Doctor of Sciences (Engineering), Professor, Academician Mikayel G. Melkumyan (born on June 10, 1951) started his scientific and practical activity in 1973, immediately after graduation from the Civil Engineering Department of Yerevan Polytechnic Institute, carrying out both design and experimental-theoretical research works to study the behavior of various reinforced concrete structures under seismic actions. In 1983 he led the Department of Earthquake Resistant Construction at the Armenian Scientific-Research Institute of Construction and Architecture. After the Spitak earthquake of December 7, 1988 in Armenia, he carried out the deep analysis of consequences of this and other earthquakes and reasons for extensive destructions of various buildings and structures. His research at the Institute of Industrial Science the University of Tokyo resulted in the “Melkumyan Hysteresis Model”, enhancing the understanding of shear behavior in structures. During a short period of time in 1995-1996, devoting him to the challenge of increasing the earthquake resistance of existing buildings, he developed two unique methods of protecting existing buildings from earthquakes through base isolation, as well as by isolated upper floor and upper slab (roof isolation) without interruption of the use of the buildings. His patented technologies have been extensively implemented in seismic isolation designs for various buildings. During several years starting from 2003 he was developing and implementing a new original approach in applying clusters of small size rubber bearings in isolation systems of seismic isolated buildings. These works are unprecedented in the world practice of earthquake resistant construction of the time. He is the president of the Armenian Association for Earthquake Engineering, CEO of the “Melkumyan Seismic Technologies” LLC, and has served on various international committees and editorial boards. His scientific and engineering works are widely recognized among scientists and engineers of many countries. Of the designed by him seismic isolated buildings, the total number of already constructed and retrofitted buildings has reached to 60, making the number of seismically isolated buildings per capita in Armenia one of the highest in the world (second after Japan). The number of already manufactured in Armenia and tested under his leadership seismic isolators exceeds 5500. He authored and co-authored 260 scientific works, including 21 books (6 monographs). His books were published in Armenia, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, UK, India, and USA. 175 of his scientific works have been published in international journals and proceedings of the World, European, and International Conferences in 36 countries. He has designed 107 earthquake resistant residential, civil, and industrial buildings for construction or retrofitting in different regions of Armenia and of Nagorno Karabakh, Russia, Romania, Peru, Kazakhstan and Turkey. His efforts have significantly advanced seismic engineering, positioning Armenia among the world leaders in this vital field.

Jian Zhang received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Jiangsu University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Chinese Ship Scientific Research Center. He has worked with School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology for about 12 years and has been a Professor since 2020. His research interests include buckling of shells, integrity of pressure hulls, bionic design and structural optimization of components in ocean and civil engineering. He has been awarded by the second prize of Jiangsu Science and Technology Award together with the excellent prize of China Patent Award. As the first or corresponding author, he has published 45 Web-of-Science-indexed papers, and has published four monographs and patented 23 invention patents, of which 11 patents have been promoted. He has been in the charge of General Project / Youth Project of NSFC, and Excellent Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Scientific Committee.

Dan Thomas is a Healthcare Designer and Planner whose passion for creating healthcare facilities drives him to design spaces that enhance the patient, family, physician, and staff experience. Dan has more than 29 years of experience in healthcare design and planning domestically and abroad. He brings a wide range of knowledge of master planning, schematic design, and programming. He understands the unique demands of healthcare facilities by performing extensive research on current and future state analysis, industry trends, and best practices to ensure that operations inform the overall design. Dan as a principal, creates customized solutions for healthcare environments that respond to today’s issues and include flexibility for future unknowns. Dan leads the project team in establishing the overall design and planning vision and works closely with the owner and end users to reach set project goals. Dan’s operational approach to healthcare design/planning has been applied to a diverse portfolio of healthcare projects. This design approach begins with carefully mapping the experience of patients, families, and caregivers as well as logistics. The combination of research with current and future state analysis, the latest industry trends, and best practices ensures that operations inform the overall design. This will ensure the creation of customized solutions for healthcare environments that respond to today’s issues and include flexibility for future unknowns. Dan has been involved in numerous healthcare projects ranging from hospital renovations to multi-million-dollar replacement facilities. Dan has worked with major healthcare systems such as Atlanta Children’s, Baylor Scott and White Dallas, Texas, Cleveland Clinic, Children’s Health Dallas, Texas, Grady, Atlanta, Mainline Health, Pennsylvania, New Parkland Hospital Dallas, UT Southwestern, Texas Health Resources, and UC San Diego. Throughout his career, he has master planned and designed over 16 million square feet of healthcare environments. Throughout his esteemed career in healthcare planning and leadership, Dan has remained heavily involved in the academic community as a visiting Scholar, at Texas A&M Center for Health and through his work with the Health Industry Advisory Council at Texas A&M, and more recently, leading the COVID-19 Academic Roundtable (2019) Initiative and developing a research study on the future of Carbon Positive Hospital (2020). Dan currently is a Healthcare Principal at Perkins & Will and leading the healthcare design and planning efforts in the studio. Quotes: “I truly believe that our work helps make the world a better place. Some of the most important moments in life take place in healthcare facilities, from birth to adulthood. Creating healing, compassionate, and uplifting space is rewarding and fulfilling.”

Prof. Tapas K. Das, PhD, PE, BCEE, FAIChE, FIIChE, FICS, is a Chemical and Environmental Engineer, a Fellow member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Indian Chemical Society; Past Chair of the AIChE's Environmental Division; Former Chair of the Air Pollution Control Committee of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE) and Board of Trustee with the Academy; former senior environmental engineer at the Washington Department of Ecology; since 2005 Prof. Das has been teaching at Saint Martin's University, Washington; formerly Assistant Professor in Paper Science and Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point; supervised MS and PhD students; served as an external examiner for Chem. Eng. Program at the University of Surrey, UK, IIT Roorkee and Calcutta University. Dr. Das holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India, and PhD from Bradford University, UK. Dr. Das was a postdoctoral fellow at London’s Imperial College of Science and Technology, and a visiting scientist at Princeton University. Dr. Das is a registered professional engineer (PE) in the states of Washington and Wisconsin. Prof. Das serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management, published by International Society of Waste Management, Air and Water. Prof. Das is the author of two books: Industrial Environmental Management: Engineering, and Science and Policy, 1e (John Wiley & Sons, 2020)(Industrial Environmental Management: Engineering, Science, and Policy | Wiley); Toward Zero Discharge: Innovative Methodology and Technologies for Process Pollution Prevention (John Wiley & Sons, 2005) (Toward Zero Discharge: Innovative Methodology and Technologies for Process Pollution Prevention | Wiley); co-editor of a book entitled: Remediation of Plastic and Microplastic Waste (CRC Press, 2024) , and 16 book chapters, and over 50 publications.