Johanna Höffken (Eindhoven University of Technology) holds an MSc of International Relations from Dresden University of Technology as well as a Master Degree in Science and Technology Studies at Maastricht University. She received her PhD at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University in 2012, where she finished her dissertation "Power to the People? Civic Engagement with Small-scale Hydroelectric Plants in India".  

During her time as PhD candidate she had the privilege to participate as fellow in the Program on Science, Technology and Society at Harvard University. Johanna also holds an MA in International Relations from Dresden University of Technology and an MA in European Programme on Science and Technology (ESST) from Maastricht University, after which she worked temporarily for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch Provincial Government. Johanna joined TU/e in 2012 as a lecturer and became an Assistant Professor in 2015.

Jorge Membrillo Hernández (Tecnológica de Monterrey) has a doctorate in Biotechnology from King's College in London (UK), as well as postdoctoral stays at the University of Sheffield (UK) and Harvard University (USA). He is currently a full time professor and researcher at the School of Engineering and Sciences at Tecnológico de Monterrey's Mexico City Campus, a full member of the Socially Oriented STEM Interdisciplinary Education Research Group at the Institute for the Future of Education, and Chair of the International Society for Engineering Pedagogy in Mexico.

Prof. Membrillo Hernández has 60+ published articles in indexed journals of disciplinary research and educational innovation. His research studies are mainly focused on challenge-based learning.

Sjoerd Verduyn Lunel studied Mathematics with Physics at the University of Amsterdam and received a PhD from Leiden University in 1988. He is currently Research Director at ASML and Professor of Infinite Dimensional Dynamical Systems by special appointment at Utrecht University. He held positions at Brown University, Georgia Instiute of Technology, University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Leiden University. He was a visiting professor at University of California at San Diego, University of Colorado, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Rome ``Tor Vergata'', and Rutgers University. He was elected member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities in 2012.

He was Chair of the board of the national platform for Dutch Mathematics and Secreatary of the European Mathematical Society from 2014 to 2021. He was co-Editor-in-Chief of Integral Equations and Operator Theory from 2000 to 2009 and is currently associate editor of SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis and of Integral Equations and Operator Theory.

MODERATOR

Peter Ruijten-Dodoiu (Eindhoven University of Technology) is assistant professor on Human-Like Machines within the Human-Technology Interaction research group at the department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences. Research at the group focuses on social- and cognitive psychology, people's responses to new innovative technologies, and persuasion. The common approach of the research projects is to analyze how humans interact with technology in ways that work best for them and for society at large. The current research interests of Peter Ruijten include (social) Human-Robot Interaction, Persuasive Technologies, and Trust in Autonomous Vehicles. All of his projects have the common goal of designing and developing technologies in such a way that our interactions with them are perceived as natural and fluent, making those technologies easier in use and more helpful in our daily lives.

Every river is unique – and so is every riverside community, particularly when the river is vital for local needs. Suleman explains how he and his colleagues work to understand plastic pollution from the local's point of view – and use our deployments to help them to solve it.

Suleman also speaks to the power of empathy, how his experiences help him connect with our stakeholders and listen to what matters to them, and his pride and passion in joining our mission to rid the oceans of plastic.