Professor Slobodan Mickovski is a Chartered Civil Engineer with over 20 years’ experience across sectors including rail, highways, flood defence, marine, and residential development. He combines practical design expertise in geotechnical engineering with a research background focused on how vegetation improves soil strength. His work spans ground investigations, foundation and slope design, and earthworks, with specialist skills in bio and eco-engineering solutions for erosion control and natural hazard remediation. With a focus on the sustainability and resilience of nature-based engineering solutions, he actively collaborates with UK and international partners in France, Brazil, China, Canada, Austria, and Spain.

Dr Jim Yang is a Fellow, EngExec and Chartered Professional Engineer of Institution of Engineers, Australia, with over 30-year experience in project management and design of major infrastructure projects and building structures within Australia and overseas. He has published two book chapters and over 85 technical papers and invited lectures. Jim was the co-chairman for the China Tunnel and Bridge Summit in 2012, 2016 and 2018 respectively.

Professor Behzad Fatahi is a distinguished and award winning civil and geotechnical engineer recognised for advancing infrastructure resilience under complex ground and loading conditions. He has held key leadership roles at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), including Head of Discipline and Deputy Head of School. His research spans dynamic soil-structure interaction, ground improvement, and infrastructure resilience against natural hazards. Behzad has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers and supervised more than 20 PhD students. A former engineer at Coffey in Sydney, he contributed to major infrastructure projects across Australia and was named ‘Australasia Young Railway Engineer of the Year’ by the Railway Technical Society of Australasia and Engineers Australia.

Dr Asal Bidarmaghz is a Senior Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney, and a recognised leader in the fields of Energy Geotechnics and Underground Climate Change. Her expertise spans the design and optimisation of energy geostructures and the coupled hydro-thermo-mechanical behaviour of the urban subsurface, with a strong focus on its interaction with above and below-ground infrastructure. Her research advances large-scale modelling of urban underground heat islands and quantifies their geotechnical, environmental, and hydrological impacts – driving sustainable, climate-resilient use of underground spaces and geo-energy systems in modern cities.