Prof. Junxian Zhao

Head of the Department of Civil Engineering

South China University of Technology, China

Biography:

Dr. Junxian Zhao, Professor and Specially Appointed Ph.D. Supervisor (exceptional promotion) at the School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, currently serves as Assistant Dean and Director of the Civil Engineering Department. An internationally recognized scholar, he has conducted academic visits at the University of California, San Diego and Hokkaido University. His distinguished academic achievements include being honored as a Young Chang Jiang Scholar (2022), recipient of the Guangdong Outstanding Youth Team Fund (2023), Guangdong Distinguished Young Scholar (2021), inaugural awardee of the Guangdong Special Support Program for Outstanding Young Scientists (2014), and Guangzhou Pearl River Science & Technology Rising Star (2016). His research excellence is evidenced by the Provincial/Ministerial Level First Prize for Scientific & Technological Progress (2019, as lead investigator) and the international "Hui-Xian Liu Earthquake Engineering Award" (2011, awarded to 10 global scholars). Actively engaged in academic leadership, he holds editorial roles for multiple SCI-indexed journals including Advanced Steel Construction and Buildings, serves on the Youth Editorial Board of Progress in Steel Building Structures, and contributes to professional governance as a Council Member of the Chinese Society of Vibration Engineering. This integrated narrative systematically presents his academic trajectory, honors, and professional service while maintaining rigorous adherence to academic nomenclature and international scholarly conventions.

Prof. Joon Sik Kim

Chartered Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China

Biography:

Joon Sik Kim is a Professor in the Urban Planning and Design Department at XJTLU. His research interests focus on strategic planning in smart cities, environmental planning, and geographic information systems. With his practical experiences in GIS and smart cities, he is concerned about how emerging technologies can be applied in urban development and management in a real-life context. He has been involved in GIS consulting projects for local governments in Korea and smart city projects worldwide. He is a Chartered Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. He is currently leading the Urban Lab. His main research interests are Smart Cities in the Digital Age, Collaborative Planning in Planning Practice, Waterside Revitalisation, GIS in Urban Planning, Human-Computer and Space Interface. 

Prof. Mahalaya Chatterjee

Calcutta University, India

Biography:

Dr. Mahalaya Chatterjee is Professor of Urban and Regional Economics in Department of Economics, Calcutta University. She was also the Director of Centre for Urban Economic Studies,a research centre specializing on urban studies in the same university till 2017. An alumnus of St.Xavier’s College and Department of Economics, Calcutta University, she has been engaged in research and teaching of economics for the last three decades. She coordinated a course on urban management and planning for the last five years. She has two books (on urban land economics and environmental management respectively) and published an edited volume on socio-economic perspectives of urban development in Howrah, the twin city of Kolkata. Apart from that, she has published numerous articles in national and international journals and edited volumes. She has also participated in seminars, conferences and workshops in India and abroad. She has been acting as reviewer in a number of journals and in the board of editors of few well-known journals like Urban India. She is also is in the advisory board of Globsyn Management Journal. Apart from teaching and research, she is also carrying on different administrative duties like heading the Department (2012-14) and chairing the Undergraduate Board of Studies in Economics in Calcutta University till 2017.She is also an academic member of Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata(member of Research Advisory Committee since 2023) and Athens Institute of Education and Research, Greece. She is a governing body member of South Asian Institute for Advanced Research and Development (SAIARD). She is a visiting professor of Impact Policy Research Institute, New Delhi. She is also an honorary fellow of BK School of Research, Shahzadpur, Bangladesh. She was associated as a project specialist (urban) in Indian Women Entrepreneurship Programme under the 21st Century Knowledge Initiative – a collaborative research project of Calcutta University with Claflin University, South Carolina, USA.