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.