Dr David Ness is Adjunct Professor, UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, with a background in architecture, urban and infrastructure planning, and strategic asset management. He conducts research on fair, sufficient, and circular resource use, and was awarded the Arup 2017 Global Research Challenge to adapt the circular economy to the built environment. David has also developed conceptual models on ‘doing more with less’, delivering more services with less resource consumption and less cost, involving integrated infrastructure systems and new business models such as product-service systems. He heads ‘Ecological Development Union International’, a not for profit international association that seeks to integrate environmental improvements with socio-economic development in emerging economies of Asia/SE Asia. Within the context of the SDGs, the Paris accord on climate change, and achieving global equity, David examines ways in which wealthier societies may dramatically ‘shrink’ their absolute resource consumption and Greenhouse Gas emissions, while redistributing resources and investment to enable the disadvantaged to improve services, shelter, and infrastructure – thereby striving for global and regional rebalancing and equity. He has advised UN ESCAP and UN Habitat on ‘green growth’ and sustainable, integrated, and inclusive infrastructure, led a training course at the International Urban Training Centre, and evaluated a major UN clean environment program involving 60 cities across the Asia Pacific. David was lead researcher on the project ‘Learning from Regional Climate Analogues’ for National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF), and has been a Chief Investigator (CI) on ARC research projects. He has authored over 100 publications, including ‘The Impact of Overbuilding on People and the Planet’ (2019), ‘Transforming Rural Communities in China and Beyond’ (2015), and co-edited ‘The Green Economy and its Implementation in China’ (2011).
Andrew Rae is currently Professor of Engineering responsible for engineering research and strategy across the University’s partners, and holds a personal Chair as Professor of Experimental and Applied Aerodynamics. He is Director of the Centre for Advanced Engineering at Perth College UHI, is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Aerodynamics Specialist Group and an External Examiner at Cranfield University for the MSc in Military Aerospace and Airworthiness. He is a Visiting Professor at Zhengzhou Institute of Aviation Management and was, until recently, a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor of Engineering Design in the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Surrey University.
Andrew Rae graduated from Imperial College in 1987 and joined the High-Lift Section of the Aerodynamics Department at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough. His activities there concentrated on the physics of multi-element aerofoils, largely but not exclusively for civil aircraft, including Reynolds number effects and wake vorticity. Based at the 5m Pressurised Wind Tunnel at Farnborough he was involved in the development and application of wind tunnel corrections and test techniques. He has managed tests at over 30 other major facilities in seven countries and worked on projects for Airbus, Boeing and several Formula 1 teams. He was Deputy Chairman of the Technical & Scientific Board of the European Wind Tunnel Association (EWA) and within this framework was the focus for wind tunnel correction and advanced simulation methodologies.
He was a QinetiQ Approved Technical Authority and, as such, the signatory for the aerodynamics clearance of flight test aircraft (including E-3D Sentry, BAC 1-11, Canberra, Andover, Nimrod, Hercules, Jaguar, Tornado, Sea King, Chinook and Lynx) modified to accommodate trials or upgrade equipment. He became a QinetiQ Fellow in 2008 for his contribution to applied and experimental aerodynamics. He was a member of the Steering Committee of the Smart Fixed-Wing Aircraft element of the EC Clean Skies programme aimed at the flight testing of flow and loads control technologies. He has worked on many non-aeronautical applications including road and rail transport, wind engineering and sport.
A/Prof Ke Xing is the Program Director for Mechanical Engineering and specialisation degree programs and the Stream Leader for ‘Innovative Infrastructure and Asset Management’ of the Sustainable Infrastructure and Resource Management (SIRM) research concentration at the UniSA STEM Academic Unit.
Ke has strong research expertise in applying systems thinking, value engineering and life cycle assessment approaches for modelling, analysis and optimisation of techno-economic systems for smart infrastructure and asset stewardship solutions in achieving resource efficiency and net-zero targets for carbon reduction in the built environments. He has conducted extensive research projects as a Chief Investigator on life-cycle resource/carbon efficiency in manufacturing, construction and service industries, funded by industries and government agencies. He has also delivered multiple opportunity/capability assessment reports on digital transformation and business model innovation for circular product-service systems, decarbonisation and energy efficiency, with particular interest in decentralised green energy and water assets.
Over his academic career, Ke has been dedicated to incorporating social, economic, and environmental perspectives into tertiary engineering education to prepare graduates becoming professional engineers with specialized knowledge and skills for achieving sustainability in engineering practice. He served as a member of Professional Development Committee at Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society (ALCAS) (2009-2013) and a Standing Committee member of Ecological Development Union International (EDUI) (Australia) (2010- ). He is also an invited reviewer for various international funding organisations on sustainable product-service system innovation, low carbon and circular infrastructure and cleaner production research grant applications.