Prof. Tripta Thakur is Director General, National Power Training Institute (NPTI), apex body of Ministry of Power, Government of India. Under her leadership, NPTI received the mandate for conducting cyber security certification programs for the power sector, foundation program for the newly recruited professionals of the Central power sector utilities and autonomous bodies of the power sector. NPTI also became an institutional partner for WePOWER, an initiative by the South Asia Gender and Energy Facility (SAGE) at the World Bank that supports women’s participation in energy projects and institutions in the South Asian region. She was earlier Head and Professor, Electrical Engineering Department at the National Institute of Technology, MANIT-Bhopal, India. She is a graduate in Electrical Engineering with Master’s degree in Power Electronics from IIT-Kanpur, and has a PhD from IIT-Delhi. She has been recipient of several awards such as Commonwealth Research Scholar at University of Dundee (2005-2008), UK, Commonwealth Academic fellow at Durham University Business School (2014), UK, COFUND Senior researcher at Durham University Business School (2016), Visiting Faculty at Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok (2010), technical member for International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), SEG4 Group, ISGF (MoP) working group member etc. She has teaching and research experience of 28 years, and has nearly 100 publications to her credit. She has also been a Consultant for evolving a possible Common South Asian Electricity Market. She has done various consultancies for Distribution companies in India.

Dr. Balakrishna Pamulaparthy is a Senior Engineer in Emerging Technologies at GE's Hyderabad Technology Center, specializing in Smart Grid solutions. He has over 14 years of Industrial R&D experience at GE and around 2 years of academic experience as an Assistant Professor at IIT Bhubaneswar (2017-2020).He earned his M.Tech and PhD in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras and holds a PG certification in Cyber Security from MIT. His research interests include Smart Grid, AI applications for grid modernization, Substation/Distribution Automation, Grid Monitoring, Data Analytics, and Asset Management. Dr. Pamulaparthy has filed 48 US patents, with 20 granted, and published over 35 papers in international journals and conferences. He has received multiple awards, including the GE Inventor of the Year Award (2010), Ramanujan Young Achiever Award (2011), and Grid Innovation Challenge Winner Awards (2022 & 2023). He is an active speaker on Smart Grid topics and serves as a Board of Studies member at NIT Warangal, MITS Madanapalle, and BVRIT Hyderabad. He also leads industry-academic collaborations with IIT Roorkee and IIT Hyderabad.

Professor Tek Tjing Lie is the Head of School at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences (2024-2029). He previously served as Professor and Deputy Head of School at AUT. He earned his BS from Oklahoma State University and his MS and PhD from Michigan State University. Before joining AUT, he held academic positions at Nanyang Technological University. His research interests include power system control and operation, AI applications in power systems, deregulated power markets, smart grids, microgrids, renewable energy systems, and energy management. He has authored over 300 journal and conference papers.

Professor Bidyadhar Subudhi Director NIT Warangal is a Professor at the School of Electrical Sciences, IIT Goa. He was also the Dean of Research & Development at IIT Goa. His areas of specialization include System & Control Theory, Robust and Adaptive Control, Photovoltaic System Control, Microgrids, Active Power Filtering, Wide Area Power System Control, and Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.

He earned his PhD from the University of Sheffield, UK, and has held academic positions at NIT Rourkela and IGIT Sarang before joining IIT Goa in 2019. Prof. Subudhi has published over 200 international journal papers, guided more than 45 PhD scholars, and authored six books. He holds several patents, including innovations in hybrid vehicles and solar-powered systems. He is a Fellow of INAE, IET (UK), IE (India), and IETE, and a Senior Member of IEEE. His honors include the IEEE CSEE JPES Excellent Paper Award (2021), Distinguished Alumnus Award from NIT Rourkela (2021), and the Samanta Chandra Sekhar Award (2013). His research focuses on smart grids, microgrids, renewable energy systems, and control of autonomous systems, contributing significantly to both academia and industry.

Prof. Sukumar Mishra is the Director of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad and a distinguished researcher in Electrical Engineering. He has served as Dean of Research and External Engagement at IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi Campus and as Associate Dean (R&D) at IIT Delhi.

He has received numerous awards, including the Young Scientist Award (1999), INAE Young Engineer Award (2002), INSA Medal for Young Scientist (2002), Silver Jubilee Young Engineer Award (2012), NASI-Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee Award (2019), and the IEEE Hingorani Award for Excellence in Solar Photovoltaic Systems (2024), among others. Prof. Mishra is a Fellow of several prestigious institutions, including IEEE (2025), INAE, FNASc, FIET, FIETE, and FIE India. His research expertise includes smart grids, renewable energy integration, intelligent control, power system stability, and EV charging infrastructure. He has also engaged in industrial consultations with companies like TATA Power and Microtek. Additionally, he founded SILOV SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED, specializing in renewable energy products such as EV chargers, solar inverters, and smart DC home management systems.