Ioan Dumitrache (Emeritus Professor, University ”Politehnica”, Bucharest, Romania)

"The engineering education for intelligent society"

The speaker: Ioan Dumitrache is an Emeritus Professor of the University ”Politehnica” of Bucharest. He is professor of Control Engineering and Intelligence Control Systems in this University having a large experience in education of many generations of students. In this capacity he served as a Dean of Faculty and Rector of the University. In 2012 he founded the Coalition for Engineering Education (CREDING) and he organized many debates on the engineering education. Now he is member of the Romanian Academy and the Secretary General of the institution.

Miriam Reiner (Professor, Technion, Israel and Stanford University, USA)

"Learning-Brain-Neurotechnology: Enhancements in Remote and Hybrid Engineering Education"

The speaker: Prof. Miriam Reiner started and directed the VR & NeuroCognition lab at the Technion. She studies perceptual and neural correlates of enhanced learning and developed neurotechnologies for optimal learning in Virtual and hybrid environments. She uses neural and physiological sensors, and behavioral measures to model learning.

Cristian Andronic (Professor, University ”Politehnica”, Bucharest, Romania)

"Resilience by Design in Critical Infrastructure: Implementing Automation Engineering and Cybersecurity in the National Power Grid"

The speaker: Cristian Andronic is a distinguished academic and engineer with expertise spanning environmental science, chemistry, and industrial automation. He serves as a professor and doctoral advisor at Politehnica University of Bucharest. His research covers wastewater treatment, environmental chemistry, and the conservation of river mouth ecosystems, alongside smart manufacturing and control systems. Combining academic depth with practical experience, he also works as an automation engineer and project manager in the private sector. Professor Andronic actively contributes to the development of intelligent automation solutions and renewable energy technologies. He bridges theoretical research with applied engineering, fostering interdisciplinary innovation. He is a published author and a committed member of professional organizations such as IEEE. Through his teaching, research, and industry engagement, he supports the advancement of sustainable technologies and modern engineering education.

Oscar Karnalim (Dean of the Faculty of Smart Technology and Engineering, Maranatha Christian University, Indonesia)

"Reconciling Generative AI with Academic Ethics in Classrooms: Conflict or Collaboration?"

The speaker: Oscar Karnalim is an associate professor and the dean of the Faculty of Smart Technology and Engineering, Maranatha Christian University, Indonesia. He completed his PhD at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He serves as Editor in Chief of Sage’s Journal of Educational Technology Systems and as an editorial board member of four Scopus-indexed journals. His research interests include software engineering, learning technologies, and artificial intelligence. He is continuously developing automated technologies to maintain academic integrity. Oscar has published over 120 academic papers, with more than 1,400 citations. His Google Scholar H-Index is 21, while his Scopus H-Index is 16. Oscar has been involved in many international research and community service collaborations. His collaborators are from Australia, Canada, the USA, the Netherlands, and the UK. He received several awards, including the Michael E. Auer Young Scientists Award (IETI, 2025) and the Best Dissertation Award in the Field of Engineering Education (IEEE Education Society, 2024). He is also an IEEE senior member and a fellow of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.

Katrin Temmen (Professor at Paderborn University, Paderborn, Germany)

"Context Matters: Contextualising Smart Technologies and STEM Outreach in Technical and Vocational Education"

The speaker: Professor Dr Katrin Temmen is a professor of the Didactics of Technology at Paderborn University, where she has led the Department of Didactics of Technology since 2010. Since 2023, she has also served as Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mathematics. From 2027 onwards, she will take over as chair of the German Faculty Council for Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (Fakultätentag Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik). Temmen studied electrical engineering at TU Dortmund, where she completed her doctorate in high-voltage engineering and worked as a research assistant and senior engineer for several years. At Paderborn, she plays a central role in STEM outreach and recruitment. Her department runs the coolMINT.paderborn school laboratory and the coolMINT.forscht student research centre, where pupils can explore engineering and technology through hands-on experiments. She also heads the long-standing “Frauen gestalten die Informationsgesellschaft” project (“Women Shaping the Information Society”), which offers mentoring, taster courses, and “Spring” and “Autumn University” programmes to encourage girls to consider STEM subjects at university. Temmen has received multiple teaching awards at both TU Dortmund and Paderborn University. In 2025, she and her colleague Mesut Alptekin received first place in the GOLC Online Laboratory Award (Virtual and Augmented Reality Experiments category) for PEARL (Paderborn Electrical Engineering AR Laboratory), an augmented-reality learning environment that prepares students for practical electrical engineering lab work. The research focus of her group lies at the intersection of technical education, digitalisation, and STEM outreach. Key themes in her numerous externally funded projects include contextualised learning in engineering and technical teacher education; designing and evaluating innovative learning environments, such as lecture-hall and online/AR laboratories; using digital tools to support self-regulated learning in engineering; and developing learning concepts for universities, schools, and out-of-school learning venues using innovative media.