William A. Goddard III is a world-renowned scientist in theoretical chemistry, materials science, and nanotechnology. He received his B.S. in Engineering with Highest Honors from UCLA in 1960 and a Ph.D. in Engineering Science with a minor in Physics from Caltech in 1965, where he later served as an Alfred A. Noyes Research Fellow in Chemistry. Since joining the Caltech faculty in 1967, Prof. Goddard has held several distinguished roles, including Director of the Materials and Process Simulation Center since 1990 and Charles and Mary Ferkel Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Applied Physics since 2001. Over his career, he has published more than 1,720 research papers, achieved an H-index of 200, and holds 33 patents, reflecting his immense contributions to computational chemistry, catalysis, and advanced materials design. His pioneering work has earned him election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Society of Chemistry, along with major awards such as the Feynman Prize for Nanotechnology Theory, multiple NASA Space Sciences Awards, and the American Chemical Society Awards for Computers in Chemistry and Theoretical Chemistry. He has also held international positions, including at KAIST in Korea and IISc in India, and has consistently been ranked among the world’s top chemistry scientists. In recent years, he received the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Horizon Prize (2024) and a Lifetime Achievement Award in Catalysis and Reaction Engineering (2025). With over six decades of research and leadership, Prof. Goddard continues to shape the future of chemistry and materials science, inspiring generations of scientists worldwide.

Thomas J. Webster’s (H index: 134) degrees are in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (B.S., 1995; USA) and in biomedical engineering from RPI (Ph.D., 2000; USA). He has formed over a dozen companies who have numerous FDA approved medical products currently improving human health in over 30,000 patients. His technology is also being used in commercial products to improve sustainability and renewable energy. He is currently helping those companies and serves as a professor at Brown University, Saveetha University, HebeiUniversity of Technology, UFPI, and others. Dr. Webster has numerous awards including: 2020, World Top 2% Scientist by Citations (PLOS); 2020, SCOPUS Highly Cited Research (Top 1% Materials Science and Mixed Fields); 2021, Clarivate Top 0.1% Most Influential Researchers (Pharmacology and Toxicology); 2022, Best Materials Science Scientist by Citations (Research.com); and is a fellow of over 8 societies.Prof. Webster is a former President of the U.S. Society for Biomaterials and has over 1,350 publications to his credit with over 55,000 citations. He was recently nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Prof. Webster also recently formed a fund to support Nigerian student research opportunities in the U.S.

Chuanyi Wang is a distinguished professor at Shaanxi University of Science & Technology (SUST), China, and an adjunct professor at Chulalongkorn University, Thailan. Before moving to SUST in 2017, he was a distinguished professor of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), serving as Director of Laboratory of Environmental Science & Technology of Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics & Chemistry, CAS (2010-2017). He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Institute of Photographic Chemistry of CAS in 1998, worked in Germany (Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hannover and Free University Berlin) as an Alexander von Humboldt research fellow from 1999 to 2000, and then worked in USA (Tufts University and Missouri University-Kansas City) as a research faculty from 2000 to 2010. Currently, Prof. Wang also acts as an associate editor or editorial board member for number of international journals including Environmental Chemistry Letters (Q1, IF 20.4), Chemical Engineering Journal (Q1, IF13.2) etc. His research mainly focuses on energy and environmental photocatalysis. So far, he has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers with more than 27000 citations and an h-index of 93. Prof. Wang is a recipient of numerous prestigious awards or honors such as:Fellow of European Academy of Sciences, Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, Advanced Materials Laureate(only 10 conferred by International Association of Advanced Materials since 2013), Researcher of the Year (one of the highest awards conferred by IAAM, 2025), World’s Top 2% Scientist (ranked 80th in Physical Chemistry, 2024), Highly Ranked Scholar-Prior 5 years (Top 0.05% all fields; ranked 57th in Environmental Science, ScholarGPS, 2024), Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry, Fellow of International Association of Advanced Materials etc.

Prof. Zhimin Ao, is a Full Professor at the Advanced Interdisciplinary Institute of Environment and Ecology, Beijing Normal University. He is Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, and Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM), his research interests are surface/interface behaviors in environmental pollution control. He has authored over 240 SCI- indexed papers in prestigious journals including Nature Nanotechnology, Matter, Advanced Functional Materials, Environmental Science & Technology, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, ACS Catalysis, and Water Research. His work includes 35+ ESI Highly Cited Papers, his publications have attracted over 20,000 citations with an H- index of 78. Prof. Ao has led in 10+ major research programs, including 3 NSFC projects, 1 National Key R&D Program sub-project, and 1 Guangdong Provincial Key Science and Technology Project. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Surfaces and Interfaces, Associate Editor of Frontiers in Nanotechnology, and Senior Editorial Board Member of Chinese Chemical Letters. His honors include the IAAM Outstanding Researcher Award and the Chinese Chemical Letters "Environmental Chemistry Young Scientist" Award, etc.