Professor Ibrahim Dincer
Professor Ibrahim Dincer is a full professor of Mechanical Engineering at Ontario Tech. University. Renowned for his pioneering works in the area of sustainable energy technologies he has authored/co-authored many books and book chapters, along with many refereed journal and conference papers. Dr. Dincer has chaired many national and international conferences, symposia, workshops and technical meetings. Dr. Dincer has delivered many keynotes and invited lectures. Dr. Dincer is an active member of various international scientific organizations and societies, and serves as editor-in-chief, associate editor, regional editor, and editorial board member on various prestigious international journals. Dr. Dincer currently serves as President for Hydrogen Technologies Association in Turkey and Chair for Energy Working Group in Turkish Academy of Sciences. Dr. Dincer is a recipient of several research, teaching and service awards, including the Premier’s research excellence award in Ontario, Canada. During the past nine years he has been recognized by Thomson Reuters as one of the Most Influential Scientific Minds in Engineering and one of the most highly cited researchers. During the past 25 years Dr. Dincer’s research and activities have been diverse and primarily focussed on sustainable energy solutions, sustainable communities and cities, district energy systems, green buildings, renewable energy technologies, energy storage technologies, hydrogen energy technologies, and waste to energy technologies. His group has developed various novel technologies for commercialization. He is known for his engineering education related talks as a committed educator.
Professor Fariborz Haghighat
Professor Fariborz Haghighat is a professor at the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering – Concordia University, Canada. He joined Concordia University in 1986 after conducting his post-doctoral research at the Institute for Research Construction, the National Research Council of Canada. Professor Haghighat’s research aims to achieve sustainability in the built environment. His current research focuses on the fundamental of heat and mass transport in the built environment, and on its applications in the design and analysis of energy-efficient, healthy/immune, and sustainable buildings/communities.
Professor Haghighat is the co-founder of the International Conference on Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation and Energy Conservation in Buildings (1992), one of the most prominent international conferences in this field. A Fellow of ASHRAE and of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality, and Concordia Research Chair in Energy and Environment; in 2019, Dr. Haghighat was named Distinguished University Research Professor at Concordia University. In 2020, he was awarded as an honorable member of the Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan.
Professor Haghighat is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society, Co-Editor of the International Journal Energy and Built Environment, and editorial board member for numerous journals. He led two international research projects sponsored by the International Energy Agency on the topic of Energy Storage, “Applying Energy Storage in Buildings of the Future, ECES Annex 23” and “Integration of Energy storage with energy efficient buildings and districts: Optimization and Automation”, ECES Annex 31.
Mr. Duong currently manages the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program and the Battery500 Consortium at the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO). The BMR program conducts battery research with a strong emphasis on developing, modeling, and conducting diagnostics for new materials. These materials are to be utilized in future battery technologies and could be ready for commercialization in the next ten to fifteen years. The Battery500 Consortium works toward demonstrating a battery cell having 500 Wh/kg of specific energy and 1,000 cycles life. Candidate chemistries include those utilizing metallic lithium as the negative electrode with either a high-nickel NMC material or sulfur as the positive electrode and a compatible electrolyte. Altogether, Mr. Duong supervises a complex, integrated materials R&D portfolio of over 80 research projects with an annual budget of over $40 million.
Mr. Duong has been an integral part of the Energy Storage R&D effort within the Vehicle Technologies Office for almost 30 years and served in various positions including as Manager of the Energy Storage R&D Team (1999–2003) and Team Lead for the Hybrid and Electric Systems Team (2004–2008). Before joining the U. S. Department of Energy, Mr. Duong was a Senior Electrical Engineer at the US Army R&D Engineering Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Mr. Duong has also served as a member of the Technical Advisory and Management Committees of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) formed in 1992 under a cooperative agreement between the US Department of Energy and the three U.S. automotive manufacturers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) to jointly develop advanced batteries for electric vehicles.
Mr. Duong studied Chemistry at the University of Science in Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon), Vietnam before immigrating to the United States in 1979. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Civil Engineering (Environmental Sciences), both from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Duong also holds a Professional Engineer (PE) license in the State of Virginia.