Biography
 
Georgios Arnaoutakis, born in Greece in 1984, received his BEng degree in Energy Technology from the Technological Educational University of Athens in 2007. In partial fulfilment of his studies, and then until 2009, he worked on HVAC and fire protection systems for the built environment. He then moved to Edinburgh to pursue further studies where he was awarded a MSc in Renewable Energy Engineering with distinction from Heriot-Watt University. His dissertation was on photo-stability of Lanthanide complexes for use in novel photovoltaic devices. Georgios has a strong research interest in renewable energy and currently he is working on his PhD "focusing" on optical fibres for efficiency enhancement of concentrating photovoltaics.

Biography
 
Imhamed Ali received his Master degree in Mechanical Engineering, in the area of "Gas Turbine Operation with Inlet Water Injection" Polytechnic University, Warsaw, Poland, 2005. He has an experience in handling Thermodynamics Course and simultaneously working as a Head of Study and Examination Affairs in the Faculty of Engineering, Al-Tahadi University, Libya, (2006 – 2008). He worked as a Junior and senior Mechanical Engineer - Supervisor of Pump and Compressor Unit in AGIP Oil Company Limited, Libya branch, and 1996-2006. He has undergone Industrial Training courses on three different sectors; Industrial Courses Pumps & Compressors" Weir Engineering Service, Glasgow, Scotland (2000- 2001), “Operation and Maintenance of Gas Turbine" International Expertise Association, Libya (2001), and "Industrial Safety on Handling" Safety and Consultancy Services, United Kingdom (2001). Since 2008, he has been pursing his PhD in Heriot-Watt University; Scotland under the supervision of Dr Tapas Kumar Mallick. His research area is “Development of 3-D solar thermal concentrator for high temperature application".

Biography
 
Dalila Capao, who is Portuguese, received her bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Aveiro, followed by her master's degree in Hydraulics and Water Resources from the Instituto Superior Técnico of Lisbon. Dalila is interested in water treatment, renewable energies, energy storage, and north and south cooperation. Her PhD topic is the effects of direct application of PV to a RO membrane water treatment system.

Biography
 
Dorothy Hardy has degrees in Mechanical Engineering (Cardiff, UK) and in Glass and Ceramics (Sunderland, UK). She is passionate about renewable energy, and started her career working in wind energy. Her PhD research combines engineering and artistic skills to improve the aesthetics of photovoltaics (PV) in the built environment.

The research aims to increase the range of colour and form of PV, as the current blue and black PV squares are proving restrictive in building design. Replacing existing building materials with a new, aesthetic, building-integrated PV that generates electricity, will mean that many more inventive designs can be developed by artists, architects, designers and engineers.

Biography
 
Mandy graduated from the University of Reading in 2008, with a B.Sc. Hons in Physics and has since worked as a research assistant at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories. She came to Heriot-Watt in 2010 to pursue her interests in renewable energy and its application in water purification. Her PhD topic is desalination using membrane distillation, driven by a combined concentrated photovoltaic and thermal collector.

Biography
 
Efthymios Klampaftis was born in Athens in 1976. He received his first degree in Physics from the University of Athens in 2003, having attended part of his studies in Tor Vergata University of Rome in Italy. He then moved to the UK, where he was awarded an MSc in Renewable Energy Sources Technology from Loughborough University in 2005.During these studies he visited the Australian National University for a three months long project.After his return to England,he was employeed by CREST in Loughborough University for a short period as a Research Technician.He is currently and since 2006 doing his PhD in Heriot-Watt University of Scotland. His research concentrates on improving the performance of conventional PV devices via luminescent down-shifting of the light.

Biography
 
I was born in Edinburgh and gained my Bsc. with Hons. in Physics and Environmental Science at Heriot Watt University. My final year dissertation was on the design and development of a low cost PV V-trough concentrator for facade integration. I have also carried out environmental auditing with Britain’s largest paper merchant and manufacturer, which concluded with presenting my work at Edinburgh’s City Chambers as part of a competition. My PhD studentship is with the European 7th framework programme in the use of nanomaterials for the harvesting of sub-band gap photons via upconversion to increase solar cell efficiencies.

Biography
 
Jonathan Morton graduated with an MSci (honours) degree in Chemistry and Physics from the University of St Andrews in 2011. During his time at St Andrews, Jonathan carried out research projects on solid oxide fuel cells, semiconductors in high magnetic fields (CNRS, Grenoble) and Raman probes for cancer diagnosis. Jonathan's main research interests are in renewable energy, focusing on photovoltaics. He joined Heriot Watt University in June 2011 to study for his PhD under the supervision of Professor Bryce Richards. His area of work is on photonic structures for the enhanced performance of photovoltaics.

Biography
 
Gavin Park received his master's degree (with distinction) in Enviro-Mechanical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow in 2007. This involved a year of study abroad which was split between the University of Malta and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (received the DUO Singapore Exchange Fellowship). His main research interests are in renewable energy with a focus on wind power, and international development. He has had some experience in international development having grown up in Zambia and worked on development projects in both Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His PhD title is "The Design of a Wind-Powered Membrane Filtration System". This system is designed to purify water from brackish groundwater sources and operates without any form of energy storage. The main research focus is to investigate the effect of energy fluctuations on the operation of the membrane system and the need for energy buffering and/or an adequate control system.

Biography
 
Alban received his Master's in Material for renewable energy and environment. His broad area of reserach is in photovoltaics and solar cells, with his PhD topic being "PV Solar Cells design: High Efficiency Silicon Solar Cell".

Biography
 
Paolo Pizzol holds a degree in Material Science and Technology at “Ca’Foscari Venezia” University. His thesis regarded the synthesis of mesoporous silica “host” particles subsequently loaded with different organic luminescent dyes, then used to assembly photonic crystals. His research interests are in the renewable energies focusing on photonic crystal structures applied to photovoltaic devices. Paolo PhD topic is the improvement of luminescent solar concentrators’ efficiency by using doped photonic crystal structures.

Biography
 
Laura Richards received a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado (Boulder) in 2005, and a master's degree in Environmental Engineering from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) in 2007. Laura's main research interests are in the development and application of sustainable and appropriate water treatment technologies, and her PhD topic is the removal of inorganic trace contaminants using membrane processes (nanofiltration and reverse osmosis) driven by renewable energy. Another area of interest is the fate and transport of anthropogenic chemicals in water supplies and throughout water treatment processes.