MDPI World Cities Day 2025 Session 2
Meet Our Speakers
Dr. Chenghao Wang
School of Meteorology and Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, University of Oklahoma;
Dr. Chenghao Wang is an Assistant Professor jointly appointed in the School of Meteorology and the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. in Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering from Arizona State University and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University. Dr. Wang and his Sustainable URban Futures (SURF) Lab investigate the mechanisms of urban environments, their interactions with regional and global climate systems, and their coupled impacts on energy use, emissions, and planetary health using both advanced physics-based numerical models and data-driven analytical approaches. He currently serves as Chair of the International Association for Urban Climate Bibliography Committee and the American Meteorological Society Committee on Meteorological Aspects of Air Pollution. His honors include the NASA Early Career Investigator Award and the NSF EPSCoR Research Fellowship, and he was a Contributing Author of the Sixth National Climate Assessment (NCA6).
Prof. Dr. Patrick Hung
Faculty of Business and IT, Ontario Tech University, Canada;
Patrick C. K. Hung is a Professor at Ontario Tech University, Faculty of Business and Information Technology. He is an Honorable Guest Professor at Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Japan. He was a Leverhulme Visiting Professor at Aston University, England, a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Abertay University, Scotland, and a Visiting Researcher at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Dr. Hung collaborated with Boeing Research and Technology in Seattle on research related to aviation services, resulting in two U.S. patents for the mobile network dynamic workflow system. Before that, he was a Research Scientist with Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.
Prof. Dr. Xavier Fernando
Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada;
Xavier Fernando has (co-) authored close to 300 research articles, three books and holds multiple patents. He is the Director of the TMU Intelligent Communications and Computing Lab, which has received total research funding amounting to over USD 5million. In 2025, he became a USA Fulbright Research Chair. In addition to being the Associate Editor for the IEEE IOT Journal, he was also an IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Lecturer, having delivered over 100 invited talks all over the world. He has chaired the IEEE Toronto Section (2012-13) and IEEE Canada Central Area (2016-17) serving IEEE Region-7. His work has won 30 awards and prizes so far, including a number of IEEE awards and the Professional Engineers Ontario Award. He was a finalist at the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants award in 2012. He obtained his PhD from the University of Calgary, Canada, his Masters from AIT, Thailand and B.Sc.Eng from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
Prof. Soe Myint
American Association of Geographers (AAG); Ecological Society of America (ESA); American Geophysical Union (AGU), United States;
Soe W. Myint, Meadows Endowed Chair Professor, Texas State University, is an internationally recognized scholar who holds the Fulbright Canada Research Chair and is a fellow of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). He recently received E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Award of AAG that recognizes members of the Association who have made truly outstanding contributions to geography due to their special competence in research. He was selected as the John R. Jensen distinguished speaker by the Remote Sensing Specialty Group of AAG and gave his distinguished lecture at the AAG meeting in 2024. Dr. Myint is a recipient of multiple grants from top national research organizations and a dedicated mentor to geography graduate, undergraduate, and postdoctoral students. He has served as a member or chair of over 60 PhD committees and has made outstanding contributions to the remote sensing community through his exemplary research, teaching, and service.
Prof. Dr. Chockalingam Aravind
School of Engineering, Taylor's University, Malaysia;
Prof. Ts. Dr. Chockalingam Aravind Vaithilingam is a Chartered Engineer (Engineering Council, UK) and Professor of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Programme at Taylor’s University, Malaysia. He was the founding director of Clean Technology Impact Lab, advancing research aligned with SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). As a Senior Member of IEEE and Professional Technologist with MBOT, Prof. Aravind has published over 150 indexed papers and holds multiple patents in sustainable and hybrid energy technologies. His innovations include a low-cost solar energy harvester and the award-winning E-CODE design thinking enterprise framework. Having been recognized with numerous accolades, including the 2024 President and Vice Chancellor’s Award for Transformational Teaching and Learning, he continues to champion research, education, and innovation that drive clean technology solutions and societal impact.
Dr. Alexandros Lavdas
Tenured Senior Researcher, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy;
Alexandros A. Lavdas, MSc, PhD, is a tenured Senior Researcher Neuroscientist at Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy, Head of Psychology at Webster University, Athens Campus, Greece, and a board member at The Human Architecture and Planning Institute, Concord, MA, USA. He holds a PhD from University College London (UCL) and has worked at UCL and the Hellenic Pasteur Institute in Athens and taught at the University of Indianapolis (Athens branch). He has worked extensively in nervous system development and regeneration and is especially interested in examining elements of visual organized complexity, such as those found in nature and pre-modern architecture, and exploring their psychophysiological correlates.
Prof. Dr. Noor Zaman
School of Computer Science, Taylor's University, Malaysia;
Prof. Dr. Noor Zaman Jhanjhi is a distinguished Senior Professor of Computer Science at Taylor’s University, Malaysia, where he specializes in Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity. As the Director of the Research Center, Center for Intelligent Innovation CII, and Program Director for Postgraduate Research Degree Programmes, he plays a pivotal role in shaping academic excellence and driving cutting-edge research initiatives.
Globally acclaimed for his scholarly contributions, Prof. Jhanjhi has been consistently ranked among the world’s top 2% research scientists (2022–2025) and stands as one of Malaysia’s top computer science researchers. His exceptional work has earned him prestigious accolades, including the Outstanding Faculty Member Award (MDEC Malaysia, 2022) and the Vice Chancellor’s Best Research Citations Award (Taylor’s University, 2023).
Sponsors and Partners
Organizer
To commemorate World Cities Day 2025, MDPI is delighted to be hosting a special webinar dedicated to exploring the theme of “People-Centred Smart Cities”. This year’s focus highlights how digital technologies, data-driven decision-making, and AI are reshaping the way cities are designed, managed, and experienced—placing people at the heart of urban innovation.
Through insightful discussions with global experts, researchers, and practitioners, our webinar will showcase best practices and strategies demonstrating how smart city initiatives can foster inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience. It will also explore how technology can enhance quality of life, improve urban services, and address key challenges such as housing, accessibility, and equitable growth.
Join us as we celebrate World Cities Day 2025, exchange ideas, and envision a future where technology and human needs work hand in hand to build smarter, more inclusive, and sustainable cities for all.
Date: 31 October 2025
Time: 2:00 pm CET | 8:00 am EDT | 9:00 pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 893 4362 4672
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
"3D City Modelling and Remote Sensing: Advances, Challenges, and New Technologies (Second Edition)"
Special Issue Editors: Dr. Mohamed El Mekawy and Dr. Ihab Hamzi Hijazi
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025
"Innovations in Sustainable Construction and Road Engineering Materials"
Special Issue Editors: Prof. Dr. Yanping Sheng and Prof. Dr. Zhanping You
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2026
"Smart City and Sustainability: Advanced Technologies and Future Challenges"
Special Issue Editors: Dr. Hong Xue, Prof. Dr. Dezhi Li, Dr. Zezhou Wu and Dr. Peng Mao
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026
The webinar was hosted via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below. In order to learn about future webinars, you can sign up to our newsletter by clicking “Subscribe" at the top of the page.
To commemorate World Cities Day 2025, MDPI is delighted to be hosting a special webinar dedicated to exploring the theme of “People-Centred Smart Cities”. This year’s focus highlights how digital technologies, data-driven decision-making, and AI are reshaping the way cities are designed, managed, and experienced—placing people at the heart of urban innovation. Through insightful discussions with global experts, researchers, and practitioners, our webinar will showcase best practices and strategies demonstrating how smart city initiatives can foster inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience. It will also explore how technology can enhance quality of life, improve urban services, and address key challenges such as housing, accessibility, and equitable growth.
The webinar was hosted via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below. In order to learn about future webinars, you can sign up to our newsletter by clicking “Subscribe" at the top of the page.
To commemorate World Cities Day 2025, MDPI is delighted to be hosting a special webinar dedicated to exploring the theme of “People-Centred Smart Cities”. This year’s focus highlights how digital technologies, data-driven decision-making, and AI are reshaping the way cities are designed, managed, and experienced—placing people at the heart of urban innovation. Through insightful discussions with global experts, researchers, and practitioners, our webinar will showcase best practices and strategies demonstrating how smart city initiatives can foster inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience. It will also explore how technology can enhance quality of life, improve urban services, and address key challenges such as housing, accessibility, and equitable growth.