Robert Bos Chair, Senior Advisor IWA, Switzerland

Robert Bos is a Dutch public health biologist (University of Amsterdam) who has held different positions in the World Health Organization in a career spanning over 32 years. His last position was Coordinator of the Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Unit in the WHO Department of Public Health and Environment from 1 April 2009 to 28 February 2013. 

Since his retirement from WHO he has worked for the International Water Association (IWA) as Senior Advisor on a part-time basis. He was Member (2013-2017) and Chair (2017-2023) of the Supervisory Board of IRC the International Water and Sanitation Centre in The Hague, Netherlands. He has been engaged as a consultant by, among others, the Asian Development Bank (Health Impact assessment in the Greater Mekong Sub-region), the Inter-American Development Bank (LatinoSan V), ENI (guidelines for WASH in low-income communities) and the Governments of Iran and Kenya (Health Impact Assessment). 

Since 2010 he has been involved in the Singapore International Water Week, and he currently leads the Water Quality and One Health Theme as a member of the Programme Committee of the SIWW2024 Water Convention. 

Joan B. Rose, Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research at Michigan State University

Joan B. Rose holds the Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research at Michigan State University.  She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (2011) and the winner of the 2016 Stockholm Water Prize.  

She is an international expert in water microbiology, water quality and public health safety.  She has published more than 300 manuscripts.  She led the International Water Associations Task Force on COVID19 in 2021.  She is also in charge of the Global Water Pathogens Project   www.waterpathogens.org. 

She was a member of the IWA Board of Directors (2016-2022).  She is an honorary citizen of Singapore and has worked with PUB for more than 20 years.   Joan Rose earned her PhD in microbiology from the University of Arizona, Tucson and her Masters degree from the University of Wyoming.  She is currently collaborating with Michigan’s environmental agency EGLE on the State-wide programme on Wastewater Surveillance for COVID-19.

Norhayati Abdullah, Associate Professor in Environmental Engineering at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

Norhayati Abdullah is Associate Professor in Environmental Engineering at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). She completed her tenure as a Guest Scholar at the Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability (Shishu-kan), Kyoto University, Japan. Norhayati is recipient of the 2019/2020 ASEAN Science and Technology Fellowship focusing on the strategic recommendations for water sector transformation. 

Norhayati represented UTM and Malaysia at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor for the Fulbright US-ASEAN Visiting Scholar Initiatives in 2016-2017. In 2018, she received a L'Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship for Women in Science. She was on the Board of Directorsof the International Water Association (IWA) from 2014-2018, and she is an IWA Fellow and Council Member of the Malaysian Water Association (MWA). At the global level, Norhayati has been actively involved with the IWA programme and activities since 2000. 

She received the IWA Young Water Professional (IWAYWP) Award in 2012 in recognition of her outstanding achievements in wastewater research and active involvement in various professional development programs. Norhayati is a certified openwater diver, loves reading and indulges in outdoor activities.

Ed Beling, Chair for the IAHR/IWA Joint Committee on Outfall Systems.

Ed Beling is a marine scientist and chartered civil engineer with 30 years’ experience in the wastewater industry. Over the past three decades, he has developed an extensive track record of assisting clients in defining, managing and mitigating environmental risks associated with their projects. 

Ed is proud to have worked with many of Australia’s larger water utilities as well as for smaller regional councils, principally assisting with their planning and licensing challenges. His career background and specialist skills lie in the fields of effluent management, outfall design and numerical modelling of coastal waterways. 

His recent work has ranged from the delivery of major environmental impact assessments through to the provision of scientific and engineering input to guide regional management strategies. He has also recently been appointed as Chair for the IAHR/IWA Joint Committee on Outfall Systems.

Ricardo Bello-Mendoza, Associate Professor Environmental Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Ricardo Bello-Mendoza completed a BE(Hon) degree in chemical engineering from Instituto Tecnológico de Tapachula, Mexico, in 1991, and MPhil and PhD degrees in chemical engineering with environmental technology from UMIST, now the University of Manchester, in the UK, in 1997 and 1999, respectively. He has been with the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand since 2013, where he is currently an associate professor of environmental engineering and co-director of the humanitarian engineering programme. 

Before moving to Canterbury, he was a senior scientist in the department of environmental biotechnology of El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Tapachula, Mexico, from 2000 to 2013. He teaches courses in environmental engineering design and engineering in developing communities. His research focuses on advanced biological wastewater treatment, in particular anaerobic bioprocesses, and resource recovery. 

Other research interests include the design and application of appropriate technologies for water, sanitation, and hygiene in developing communities. Ricardo is theme leader on adsorption processes in the Clean Water Technology for restoring Te Mana o te Wai project supported by the Science for Technological Innovation (SfTI) National Science Challenges programme.

Hugh Blake-Manson - Waugh Infrastructure Management Ltd, New Zealand

Hugh Blake-Manson is a Chartered Engineer practicing in the asset management (infrastructure), contracts a water technologies space.  Having worked across the water sector as an asset owner, consultant and service delivery manager (networks and treatment), he has experienced the challenges of delivering services during earthquake, flood and drought events.  

As part of a team, he has contributed to World Bank projects focused on investment decisions in infrastructure.  Having established sustainability principles for a Canterbury (New Zealand) asset owner in the early 2000’s,  he has been fortunate to adapt this approach to include iwi—Māori perspectives, through a co-design process with mana whenua and tangata te Tiriti.  Having recently completed a Masters degree in Water Resources, focusing on water sensor technologies, he is now working on the next challenge.

Clarissa Brocklehurst, Independent Consultant, Canada

Clarissa Brocklehurst started her career working on the water and sanitation needs of indigenous communities in Canada and the US.  She managed water and sanitation projects in Togo and Sri Lanka before becoming the Country Representative for WaterAid in Bangladesh, and a Regional Urban Specialist for the World Bank in South Asia, based in India. Between 2007 and 2011 she was the Chief of UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Section, overseeing UNICEF’s water and sanitation programming in 100 countries and playing a role in development of strategy and advocacy for the global water supply and sanitation sector. Clarissa is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of the Gillings School of Global Public Health of the University of North Carolina, and an affiliated faculty member of the university’s Water Institute.  She is a member of the Supervisory Board of IRC, a water and sanitation NGO headquartered in the Netherlands, and a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of the WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program, which tracks global progress on water and sanitation. She works in a consulting capacity with several water and sanitation sector agencies, including the World Bank, WHO, and UNICEF.

Indira Chakravarty, Public Health Specialist, India

Indian public health specialist and scholar Indira Chakravarty has focused much of her life’s work on the environment, nutrition and food safety. As part of these endeavours, she has held many key positions both nationally, with the government of India, and internationally. These include the Director of the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health; Director of the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute; Regional Director, South Asia, MI, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada; and Regional Advisor, NUT, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for South East Asia (SEARO).  On the social action front, she is the founder-Chair of the Foundation for Community Support and Development − India, and was the Chair, Hunger Project-USA in West Bengal. Over the years, Chakravarty, who holds two doctoral degrees, a PhD and D.Sc,  (1974 and 1982), has also worked as a consultant and adviser for other international organizations, including UNICEF and the World Bank. She has conducted more than 100 research projects on subjects related to the environment, for example pesticide exposure, as well as nutrition, including food security, malnutrition and fortification, and food safety − particularly of street foods − among many other public health areas. She is the author of nearly 200 publications. For her many efforts to improve the health and well-being of people in India and around the world, among her many honours, Chakravarty was conferred with the Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian awards given by the Government of India, for lifetime achievement. She is also the recipient of the prestigious Eduardo Sauma award from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for her exemplary research work and received the Global Leadership Award in Public Health from the president of the University of South Florida (USF) in the United States. 

Rupert Craggs, Principal Scientist in NIWA's Aquatic Pollution Mitigation Group, New Zealand

Rupert is a Principal Scientist in NIWA's Aquatic Pollution Mitigation Group based in Hamilton. Rupert leads NIWA's Freshwater and Estuaries Centre and Effects of Water Quality Degradation programme which seeks to measure, model and mitigate WQ degradation. Rupert's particular research focus is resource (energy, nutrient and water) recovery from agricultural drainage and wastewaters using efficient, cost-effective, easy to operate and culturally appropriate natural systems.

Rupert currently leads a research programme that promotes understanding of Mātauranga Māori and the specific needs and concerns of hāpu/iwi to co-develop culturally appropriate rural wastewater treatment technologies.

Dan Deere, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Consultant, Australia

Dan is a freelance water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) consultant with experience primarily in Australasia, UK and East Asia. His core discipline is environmental microbiology and he started his career in academia in the UK and Australia where he completed a PhD and series of three post-doctoral fellowships. He then worked in water quality and research management roles in water utilities in Melbourne and Sydney.  

Rob Fullerton, Senior Technical Director of Environmental Engineering Beca, New Zealand

Rob Fullerton is a Senior Technical Director of Environmental Engineering with Beca with over 45 years of scientific consulting experience.  Rob has worked on Beca water and wastewater treatment plant design for clients in Malaysia, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.  Projects have included brownfield and greenfield process design and operational advice for industrial, food and beverage and municipal clients. In 2021 Rob was appointed an Honorary Academic by the University of Auckland Faculty of Engineering. He provides guest lectures for undergraduate and masters environmental courses.

Brent Gilpin, Senior Science Leader, Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), New Zealand

Brent is a Senior Science Leader in the Environmental Science team at the institute of Environmental Science, in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he has an applied focus that interfaces between research activities, outbreak investigations, and commercial work. His focus has been on the application of molecular based tools to understanding water quality, and to investigating causes of infectious disease. Understanding sources of contamination of water (faecal source tracking), the relationship between indicators and pathogens in water, how to improve water quality, and wastewater based epidemiology have been key areas of focus. He was actively involved in a number of outbreak investigations including the world’s largest campylobacteriosis outbreak in Havelock North (August 2016).

Karina Gin, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Karina Gin is Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore. She received her Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Melbourne in 1988 and her M.Eng Degree from the National University in Singapore in 1991.  She obtained her Doctor of Science (ScD) Degree jointly from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1996.  

Her research specialisation is in the area of water quality and ecosystem processes, with particular interest in understanding the fate and transport of emerging microbial and chemical contaminants of concern, including antimicrobial resistance in the urban water cycle and harmful algal blooms in tropical waters. Her research focuses on developing sensitive detection methods to study the prevalence of target contaminants; elucidating their mechanisms of action and interactions with other chemical/biological species in natural water bodies through field and laboratory experimentation; and subsequently, to use this knowledge to develop environmental models for prediction and management purposes. 

Prof Gin received the National Public Administration Medal (Bronze) (COVID-19) (2023) and Dean’s Chair Award (NUS) (2017-2019). She is co-author of a book on ‘The Environment in Asia Pacific Harbours’ which received a UN Atlas of the Ocean award (2006), and is co-recipient of the Technology Enterprise Challenge (TEC) Innovator Award (2005).  

Jim Graham, Chief Advisor Water Science, Taumata Arowai, New Zealand

Jim Graham is the Chief Advisor, Water Science with Taumata Arowai, the new national drinking water regulator in New Zealand. He has been working in the water industry in New Zealand for thirty years, beginning in the Public Health Service as a Health Protection Officer and Drinking Water Assessor before joining the New Zealand Ministry of Health where he was involved with the preparation of the Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand in 2005 and 2008 and as part of the team that prepared New Zealand’s first drinking water legislation in 2007. However his main role was to set up and lead a $150M fund which provided capital and technical assistance to small drinking water supplies. 

Jim then joined Opus International Consultants as a Principal Environmental Scientist and worked with municipal water suppliers, assisting them with drinking water standards compliance, water safety plan preparation and upgrading a wide range of supplies. In 2016 when the Havelock North drinking water supply was contaminated resulting in more than 8500 cases of Campylobacter and four deaths, Jim was appointed as an expert advisor to the subsequent inquiry. In 2017 Jim joined Water New Zealand, the largest water industry membership organisation in New Zealand as the Principal Advisor Water Quality and provided a wide range of advice and assistance to the sector. 

In early 2020 Jim was appointed as Principal Technical Advisor to the Establishment Unit for a new regulator and remained with them until Taumata Arowai was set up and he was appointed as Principal Advisor, Drinking Water. This role included many responsibilities, a key one being the preparation of new drinking water standards and rules. Jim has also worked for the World Health Organisation in the Pacific and Asia, particularly in the area of managing risk in drinking water supplies.  

Theuns F.P. Henning FEngNZ, IntPE, International expert in asset management and infrastructure, New Zealand

Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Theuns Henning holds many roles within the civil engineering industry, drawing on his academic background and industry experience.

In addition to his posts as Director Infrastructure Asset Management Post Graduate Programme and Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, he is also a founding member of the Climate Adaptation Platform, specialising in Asset Management, Performance Monitoring, Climate Adaptation, Performance Based Contracts and Benchmarking.  He holds a Masters degree in Engineering from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He completed his PhD at the University of Auckland in 2009, where he received the Foundation for Research and Technology Bright Future Scholarship. 

Xia Huang, Professor at School of Environment of Tsinghua University, China

Xia Huang is a Professor at. the School of Environment of Tsinghua University, and recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and the Yangtsz River Scholar. Currently, she is a Director of State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control. She is leading a research team on wastewater treatment and resource recovery. 

Her research interests focus on water and wastewater treatment using membrane technology involving membranes fabrication, membrane fouling, membrane processes innovation and coupling other water treatment technologies. Till now, she has published five books, more than 400 SCI papers. She is currently a Distinguished Fellow of IWA and Past Chair of the IWA Specialist Group on Membrane Technology. She is an Executive Associate Editor-in-Chief of "Frontiers of Environmental Science and Engineering".

She was awarded the 2009 Environmental Science and Technology Best Paper and the Best Paper, and the 2nd Class of the State Science and Technology Progress Award thrice.

Hiroyuki Katayama, Professor, Department of Urban Engineering, University of Tokyo, Japan

Hiroyuki Katayama is a Professor in the Department of Urban Engineering at The University of Tokyo, and specializes in health-related water microbiology with a focus on virus detection, water/wastewater treatment, and risk management. His research has significantly contributed to the development of virus concentration methods, disinfection techniques, and the surveillance of viruses in water systems.

He earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Engineering from The University of Tokyo in 1993, 1995, and 1998, respectively. His academic journey includes roles such as Associate Professor at both Vietnam-Japan University and The University of Tokyo.

Hiroyuki Katayama has held numerous leadership positions, including Chair of the IWA Specialist Group on Health-Related Water Microbiology, and is a Fellow of the International Water Association since 2021. He also serves on the editorial boards of significant journals.

His scholarly output includes over 130 research papers in English and other languages, with notable publications on novel virus detection methods in water and wastewater. His work has been recognized with awards such as Paper Award from the Japan Society for Water Environment and the Best Paper Award at the Environmental Engineering Forum by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers. His research not only advances our understanding of waterborne viruses but also impacts public health policy and practices globally.

Jurg Keller, Emeritus Professor, Founding Director of the Advanced Water Management Centre, University of Queensland, Australia

Jurg Keller was the Founding Director of the Advanced Water Management Centre from 1996-2015 (now Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology) at the University of Queensland, an internationally leading research centre in the water and environmental engineering field. From 2015-2019, he served as Chief Research Officer of the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, where he led the creation of a highly integrated, cross-disciplinary R&D program that enabled close collaboration between a wide range of different research, industry and government partners. 

Since 2021 he holds an honorary Emeritus Professor position at the University of Queensland and continues to be active in various national and international projects, funding agencies and professional associations. Jurg Keller has over 30 years experience in water industry research and management, particularly in wastewater treatment, environmental biotechnology, urban water management and resource recovery concepts. He is also a strong advocate for cross-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaborations to address our increasingly complex water security, liveability and economic sustainability challenges. 

He is an inaugural IWA Fellow (2010) and has been elected IWA Distinguished Fellow in 2020. He has been a member and (co-)Chair of the IWA Programme Committee from 2012-2022. In 2013 he was Australia’s Water Professional of the Year, awarded by the Australian Water Association. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) since 2012.

Masaaki Kitajima, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering at Hokkaido University, Japan

Masaaki Kitajima is an Associate Professor of environmental engineering at Hokkaido University. He earned his Doctor of Engineering degree in the field of urban environmental engineering from the University of Tokyo in 2011. He worked at the University of Arizona through the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowships from 2011 to 2013 and at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, a research center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), from 2014. 

Since 2016, he has been a faculty member at Hokkaido University in Japan, where he works on environmental virology with a current emphasis on wastewater-based epidemiology of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. He has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate for two consecutive years (2022 and 2023) for the impact of his work, demonstrating significant and broad influence reflected in the publication of multiple highly cited (top 1%) papers.

Saburo Matsui (Ph.D. Univ. of Texas at Austin, 1972), Emeritus Professor Kyoto University (2007)

Saburo Matsui (Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, 1972), is Emeritus Professor, Kyoto University (2007) and Distinguished Fellow of International Water Association. His research field is wide in water pollution control, including waste-water treatment, eutrophication control of lakes, micro-pollutant control and ecological sanitation. 

His recent research includes probiotics environmental farming, hyper-thermophilic composting of sewage sludge, subcritical water treatment of solid waste to fertilizer. He organized a national research project of endocrine disruptors (2001-05).

He was given many awards including Distinguished Achievement Award of the Japan Society on Water Environment 2017, the Kyoto Human Grand Prize 2015, the Distinguished Achievement Award of Society of Environmental Science Japan 2012, the Distinguished Services Award of Japan Sewage Works 2011; he is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Alumni of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin 2008, and was also honoured with the Academic Prize of Japan Society on Water Environment 2002, the Vollenweider Lectureship in Aquatic Sciences, Canadian National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada 1995, and the Distinguished Lecture Prize, Association of Environmental Engineering Professors, North America 1993.

Kate Medlicott, Sanitation team leader, WASH team at the World Health Organization, Switzerland

Kate Medlicott is the Sanitation team leader within the WASH team at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.  In this role Kate is responsible for translating health evidence to policy and practice through WHO guidelines on sanitation and health, safe use of wastewater and recreational water quality) and for health sector collaborations, where sanitation is a critical component of risk and disease control - this includes antimicrobial resistance, neglected tropical diseases and environmental surveillance for COVID-19.  

Kate led the WHO guidance on environmental surveillance for COVID and is leading WHO work on investigation potential for multi-pathogen surveillance. She also sits on the WHO guidelines review committee that oversees the quality of evidence review and recommendation development across all WHO guidelines.

Mark Milke, Professor, Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Mark Milke is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, in Christchurch, New Zealand.  Since 1991 he has taught and conducted research there in a variety of topics in environmental engineering, including anaerobic digestion, water system resilience, water quality, public consultation, and water resource impact exchanges.  

Mark is Editor-in-Chief for Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems and has a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University.  He is a New Zealand Chartered Professional Engineer.  He has been a leader in curriculum and teaching innovations by developing new courses in design, communication skills, and professional engineering development. He is a member of the Standards and Accreditation Board for Engineering New Zealand, responsible for oversight of engineering education.

Majid Mohammadian, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering,  University of Ottawa, Canada

Since 2018, Majid Mohammadian is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Ottawa (Canada), working on analyzing environmental problems.  He obtained his BSc and MSc from the Sharif University of Technology in Iran, and his PhD from Laval University, Québec City, Canada, in the field of applied mathematics. His initial research experience, at M.I.T.,  focused on the numerical simulation of hydrodynamic systems such as shallow water flows. His current area of research includes numerical simulation of water bodies, and experimental and numerical modeling of marine outfall systems. He uses laser-induced fluorescence and particle image velocimetry for laboratory studies and OpenFOAM for numerical simulations. He is the past Chair of the IAHR-IWA Joint Committee on Marine Outfall Systems.

Viet-Anh Nguyen, Professor in Water and Wastewater Engineering, Hanoi University of Civil Engineering (HUCE), Vietnam

Professor, PhD. Viet-Anh Nguyen has around 30 years of experience in water supply and sanitation sector, spending number of efforts in teaching and in research and development activities, with focus on efficient water supply and appropriate sanitation systems, feasible industrial pollution control measures, especially for the developing countries. Participation of local users and private sector, sludge management and resource recovery solutions, development of water and sanitation industry, adaptive to climate change challenges, water digitalization, are also among his main interests.  

Prof. Nguyen has experiences in water sector capacity building, devoting his time for education and training for young water supply and sanitation specialists in Vietnam and some other countries. Professor Nguyen has published about 30 papers in indexed international journals, 100 papers in national journals, 15 textbooks, monographs, and reference materials. He has been awarded with 5 patents, and some medals/awards. He has been also involved in several consulting works, as well as in inter-sector policy advocacy. 

Jae-Woo Park, Professor in Department of Civil and Engineering at Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Jae-Woo Park is a Professor in Department of Civil and Engineering at Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea since 2002. He received his BS, MSc, and PhD. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Seoul National University (1986), Cornell University (1988), and Princeton University (1994).  He started to teach and research at University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1995. He moved to Ewha Womans University in 1997 before he joined Hanyang University. 

His research interest includes environmental catalysts, nanomaterials for decontamination, remediation of contaminated soil, sediment, and groundwater. He served as the presidents of two Korean environmental professional societies. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and the Korean Academy of Environmental Science. He is currently the Chair of the Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council (ACECC).

Genandrialine L. Peralta, Independent Consultant, Philippines

Genandrialine L. Peralta has 40 years of experience across 35 countries, mostly in the Asia-Pacific working on environment, climate change and health with government, academe, UN agencies and international finance institutions. Her interests are in the areas of environmental and health impact assessment, drinking water quality treatment and monitoring, climate risk and vulnerability of WASH facilities and building resilience of health care systems.  

Gene is a retired senior environmental safeguards specialist from the Asian Development Bank, was a regional adviser/coordinator on environmental health at the World Health Organization at the Western Pacific Regional Office and team coordinator on climate change, environment and health at the South Pacific Fiji office. She was a professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman for 20 years and now a professorial lecturer. She studied chemical and environmental engineering and applied science with a PhD in Environmental Engineering at University of Toronto, Canada.

Adam Saffian Ghazali, CEO Air Selangor, Malaysia

Adam Saffian Ghazali was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air Selangor in July 2024 and has extensive leadership experience in spearheading a wide spectrum of business and operations management, strategic planning, financial management, as well as tapping new business opportunities with over 18 years of combined experience in the water services and utility industries.

Adam holds a Master of Applied Taxation from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Business (Accounting & Finance) from the University of Technology Sydney. He is a Fellow Chartered Accountant with Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand and a Chartered Accountant with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants. Adam is currently the Vice President of the Malaysian Water Association (MWA) and Strategic Council Member of the International Water Association (IWA).

Throughout his career, he has held various key positions in several organisations. Adam was the CEO of Aliran Ihsan Resources Berhad from 2013 to April 2024. Previously, he served as the General Manager of Special Projects at MMC Corporation Berhad from 2013 to 2015, and as the Chief Financial Officer of Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad (PAAB) from 2011 to 2013. Adam was also attached to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) from 2000 to 2003 delivering a wide range of audit services. Prior to joining Air Selangor, he was the CEO of Alam Flora Sdn Bhd.

Daisuke Sano, Professor of Environmental Water Quality at Tohoku University, Japan

Daisuke Sano, Professor of Environmental Water Quality at Tohoku University, Japan, completed his PhD in March 2003 at Tohoku University. In the PhD study, he discovered bacterial proteins that can interact with human virus particles from activated sludge microorganisms. Then, he took a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Tohoku University (2003-2007) and University of Barcelona, Spain (2007-2009). 

As a postdoctoral fellow, he was involved in multiple projects with regards to the transmission pathway of norovirus, culture-independent evaluation of virus infectivity and genotyping of human enteric viruses in environmental water. In 2009 he got a tenure position (Associate Professor) at Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, and managed a team of water and public health reasearchers, and discovered histo-blood group antigen-positive bacteria that could specifically capture human noroviruses. 

He moved back to Tohoku University in 2017 and is responsible for the research and supervision of international and domestic projects in the field of water and public health. Particularly, he is currently interested in the statistical modeling of enteric pathogens disinfection/removal, antibiotic resistance and water, mathematical optimization of water systems, and causal inference among factors related to WaSH and human health.

Gary A. Toranzos, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico

Gary A. Toranzos (a native of Bolivia) got his PhD at the University of Arizona (1985) in Environmental Virology, and has been a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Puerto Rico since 1988,.  

He held post-doctoral positions at the University of Florida (Environmental Virology) and the University of Puerto Rico (Microbial Ecology) and his research interests have included the ecology of pathogenic microorganisms and viruses in the environment.  His latest interest is paleomicrobiology (analyses of ancient DNA sequences).   

He has published extensively (papers and books) on the above topics.  A member of the American Academy of Microbiology (1997) an Elected Fellow of the AAAS (1997) as well as the International Water Association (2018), Toranzos has been teaching and training PhD students as well as carrying out research at the University of Puerto Rico for the last 37 years.

Yang Villa, Consultant, Asian Development Bank, Philippines

Yang Villa is a champion for impactful collaborations in the water sector. He is currently a consultant to the Asian Development Bank where he manages the Asia & the Pacific Water Resilience Hub and supports technical assistance programs including Water Organizations Partnerships for Resilience (WOP4R), Accelerating Innovation and Digitalization (AID), and capacity building and training courses. He also coordinated the South Asia Water Supply and Sanitation Utility Hub for the World Bank and was the Lead Events Specialist for the Asia Water Forum 2022. Prior to independent consulting, Yang was Head of the Philippines for Isle Utilities Asia-Pacific and Senior Manager for Public-Private Partnerships for Metro Pacific Water.

Yang has a track record of service in the IWA, including being a member of the Intermittent Water Supply SG Management Committee, Career Building officer for the Young Water Professionals (YWP) Steering Committee, and being the youngest Conference President of the IWA Efficient Conference in 2019. He was also the first YWP appointed as Independent Member of an IWA Board committee (Governance and Nominations). Yang was one of 13 young leaders that were awarded the IWA-Grundfos Youth Action for SDG6 Fellowship and represented IWA at the UN Water Conference 2023. In 2016 he co-founded the Philippine Young Water Professionals where—now an adviser—he continues to mentor and empower emerging water leaders for positive change.

Kobus van Zyl, Professor and Watercare Chair in Infrastructure in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Auckland, New Zealand

Kobus van Zyl is Professor and Watercare Chair in Infrastructure in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Auckland. Most of his research career has focused on water distribution systems but he also has a keen interest in the wider field of infrastructure and the interaction between infrastructure and society. He is a Chartered Engineer, Associate Editor of the ASCE Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management and past Chair of the ASCE standing committee on Water Distribution Systems Analysis.

Fiona Waller, Independent Water Scientist, United Kingdom

Fiona Waller is a water scientist with over 35 years of experience of working in the regulated water industry in the UK. She is focused on delivery of high quality drinking water and has a wide network of contacts at home and internationally.  Her background is in environmental science and microbiology with laboratory experience gained within the research environments and the water industry. 

She has held senior roles in the water industry on various committees and as a non-executive director of an organisation working on behalf of UK water companies.  She has been on the programme committee for  Singapore International Water Week in the public health workstream for 5 years. 

Alongside her strategic roles, her practical experience is wide and detailed encompassing drinking water supply from source to tap, public health, ground water contamination and UK regulations on drinking water and plumbing systems. She is a mentor, facilitator and trainer and a member of the Institute of Water and the International Water Association.

Yu Zhang, Professor and Vice Director of State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (RCEES, CAS), China

Yu Zhang is a Professor, and currently serves as vice-Director of State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (RCEES, CAS), as well as a Professor of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). Her research interests lie in microbial risk identification and control in water environment. She currently focuses on deterring and minimizing the transmission risk of antibiotic resistance in the environment, and developing treatment technologies for wastewater and wastes. She received a State Natural Science Award in 2017 and a State Scientific and Technological Progress Award in 2006, from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, respectively. She has published more than 200 peer-review SCI papers and holds 30 patents. She was invited to attend two workshops on “Developing priorities for WHO activities on Anti-microbial Resistance and the Environment” and “Antibiotic Use and Wastewater Residue” organized by WHO in 2017 and 2019, respectively. In 2020, She was selected as a member of WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Antimicrobial Resistance (2020-2023). She is the President of Committee of Microbial Ecology, Ecological Society of China, and an invited expert of the pharmaceutical industry in China.