Steffen Scholz is Head of the research team ‘Process optimization, Information management and Applications,’ part of the Institute for Automation and Applied Informatics (IAI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Prof. Scholz is a Honorary Professor at Swansea University, UK and an Adjunct Professor at the Vellore Institute of Technology, India. He is also the Principal Investigator in the Helmholtz funded long-term programs ‘Digital System Integration’ and ‘Printed Materials and Systems.’ He has more than 20 years of experience in the field of system integration and automation, sustainable flexible production, polymer micro- & nano-replication, process optimization and control, with a recent emphasis on additive manufacturing and Industry 4.0 applications. In addition to pursuing and leading research, he has been very active with knowledge transfer to industry. He has been involved in over 30 national and international projects, and he won in excess of 20M EUR research grants, in which he has acted as Coordinator and/or Principal Investigator. Dr. Scholz’s academic output includes more than 150 technical papers and 5 books. 

Robert Howlett is the Executive Chair of KES International, a non-profit organization that facilitates knowledge transfer and the dissemination of research results in areas including intelligent systems, sustainability and knowledge transfer. He is a Visiting Professor at Bournemouth University in the UK. His technical expertise is in the use of intelligent systems to solve industrial problems. He has been successful in applying artificial intelligence, machine learning and related technologies to sustainability and renewable energy systems; condition monitoring, diagnostic tools and systems; and automotive electronics and engine management systems. His current research work is focussed on the use of smart microgrids to achieve reduced energy costs and lower carbon emissions in areas such as housing and protected horticulture. 

Rossi Setchi is a Professor in High-Value Manufacturing, Deputy Head of School and a Director of Research at the School of Engineering of Cardiff University. She has a distinguished track record of research in a range of areas including AI, robotics, systems engineering, manufacturing, industrial sustainability, cyber-physical systems and Industry 4.0 and, in particular, has built an international reputation for excellence in knowledge-based systems, computational semantics and human–machine systems. She has published over 220 peer-reviewed papers. She is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Fellow of the British Computer Society and a senior member of IEEE. She is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Systems Science and IEEE Access and a member of the Editorial Board of a number of international journals.