Davetli Konuşmacılar

Born in Gümüşhane in 1981, Prof. Dr. Oktay Yıldız completed his undergraduate studies at the Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, İnönü University, in 2002. He received his master's degree from the same university and his PhD in 2011 from the Department of Chemistry–Biochemistry, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University (KTU). He is also a graduate of the Department of Public Administration at Anadolu University.

He began his career as an engineer and manager at Gümüşsu A.Ş. and entered academia in 2006 at Şebinkarahisar Vocational School, Giresun University, where he served until 2011. From 2011 onwards he continued his academic work at Maçka Vocational School, KTU, and during this period played a pioneering role in establishing and institutionalising the technology transfer ecosystem in Türkiye. As founder and director of KTU's technology transfer mechanisms, among the first of their kind in the country, he led the development of its university–industry collaboration model.

Since 2020 he has worked at the Faculty of Pharmacy, KTU, first as Associate Professor and then as Professor. Throughout his professional life he has been active in the European Union project ecosystem as both implementer and auditor, managing the design and implementation of numerous EU projects and serving as an international evaluator in their assessment. Alongside many strategic projects for public institutions, municipalities, non-governmental organisations and the private sector, he has gained extensive experience in R&D, innovation, intellectual and industrial property rights, and social projects focused on regional development.

With more than 210 scientific publications and 28 patent and utility model applications, Prof. Dr. Yıldız has served on the boards and commissions of various ministries, most notably the Strategic Plan Preparation Commission of the Presidency of Strategy and Budget. A founding member of the Gümüşhane Engineers Platform and the Şiran Education and Development Foundation, he was appointed Rector of Gümüşhane University by Presidential Decree dated 10 April 2025. He is fluent in English, married and the father of two children.

Dr. Muhammad Sajid is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Management Sciences at Bahria University Lahore Campus, Pakistan. He holds a PhD in Management Science & Engineering from China University of Mining & Technology, China, an MBA from the University of Engineering & Technology (UET), Lahore, and a BSc in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. He also received letter of appreciation from INTI International University, Malaysia for successfully completing research fellowship.

Dr. Sajid has extensive academic and industry experience in Project Management, Marketing, technology adoption, and sustainable agriculture. His research interests include water and energy conservation technologies, irrigation technology adoption, sustainability, and project management. His work has been published in various well reputed international journals, and he has contributed to academic conferences as a researcher, speaker, and session chair. He brings an interdisciplinary perspective combining agricultural engineering, management science, and project management, with a particular interest in developing practical and sustainable solutions for the agriculture sector.

Muhammad Talha Farooq is an accomplished academician, marketing strategist, and Head of Admissions & Lecturer in Marketing & Entrepreneurship at Lahore Business School, The University of Lahore.

Backed by over 8 years of corporate and academic leadership experience, he has driven international market expansion and B2B digital strategies for top-tier conglomerates, including Nishat Group (Pakistan’s largest business group), Coca-Cola Pakistan, and Sapphire Group. His work integrates advanced digital transformation, data-driven marketing analytics, and consumer behavior strategies. At the intersection of multidisciplinary commercial strategy and higher education, his focus centers on leveraging digital innovation, strategic brand positioning, and sustainable market development across complex global value chains and agro-industrial sectors.

Dr. Antoni Sureda is a Full Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). He holds a double degree in Biology and Biochemistry and a PhD in Molecular Nutrition (cum laude, European mention). He is a member of the Community Nutrition and Oxidative Stress research group at UIB, as well as the Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), CIBEROBN (Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition, ISCIII) and the University Institute for Research in Health Sciences (IUNICS).

He has served as Principal Investigator in several publicly funded research projects and has participated as senior researcher in some European initiatives. He has also supervised competitive research contracts focused on environmental and nutritional health. His research spans nutritional epidemiology, oxidative stress and inflammation, metabolic health, physical activity biochemistry and ecotoxicology.

He is the author of 287 original research articles, 89 reviews and 15 book chapters (over 15,000 citations; Scopus H-index 75, Scopus ID: 57201867677), and has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate (2022–2024). He has supervised nine PhD theses (with several ongoing), completed multiple international research stays, and regularly contributes to international conferences as an invited speaker.

Prof. Dr. Syed Makhdoom Hussain is a leading researcher in aquaculture nutrition and aquatic toxicology. He earned his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, in 2011 and is currently serving as Tenured Professor in the Department of Zoology, Government College University, Faisalabad.

His research mainly focuses on developing sustainable, cost-effective aquafeeds by replacing fish meal with plant-based protein sources and functional additives. His core expertise spans fish nutrition, aquaculture, fisheries, environmental sciences, and aquatic toxicology, with an emphasis on improving feed efficiency and reducing the environmental footprint of aquaculture.

Prof. Hussain has published more than 250 research articles in reputable national and international journals. He has successfully supervised 11 PhD and 56 M.Phil. scholars, and currently guides 5 PhD and 8 MPhil students. He has led two major research projects funded by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in the field of fish nutrition. He maintains active international research collaborations and joint projects with partners in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkiye, Poland, China, and UK, focusing on plant-based protein alternatives, functional aquafeeds, and aquatic environmental health.

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to Aquaculture nutrition research and academia, he has received more than 40 prestigious national and international awards, including gold medal for excellence in fish nutrition. His work has been instrumental in advancing eco-efficient aquafeed technologies and building research capacity in developing nations. Beyond research, Prof. Hussain is committed to academic mentorship and international scientific cooperation to advance sustainable aquaculture and global food security.

Dr Muhammad Younis Laghari was born on May 21, 1976 in District Shaheed Benazeerabad (Nawabshah). He completed his BSc (Hons) in 2000 and MSc (Hons) in 2001 at the Department of Freshwater Biology and Fisheries, University of Sindh, Pakistan. He secured 1st position in both programs and was awarded the Vice Chancellor's Silver Medal.

He started his career as Fisheries Research Officer in the Aquaculture Project at Habib ADM (Ltd) from 2003 to 2006. On his excellent academic and research progress, the University of Sindh appointed him as Lecturer in his parent department, the Department of Freshwater Biology and Fisheries, in 2007. Dr Laghari acquired his MPhil degree in Aquaculture from the same department in 2008. In 2010, he was awarded a PhD Scholarship from the Chinese Scholarship Council through open merit. He carried out his research work at the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Science, Beijing, with support of the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), and completed his PhD in 2014. Considering his research contribution and academic background, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) awarded him the Presidential Fellowship for Post Doctorate at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2016. He is currently working as Associate Professor in the Department of Freshwater Biology and Fisheries at the University of Sindh, Pakistan.

He has two major research contributions in the field of fisheries that are recognized nationally and internationally. Dr Laghari successfully conducted an experiment of fish culture in low volume at high density, the first time in Pakistan, in 2004. In general, fish farming was exercised with only 250–750 fishes per acre, while Dr Laghari successfully cultured more than 100,000 fishes in a one-acre pond by adopting intensive culture. He presented this work at the ISTA-VIII conference in Egypt in 2008, and it was published in the conference proceedings. He is also recognized for publishing, for the first time, the complete mitochondrial genome of six fish species of Pakistan, in internationally ranked research journals.

He has supervised numerous MPhil and PhD research scholars in the field of fisheries. Dr Laghari has published more than 66 research articles in national and international reputed journals, with a cumulative impact factor of more than 37. He has also published a book chapter, "Climate Change a Great Threat to Fisheries", in Building Climate Resilience in Agriculture, published by the internationally recognized publisher Springer Nature.

He has joined 33 national and international trainings and workshops and attended more than 52 seminars in the country and abroad. He is a member of national and international scientific societies and serves on the advisory boards of many national and international journals. In recognition of his research contribution and services, the Pakistan Society for Applied Zoology awarded him the Prof. Dr. Muhammad Naeem Khan 3rd Gold Medal in the field of Aquaculture in 2022.