Makoto Usami is Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy at Kyoto University and a visiting professor at the Technical University of Munich. After staying as a visiting scholar at Harvard University, he was a full professor at Chukyo University and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. He currently serves as the President of the Public Policy Studies Association, Japan. His areas of specialty include legal and political philosophy, and he has recently worked on climate justice, global justice, intergenerational justice, and moral issues surrounding artificial intelligence, among others. He is the author of four books and a co-author of two textbooks, while also editing eight anthologies in English and Japanese. He has published nearly 80 journal papers and book chapters and given talks at more than 70 international conferences.
Biography: Jun Peng is a Professor of Sustainable Energy Engineering in University of Lincoln, UK. He received his PhD degree from National Engine Combustion Lab, Tianjin University in 1996. After four years working experiences as research fellow in Brunel University and two years as senior development engineer in Ford Motor Company, he held the position of Lecturer since 2004 and Senior Lecture since 2007 in the University of Sussex. Prior to his current appointment, he worked as Professor in Engineering in University of Bedfordshire. Jun Peng’s research interest lies in thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and combustion with applications on IC engines, gas turbines, fuel cells and other sustainable energy systems. His recent research works have contributed to sustainable vehicle powertrain, non-carbon water transport technology, etc. Jun Peng is a Fellow of IMechE, a Fellow of RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry). He is the Associate Editor of IET journal of Electronics Letters (SCI indexed) and an Editorial Board member of Johnson Matthey Technology Review (SCI indexed). He was an invited fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
Biography: Dr. Masafumi Yamaguchi is now Professor Emeritus and Invited Research Fellow at the Toyota Technological Institute, Nagoya, Japan. He is the Chairman, PV R&D Review Committee under the NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization): since 2008. He was the Research Supervisor of the “Creative Clean Energy Generation using Solar Energy” under the JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency): 2009-2017. Prof. Yamaguchi has contributed to R&D for high-efficiency multi-junction, Si tandem and Si solar cells, space solar cells, defects in semiconductors, PV-powered vehicle applications. He has received numerous awards such as The Becquerel Prize from the European Commission in 2004, The William Cherry Award from the IEEE in 2008, The PVSEC Award in 2011, The WCPEC Award in 2014, The Science and Technology Award by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2015, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Japan Society of Applied Physics in 2025 and the Purple Ribbon Medal from the Emperor in 2025 for his outstanding contributions to the development of science and technology of photovoltaics such as high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells, space solar cells, concentrator solar cells and as one of the world leaders of the development of photovoltaics and as one of the driving forces for international co-operation.
