Ecological Defragmentation project and Green Deal business and biodiversity projects. He is also involved in strategic planning of EU projects and SDGs.

Shamika N. Sirimanne is the Director of UNCTAD’s Technology and Logistics Division. She leads UNCTAD’s trade logistics programme, which includes its work on trade facilitation, sustainable and resilient freight transport, port management, e-commerce and the digital economy. She also supervises UNCTAD’s largest technical cooperation programme, ASYCUDA, the Automated System for Customs Data.

Shamika N. Sirimanne also serves as the Head of the Secretariat of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development, which is the UN’s focal point for STI policy dialogue.

Sirimanne has extensive experience in development policy, research and technical cooperation, which she has gained from international organisations, national governments, think tanks and universities. She served as Director of the ICT and Disaster Risk Reduction Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), where she spearheaded major regional cooperation programmes. Among these are the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway initiative for seamless broadband connectivity, the Regional Drought Mechanism for monitoring and early warning of drought through space applications, and the United Nations Network of Experts for Paperless Trade, UNNExT.

During her tenure with ESCAP, Sirimanne also headed the trade facilitation programme and led both the macroeconomic policy work and ESCAP’s flagship publication, Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific. Prior to that, Ms. Sirimanne was with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), where she led the economic policy team and the Economic Report on Africa, ECA’s flagship publication. She has also worked for the Canadian Department of Finance and the World Bank.

Sirimanne has a PhD in economics.

Sampathkumar Veeraraghavan is a globally renowned technologist, best known for his technological innovations in addressing global humanitarian and sustainable development challenges. He is a seasoned technology and business leader with over 16 years of experience in Top 500 Fortune companies.

Throughout his career, Veeraraghavan has led business-critical strategic programmes and successfully delivered cutting-edge technologies in areas of conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Understanding, cloud computing, enterprise systems, infrastructure technologies, assistive and sustainable technologies. Sampath served as an expert in the 2020 Broadband Commission working group on school connectivity co-chaired by UNESCO, UNICEF and ITU to drive “GIGA,” a Global School Connectivity Initiative.

Sampathkumar Veeraraghavan is the founder and president of “The Brahmam”, a humanitarian programme delivering next-generation social innovations to achieve SDGs and benefit marginalised communities all over the world. He spent over a decade launching large-scale transformational global initiatives that brought together academic institutions, industry leaders and government agencies to address pressing challenges faced by children with disabilities, impoverished women and students from marginalised communities in developing nations.

Sampath is the Global Chair of the 2021 IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee (IEEE HAC). (The USA-based IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is of the world’s largest technical professional organisations.) In this role, he spearheads the global strategy and portfolio of sustainable development and humanitarian engineering programmes, aimed at delivering impactful programmes which engage and benefit 400K+ IEEE members at grass roots level in 160 countries. He is credited with launching several novel global programmes in humanitarian engineering which successfully inspired and engaged students and young professionals in sustainable development activities.

Sampath was Global Chair (2019-2020) of the IEEE Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technologies (SIGHT), which achieved record-breaking growth through high-impact, technology-driven sustainable programmes benefiting members in 119+ countries. He is the founding chair for the IEEE SIGHT day (2020) and SIGHT week (2019), a global programme that showcases the impactful IEEE technology-based humanitarian programmes. He currently leads the IEEE Standards 2021 Corporate Sustainability Working Group. As an active IEEE and IEEE-HKN member, Sampath has spearheaded more than 20+ global committees and has made significant contributions in advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.

Sampath is accredited with numerous global awards and media mentions for his leadership excellence and technological innovations in addressing global sustainable development challenges. He was recently honoured with the top global accolade “2020 IEEE Theodore W. Hissey Professional Award”. He has delivered 250+ invited talks at international forums, premier technology conferences and industry panels organised by UN, IEEE, ITU, World IoT forum and leading universities around the globe. He has authored and published 30+ research publications and thought leadership articles in leading global conferences, journals and magazines. His technological innovations and leadership excellence have been featured in cover stories of global media such as IEEE TV, IEEE spectrum, USA today, E-week, AI-news and IEEE transmitter, The Bridge and ACM-News.

Sampathkumar Veeraraghavan has a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA (2010), and a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from Anna University, India (2005). He currently works as a senior technology and programme management leader in the conversational Artificial Intelligence industry, where he spearheads a portfolio of science and engineering programmes to advance spoken language innovations.

Ken Stauffer was born and raised in Tanzania, East Africa. He has spent 30+ years in the telecommunications industry, having begun his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, NJ, after receiving his MSEE from Polytechnic University in New York City. At Bell Laboratories, Ken worked in Data Services Performance where he and the team designed a system called Packet-ASPEN to measure performance in packet networks and to establish Data Applications Labs.

Stauffer later moved to the International Operations Group to design and deploy AT&T’s Global Network Management Center in NYC, and to deploy the Centers in Europe alongside a Pan-European Frame Relay network. For AT&T’s Global Strategy and Business Development Group, Ken developed business and technical models for WORLDPARTNERS2, participated in the creation of CONCERT, the AT&T/BT Joint Venture, and managed AT&T’s business relationship with Japan Telecom in Japan.

Ken left AT&T in 2000 to become an entrepreneur as part of a management team founding EPIK Communications – a $450M start-up in Florida. He designed EPIK’s advanced services strategy, created both the Product Innovation Group and EPIK Labs, implemented a suite of “enlightened” IP and Ethernet products, and served as EPIK’s Senior Vice President of Operations and Chief Technology Officer. He also led a team to create the vision for “The NAP of the Americas” in Miami, which was sold in 2011 to Verizon for $1.4B.

In Jan 2003, Ken formed Technology Assurance Labs to provide consulting, design and testing services to venture capital groups, network equipment manufacturers and service providers. In 2010, Technology Assurance Labs began developing RFID products for the rail industry and IoT products for the propane and natural gas industry.

Ken Stauffer also founded Cypress Equipment, a product sales company.

Ken is a Life Senior Member of IEEE and co-founded the IEEE Entrepreneurship Initiative in 2015. He is currently chair of IEEE Entrepreneurship and chair of the Vaughn College Board of Trustees in NYC.

Ajay Poddar is an IEEE Fellow, an Electronics & Communication Engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology Calicut, India, and a Master of Technology in RADAR & Communication Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India. He also holds a doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) from Technical University Berlin, Germany, and a post-doctorate (Dr.-Ing. habil) from Brandenburg Technical University, Cottbus, Germany.

Poddar has received over a dozen awards for scientific and technological innovations and meritorious services, holds over 3 dozen patents, has published 300+ scientific papers in journals and conferences and co-authored 4 technical books/chapters. From 1991 to 2001, he worked as a senior scientist in DRDO and was a visiting professor at the University of Pune, India. He is currently the Chief Scientist at Synergy Microwave, NJ, USA, where he is responsible for design/development of signal generation/processing electronics, opto-electronics, RF-MEMS and Metamaterial- Electronics for industry, medical and space applications. He is also serving as a visiting professor at the University of Oradea, Romania, the Indian Institute of Technology Jammu, India, and is a guest lecturer at Technical University Munich, Germany.

Poddar received the 2015 IEEE IFCS Cady Award, in recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions to a host of frequency generating and frequency-controlled electronics and timing devices for industrial, medical and space applications. He is also the recipient of the 2018 IEEE MGA Innovation Award for his dedicated volunteering service to members, chapters and humanitarian projects, the 2015 IEEE R1 Award for “Outstanding Scientific Contributions, Leadership and Service”, and the 2009 IEEE R1 Award for “Outstanding Leadership and Contributions in the Research, Design and Development of Microwave Systems”. Additionally, Poddar is included in the list entitled “Divine Innovation: 10 Technologies Changing the Future of Passive and Control Components” (Cover page, Microwave Journal, November 2011).

Poddar was elected as an AdCom member of IEEE AP-S in 2018 and IEEE MTT-S in 2019, for 3-year terms, by a 10,000-strong eligible electorate from each society. As chair of the Global Chapter Activity Committee, Dr. Poddar has created more than 100 chapters worldwide in the last 10 years to connect outreach regions for the benefit of members and local communities. Dr. Poddar has been actively involved with IEEE SIGHT/HAC, IEEE sister societies and IEEE MGA activities, including charitable services for addressing inequality, especially in underserved communities. These engagements have served to broaden his experience as a leader and mentor, as well as a proactive volunteer who is able to inspire students, researchers and young professionals.

Poddar has been involved in helping underprivileged and underserved communities for more than 30 years. His wide-ranging experience of technical work and collaboration with industry, academic institutions and research organisations is helping to engage pre-university, undergraduate and graduate students, young professionals and local communities in connecting with these communities, sharing knowledge and assisting educational attainment to promote equality and help reduce poverty.

Fernando Guarín is a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Global Foundries in East Fishkill, New York, where he is currently leading the team qualifying GlobalFoundries RF 5G technology offerings. This follows his retirement from IBM’s SRDC after 27 years as a Senior Member of Technical Staff in 2016.

From 1980 until 1988, Guarín worked in the Military and Aerospace Operations division of National Semiconductor Corporation.  In 1988, he joined IBM’s microelectronics division, where he worked in reliability physics and modeling of Advanced Bipolar, CMOS and Silicon Germanium BiCMOS technologies.

Fernando Guarín is an IEEE Life Fellow and Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Electron Device Society EDS, where he has served in many capacities including member of the IEEE’s EDS Board of Governors, chair of the EDS Education Committee and EDS Secretary. He was also the EDS President 2018-2019.

Guarín earned his BSEE from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, his M.S.E.E. degree from the University of Arizona (USA), and his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, NY (USA). He has been actively working in microelectronic reliability for 40 years.

Susan Kathy Land is a Program Manager for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Missile Defense Agency. She has more than 30 years of industry experience in the application of software engineering methodologies, the management of information systems, and leadership of software development teams.

Kathy served as the 2018 Vice President, IEEE Technical Activities. She also served two additional terms on the IEEE Board of Directors as Division VIII Director/Delegate in 2011 and 2012 and as Division V Director/Delegate in 2014 and 2015. She was President of the IEEE Computer Society in 2009. Kathy was a member of the IEEE-USA Board of Directors in 2013 and 2016.

Kathy has been an active member of the IEEE Standards Association for more than 20 years and served as the Computer Society Vice President for Standards in 2004. She was the recipient of the 2007 IEEE Standards Medallion.

An IEEE Fellow, Kathy is the author and co-author of a number of texts and publications supporting software engineering principles and the practical application of software process methodologies. She is an IEEE-HKN Member and IEEE Computer Society Richard E. Merwin Award recipient.