Dr. Priscilla Caliandro is the managing co-director of the Energy Storage Research Center at Bern University of Applied Sciences and group leader of the Battery and Storage System Laboratory. She received her PhD in Energy from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 2018 with a thesis on the identification of elementary degradation processes by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy. Her current research focuses on lithium-ion battery characterization techniques, modeling and investigation of degradation phenomena for mobility and stationary applications. She is the leader of the ‘first life battery use’ work package of Circubat flagship project looking at how battery operating strategies can be optimized to increase lifetime by means of machine learning applied to real time battery data.

Prof. Franz Raps is a Chair Professor at Shenzhen Technology University in China and the Dean of the College Urban Transportation and Logistics, since 2018.
He graduated with a PhD degree in engineering from Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 1988. After 5 years as a leader of the department of automatic control and the department of electrics and electronics at RENK company in Augsburg, he became a professor at the College of Electrical Engineering at University of Applied Science in Augsburg in 1993. He was the Dean of this college for 13 years. His research interests and his work are focused on internationalization, applied research in mechatronics and practical oriented studies. His work was honored with several rewards and prizes.

Graduated from Central Saint Martins (MA) and School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA), Jingxuan Hu is an artist and art educator specializing in fine art and new media art. Hu’s art has been widely exhibited in galleries in China, Chicago, London and Singapore, and has won numerous awards such as the Most Promising Artist of the Year UOB POY Contest, ArtGemini Prize and European Product Design Awards. Prof. Hu is currently the Vice Dean of College of Design & Innovation, Shenzhen Technology University (SZTU).

Beside numerous design patents and hundreds of thousands of globally sold products, Nikola’s design projects have been awarded multiple times with some of the most prestigious design awards, such as iF and Red Dot. Working across continents between the USA, Switzerland, Germany, China, and Serbia for famous and renowned companies, including Harman International (a Samsung company), Nikola kept updating his knowledge and experience on an international level. Nikola has always been interested in learning about people, cultures, and design, which are the three main elements that have played a pivotal role in shaping the biggest part of his life. His degrees in Product and Industrial Design from the FHNW Institut Industrial Design in Aarau / Basel, Switzerland; a Diploma in Inter-cultural education from Pestalozzi children’s foundation under the auspices of UNESCO, Switzerland; followed by the latest Overseas High-Caliber Personnel recognition granted by Shenzhen government, China; defined him not only as a professional in Industrial Design but also as a Cultural shaper.

Bo (Bob) Deng has a 35-year career with extensive experience in managing state-owned, Hong Kong, private and European companies. He has overseen and followed up on factory planning and rational production layouts in different companies. He also has experience in assisting EFC in leading new factory investment and construction matters. Furthermore, he has a deep understanding of product and production engineering technology and automation. Thanks to his work experience in multinational companies, he has gained profound knowledge and experience of both Eastern and Western cultures.

Professor Michael Jeive lectures in International Business Management at the FHNW School of Business. He is Joint Head of the Swiss Innovation Centre Shenzhen, responsible for the FHNW Insight China project and in the leadership teams for the MSc in Sustainable Business development (planned start 2024), and BSc International Business Management
His current projects focus on building partnerships between the university and key stakeholders from public administration, industry and the wider society in the trinational Basel region, Switzerland and in Asia.
Beyond his teaching and research, Professor Jeive’s recent consultancy and training clients include the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), FIFA, UBS, Helvetia Insurance and the Canton of the City of Basel.