Ayesha has graduated from Zayed University with a degree in Environmental Sciences and Sustainability. Currently she works as a Sustainability Operations assistant manager at Expo 2020 and she supports Expo 2020’s Sustainability targets and objectives. As part of her role, she supports in integrating Sustainability into the main operations of Expo 2020, so as to ensure that Sustainability is built into the foundation of all current and future operations. She is currently working on a number of initiatives including Sustainable Operations Guidelines, stakeholder engagement, market engagement, and communications & awareness campaigns focused on expanding the sustainable impact of Expo 2020 beyond the boundaries of the physical site.

Anthony is an architect possessing design and site experience, including projects in the transportation, urban and public realm sectors. He has broad experience on tramways, LRT and MRT systems in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Anthony has worked on a variety of projects from design to completion. His wide-ranging experience in building design and transportation facilities has included tramway line landscaping, tramway stop buildings and enclosures, underground metro stations, urban design, depot buildings and operating offices.

Anthony has spent the last three years delivering construction projects in the Middle East, focusing on ensuring client aspirations on-site as part of a multi-faceted team of designers and consultants.

Joana joined Grimshaw in 2017 as part of the design team for the Sustainability Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai. Prior to joining Grimshaw, she was a Lead Architect in Perkins+Will's Dubai studio, leading a variety of projects from high-rise residential and mixed-use to hospitality and healthcare. Her portfolio includes such projects as Boulevard Heights, DT1 and King's College Hospital.

As a Team Leader, Joana was responsible for a team of five architects with key responsibilities including BIM coordination, subconsultant coordination, program management, deliverery of key presentations, and liaising with the client.

Joana earned her Master's and Bachelor's of Architecture from the University of Porto. She is a Registered Architect in Portugal and a LEED Green Associate.

Michiel Raaphorst (b. 1972), architect-director and, together with Rudolph Eilander, founder of V8 Architects, has been fascinated by construction from an early age.

Michiel graduated from the Delft University of Technology in 1998, after which he gained work experience with various international architectural practices including (EEA) Erick van Egeraat associated architects, where he worked as architect on the Uberseequartier in Hamburg and the Dutch embassy in Warsaw. To gain an understanding of the other end of the spectrum, he also worked with real estate developer Multi Vastgoed. This breadth of experience enables him to create meaningful connections between the wishes of his clients and the creation of distinctive and highly regarded buildings.

Since 2011 Michiel has been architect-director and co-owner of V8 Architects. The practice, known for its inventive solutions for complex, mostly inner-city projects undertakes commercial projects, housing, public buildings and infrastructure, in an international context and at different levels of scale. Its most recent competition win is the sustainable design of the Dutch Pavilion for the World Expo 2020 in Dubai.

Engr. Fahad Saleh Amer Al Mahri is the Head of Green Building Product Unit of Dubai Central Laboratory – Dubai Municipality. He started his career as Material Engineer at Dubai Central Laboratory – Engineering Materials Section after the completion of his Bachelor Degree program in Civil Engineering from Higher College of Technology – Dubai in 2013.

Engr. Fahad attended many conferences & training program related to sustainable construction materials and testing. Since he joined with Dubai Central Laboratory, he actively participated in the testing and certification of different types of construction materials including Green Materials.

Number of intellectual assets has been registered under Engr. Fahad’s name in Ministry of Economy in the field of sustainability of building materials.

Engr. Fahad is a Certified Sa’faat Engineer.

Mohammed Sanaobar is currently the Regional Technical Director at WACKER CHEMICALS MIDDLE EAST and the Head of WACKER ACADEMY in Dubai. Mr. Sanaobar has an MBA in Project Management from U21 University in Singapore and a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from the American University in Sharjah. He started his career eighteen years ago working at the laboratories of the Dubai Municipality in the United Arab Emirates.

Prior to joining Wacker, he worked as a Project Manager at the petrochemical plant of SASOL Dubai where he advised the board of directors on the production strategic direction for the company, managed all plant expansion projects & modifications, and trained all the production and logistic team on health, safety and environmental topics.

In 2006, Mr. Sanaobar joined WACKER CHEMICALS MIDDLE EAST to oversee the technical services offered to the clients within the Middle East and Africa, improve the development of dry mix formulations, and administer safety and the quality measures that meet company guidelines and requirements of the ISO certifications.

Dr Mohamed Darwish Saeed has experience of 7 years in Dubai Municipality. He started his career in Dubai Central Laboratory Department in 2012 as a Senior Material Laboratory Technician and Material Engineer after his graduation of BSc. in Civil Engineering from Higher Colleges of Technology.

Dr Mohamed graduated with MSc. in Engineering Management from the University of Wollongong in Dubai and a PhD in Project Management from the British University in Dubai. Currently, he is a Head of Infrastructure Product Unit in Dubai Central Laboratory Department. Furthermore, Dr Mohamed is a qualified lead auditor and he has audited many local and overseas building materials companies for certification scheme by Dubai Central Laboratory Department.

His professional interests focus on the research field of sustainability and environmental impacts of construction materials. He has conducted many researches, for instance, modelling of concrete waste by LCA and damage cost, using crushed recycled glass in asphalt pavement, management of construction waste, implementation of BIM software in construction projects, etc.

As Operations Director for WSP’s Property and Buildings business in the Middle East, David has worked on some of the most exciting projects across the region. Providing innovative leadership across buildings, master planning and special advisory projects. Building on a career as a Security Threat and Risk Specialist, David leverages decades of experience to bring real-life solutions to the built and natural environment. As a leader, David strives to challenge the status quo, pushing projects and people to achieve their highest potential through curiosity, collaboration, and innovation.

Ghassan leads McKinsey’s work on major projects in the Middle East. He brings decades of leadership experience in the heavy-civil-engineering sector and has supported the successful delivery of many multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects across the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the United Kingdom.

Over the course of his career, Ghassan has supported multiple government clients and private developers in master planning, design, and construction supervision of infrastructure for residential neighborhoods, industrial zones, and public-realm upgrades. He has also provided design, value engineering, construction-engineering support, and program management for groundbreaking transportation projects, including airport expansions, urban rail development, and the construction of highways, bridges, and major marine crossings.

Ghassan has authored many papers on infrastructure and engineering topics and has presented at leading industry conferences around the world. He is a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a founding committee member of its United Arab Emirates branch. He has also chaired the UK Trade and Investment’s UK–UAE infrastructure working group, and currently serves on the industry advisory board for Abu Dhabi University.

Before joining McKinsey, Ghassan served as regional director for infrastructure major projects at Atkins, where he established and rapidly expanded the Middle East infrastructure consultancy division. He was previously with AECOM, where he served as regional managing director, establishing the Malaysia and Singapore offices and expanding the business to the Middle East.

Engr. Yousef Al Maghribi is a Material Engineer at Dubai Central Laboratory – Dubai Municipality. He started his career as Material Engineer at Dubai Central Laboratory – Engineering Materials Section 2015 after the completion of his Bachelor Degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from University of Sharjah and has a Diploma in Organizational Excellence from Toronto International School of Business .

Engr. Yousef has attended many conferences & training programs related to sustainable construction materials and testing. Since he joined with Dubai Central Laboratory, he actively participated in the testing and certification of different types of construction materials including Green Materials.

Dr. Peiman Kianmehr is associate professor of civil engineering at American University in Dubai (AUD). His expertise is in infrastructure sustainability and environmental engineering with emphasis on sustainability of water resources, sewerage and water distribution systems. He directed various design, planning, and QC projects in the field of hydraulic engineering, and worked on major water transmission and supply projects, earth dam construction and flood control projects. Prior to joining AUD, he worked with Environment Canada on the design, operation and evaluation of wastewater treatment reactors as well as bioenergy generation. Dr. Kianmehr is a member of the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the Water Environment Association of Ontario (WEAO). He has contributed in many research projects associated with green development and the enhancement of relevant local and international sustainable development guidelines. He has published more than 40 papers and book chapters in his field.

Dr. Al-Tamimi has Teaching, Consultation/Training, and Research interest in the areas of: Sustainability, Design of Green Building, Nano Technology, Sustainable Engineering Cementitious Composites and Safety. He offered training on topics related to sustainability in construction including LEED certification. He has worked with the construction industry for over 25 years. Prior to joining AUS he contributed to the establishment of the Advanced Concrete & Masonry Center “ACM” at the University of Paisley - UK. Member of the Concrete Society – UK 1996-2000, He is a co-author of the book Workability & Rheology of Fresh Concrete, 2002, RILEM, Paris. Technical Contributor in a Book entitled: Technical Guidelines for Retrofitting Existing Buildings, published by the Emirates Green Building Council and Endorsed by UAE Ministry of Public Works and UAE Supreme Council of Energy, June 2015 [196 pages]. Chair/Co-Chair of Eight International Conferences on the Applications of Materials in Harsh Environment, UAE: 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 20013, 2014 and 2016.

He has established and coordinated the first UAE National Forum for the design of Concrete Durability Standards. It compromised members from four UAE universities, UAE Society of Engineers, Dubai and Sharjah Municipalities, Ministry of Public Works & Housing and many consultants in UAE. Published over 100 papers in journals and proceedings, three book chapters and co-authored two books.

Laith is a civil engineer, graduated from the University of Plymouth in 1987. He holds post-graduate qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK), National Association of Corrosion Engineers (USA) and Management from Wits University (South Africa). He has authored over 30 papers and technical articles on concrete and concrete remediation. He was chairman of the EcoSmart Concrete steering committee from 2006 to 2008, and president of the Middle East Dry Mix Mortar Association (Medma) from 2010 to 2013.

With over 32 years of experience in the construction industry, Laith is currently Associate Director at WSP, one of the world’s leading multi-disciplinary engineering consultants

Mark has nearly 30 years’ experience in advising a wide range of clients in the Energy, Power, Refining, Process, Oil & Gas, Construction & Engineering, and sectors and specialises in advising clients on contractual and commercial matters involving complex, large-scale projects in the Middle East/Asia Pacific Regions.

Mark heads our Construction Advisory Disputes team in the Middle East.

Royal Pineda is the Principal Architect+CEO of BUDJI+ROYAL Architecture+Design, the lead advocate of Modern Filipino Architecture+Design, making him the most sought-after resource speaker on the subject. Together with Principal Designer+Chairman Budji Layug, Royal continues to spread their design philosophy in various projects in Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Thailand and Israel.

Royal was recently appointed Co-Chair of the First Design Advisory Council of the Philippines. He was awarded a Doctorate Degree by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and named BCI Asia’s Top 10 Architects for 2018. He was also bestowed ‘Creative Force Award’ in 2016 for the NAIA Airport Terminal 1 and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Terminal. For ‘Project Luzviminda’, his country vision of weaving the Philippine islands with a network of roads, bridges and railways, Royal was named ‘National Innovator’ and ‘Visionary’. He spearheads BUDJI+ROYAL’s ongoing projects in the country’s Modern Philippine City that include the New Clark City International Airport, and the iconic Athletic Center and Aquatic Center for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. As Overall Artistic Director, Architect Royal leads the creation of Bangkota: The Philippine Pavilion for the Dubai Expo 2020.

Dr. Yasemin Nielsen is an Associate Professor and the Lead of EngD Construction at Heriot Watt University Dubai campus. She has over 25 years of academic and industrial experience. She is currently active in post-graduate education and research. She has supervised over 150 MSc and PhD theses. Her industrial experience includes Sustainability Management positions of some prestigious projects in the UAE. She has collaborated with universities in the US, UK and Turkey as well as with both public and private organizations in funded research projects and organized and chaired international conferences. Her research output includes book chapters, numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals and refereed conferences.

BIM consultant that has specialized in implementing BIM technologies on several local and regional projects. With more than 14 years of BIM experience, Charbel is the founder and director of BIM-ME, the leading and first established BIM services consultancy firm in the Middle East. Being an Autodesk authorized consultancy service partner, training center, and developer, BIM-ME has successfully delivered top-notch BIM multidisciplinary production, support, implementation, and training services across the Middle East, working on iconic projects such as the Address Sky Views, Abu Dhabi International Airport, and the world’s tallest tower: the Kingdom Tower.

Charbel is also the director and co-founder of SEEDS, a well-established regional firm, providing powerful services and solutions in sustainable energy and environmental design field that meet the rising market demand for green solutions in the AEC industry.

Throughout his journey, Charbel and his progressive team became primary BIM experts in the region through their consulting engagements with over 9,000 engineers, providing hands on training and support, full implementation of integrated BIM systems, and multidimensional simulation solutions to more than 80 esteemed local, regional and international leading firms in the AEC industry.

Dr. Olisanwendu Ogwuda is currently the Centre Manager for the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction at Heriot-Watt University; leading strategic relationships between Heriot-Watt University Dubai (HWUD) and the Built Environment industry sector. In this role, he actively promotes the multi-disciplinary HWUD strengths which align with industry needs in relation to education and applied research and development.

Prior to this, Dr. Ogwuda used to lead the development of the new Civil Engineering programmes (and, consequently, Architectural Engineering) at HWUD. He has also led the development of links between the University and the United Arab Emirates’ local chapters of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE). He was also responsible for the University’s civil engineering programmes being the first in the region to be accredited by the Joint Board of Members (JBM) of the ICE, IStructE, CIHT, and IHE.

Originally from the United Kingdom, Dr Ogwuda has worked with industry and academia for 30 years and has 15 years’ applied research and development experience linking research and practice in environmental highway engineering. He has developed partnership opportunities that have provided commercially-focussed innovation, research and technology development in low energy and sustainable construction. He is a member of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and the Institute of Asphalt Technology.

In his free time, Dr. Ogwuda likes to listen to music and watch football.

Tertia Morgan, Civil Engineer and Technical Director at Knauf UAE, specializing in providing light-weight, high performance solutions for construction projects across the GCC.

Graduated from Cardiff University, UK, and based in UAE for 5 years has gained an in depth knowledge of the construction industry and has coordinated with international architects, consultants and contractors to support in realizing a diverse range of projects across all industry sectors.

Milton Braga studied architecture at the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Ubanismo da Universidade de Sao Paulo (FAUUSP), Brazil, receiving three degrees, the preliminary degree in 1986, his Masters in 1999 and a PhD in 2006. He has been teaching at the FAUUSSP since 2001 and was visiting professor at the University of Florida, USA in 2008.

Author of the book on the Brasilia competition O concurso de Brasília: sete projetos para uma capital, 2010, which was awarded second place in the 53 º Jabuti Award (the most prestigious prize in Brazilian literature) in the category Architecture and Urbanism, 2011; and first prize ex aequo in the book category of the VIII Ibero American Architecture and Urbanism Bienalle in Cadiz, 2012.

Milton is a founding partner of MMBB Arquitetos. Since its inception in 1991, MMBB has grown in notoriety, earning well-deserved recognition through numerous awards and exhibitions like the first prize in the national competition for the project of the Brazilian Pavilion in the coming Expo 2020 in Dubai; or the award-winning project of the Jardim Edite Social Housing Complex in the IX Biennial Iberoamericana de Arquitetctura y Urbanism, Rosario, Argentina, 2014; the Best Entry Award for the Watery Voids proposal in the 3rd International Architecture Biennale of Rotterdam, 2007; and several prizes in different editions of the International Architecture Biennale of São Paulo.

Milton was a speaker in several institutions like the Royal Institute of British Architects, the American Institute of Architects and the Netherlands Architecture Institute.

Colin Foreman is MEED’s Deputy Editor and Specialist Construction Journalist. He is responsible for news and analysis on MEED.com and MEED magazine. He has been reporting on the region since 2003, specialising in the construction sector and its impact on the broader economy. He has reported exclusively on a wide range of projects across the region including schemes such as Dubai Metro, the Burj Khalifa, Jeddah Airport, Doha Metro, Hamad International Airport, and Yas Island. Before joining MEED, Colin reported on the construction sector in the Middle East and Hong Kong. He has a bachelor’s degree from Newcastle University and a master’s degree from the University of Reading.