The Trans-Atlantic Research and Development Interchanges on Sustainability

Heriberto Cabezas is a Research Professor at the Department of Applied Sustainability at the Széchenyi István University in Győr, Hungary. He is a Senior Advisor at the Vishwamitra Research Institute in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Miskolc in Hungary. He led the workgroup on global sustainability at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest, Hungary. He served as a Senior Science Advisor (Ret.) at the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Urmila Diwekar is President of the Vishwamitra Research Institute, a non-profit research institute that she founded to pursue multidisciplinary research in the areas of optimization under uncertainty and computer-aided design applied to energy, environment, and sustainability. From 2002-2004, she was a Professor in the Departments of Chemical Engineering, Bio-Engineering, and Industrial Engineering, and the Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. From 1991-2002 she was on the faculty of the Carnegie Mellon University, USA. She is the author of more than 175 peer-reviewed research papers, 7 books, 15 chapters, has given over 350 presentations and seminars, and has chaired numerous sessions in national and international meetings. She has been the principal advisor to 43 Ph.D. and M.S. students, and has advised 13 post-doctoral fellows and researchers.

Michael Narodoslawsky was Head of the Institute for Resource Efficient and Sustainable Systems at Technische Universitat Graz since its foundation in 2003 until 2006 and until 2004 he acted as chairman of the National Research Network SUSTAIN, the first interdisciplinary Austrian initiative at research for sustainability. He also headed the European Network ENSURE dealing with urban and regional sustainable development. He co-developed the Sustainable Process Index, a comprehensive ecological footprint evaluation method that allows reliable forecasting of ecological performance of products and services and has participated in numerous international projects on ecological evaluation, including the first European Commission research project on Operational Indicators for Sustainable Development. His most recent research includes life cycle analysis for technologies on renewable resources and regional technology networks for renewable resources and biorefinery development. Prof. Narodoslawsky headed the research group Process Synthesis, Process Evaluation and Regional Development at the Technische Universitat Graz and headed the Bioenergy Working Group within the SET-Plan Education Task force of the E.C. Prof. Narodoslawsky currently chairs the working group Bioresources of the European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance.

Audrey Mayer earned her B.A. in Biology and Public Policy Analysis from Pomona College in 1994, and her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee in 2000. After completing a postdoctoral research position at the University of Cincinnati, studying the impacts of land use change on bird diversity, she served as an ecologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While there, she and her team measured the impact of green infrastructure on urban water quality and created sustainability assessments for multidimensional, dynamic systems. She then moved to the University of Helsinki, Finland, and studied the impact of harvesting on the biodiversity of Finnish and Russian Forests. She began her current faculty position at Michigan Technological University in 2009, teaching and conducting research in ecology and environmental policy, with a focus on biodiversity conservation, forested landscapes, urban green infrastructure, and sustainability assessment.

Csaba Deák is a Professor and University Chancellor at the University of Miskolc, Hungary. Dr. Deák received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Miskolc in 2001, and his Habilitation in Innovation and Project Management from the University of Pannonia in 2010. He also holds a Master of Economics Degree and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Miskolc. He served as Vice-President of the National Development, Research and Innovation Office in Hungary (2012-2014). He is also a Fellow of the International Society for Professional Innovation Management, Finance and Economic Development, and a Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Miskolc Chapter. Dr. Deák also holds many other prominent appointments and honors, and has a background with extensive experience in economics, business, and innovation which are critically important elements of progress towards sustainability.