Scientific Board

CEO, Anapaya Systems, Zurich, Switzerland

Martin Bosshardt is the CEO of Anapaya Systems and has 20 years of leadership and entrepreneurial experience in the SD-WAN network and security space. Until 2019 he served as a CEO of Open Systems, a leading SD-WAN provider with a follow-the-sun operation managing a global footprint in over 180 countries and representative offices in the US, Germany, Austria, the UK and Switzerland. Martin is a member of the board of directors at Open Systems and he is also an active Chairman of Westhive Coworking. He works closely with the Swedish Private Equity company EQT. Furthermore, Martin is a recipient of the SVC Entrepreneurs Award 2020.

Professor of Thermotronics; Former President, ETH Zurich, Zurich

To date

Lino Guzzella was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1957. He received the diploma in Mechanical Engineering in 1981 and the Dr. sc. techn. degree in Control Engineering in 1986 from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich. From 1987 to 1989 he was with the R&D Department of Sulzer Bros. in Winterthur, Switzerland. From 1989 to 1991 he was an Assistant Professor for Automatic Control in the Electrical Engineering Department of ETH. He then joined Hilti R&D, Liechtenstein where he was the head of the Mechatronics Department from 1992 to 1993. He is currently President of ETH Zurich and Professor for Thermotronics in the Mechanical Engineering Department of ETH. His research interests are modeling of dynamic systems, non-linear and robust control and applications of these ideas to thermal and especially automotive systems.

Professor and Director, Institute of the US and Pacific Studies, Shanghai International Studies University (SISU); Member, stars Scientific Board, Shanghai, China

To date

Prof. Dr. Huang Jing is co-founder and CEO of Transcend Consulting. He is also a University Professor and Director of the Institute of the US and Pacific Studies at the Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). Before joining SISU, Prof. Huang was University Professor and Dean (Academic Affairs) of the Institute of International and Regional Studies at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU). He was also the Lee Foundation Professor on US-China Relations and Director of the Centre on Asia and Globalization of the LKY School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore (2008-2018), Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution (2004-2008), Shorenstein Fellow at Stanford University (2002-2003), and Associate Professor (tenured) of Political Science and Director of the Asian Studies Program at Utah State University (1994-2004). Prof. Huang also taught at Harvard University as an instructor in 1993-94.

Prof. Huang’s main research and teaching interests include security in Asia-Pacific, US-China relations, major power diplomacy in Asia-Pacific, China’s foreign policies and its development strategy. He is the author of numerous papers and journal articles, and has published hundreds of columns and op-eds in major newspapers and magazines. Prof. Huang has authored two books: Factionalism in Chinese Communist Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2000) and Inseparable Separation: the Making of China’s Taiwan Policy” (World Scientific Press, 2010), and edited or co-edited seven volumes on South China Sea, the environment policies of Asian countries, and the development of Russia’s Far East and Siberia. As an internationally renowned scholar, Prof. Huang has provided policy advices for governments, NGOs, educational institutions, think tanks, and businesses for countries in Asia, America and Europe, including China, the United States, Russia, Japan, India, South Korea, Norway, Germany, Vietnam, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Prof. Huang earned a bachelor degree in English literature from Sichuan University, a master degree in history from Fudan University, and a PhD in Political science from Harvard University.

Founder and Member of the Board, Alpine AI; Founder and Group CEO, Mindfire; Founder, Starmind, Zurich, Switzerland

In 2012, while at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Zurich Kaufmann initiated and developed a humanoid robot called Roboy, with Prof. Dr. Rolf Pfeifer. Roboy combines the latest insights from the field of embodied intelligence research and the most recent advances in the field of robotics.

Kaufmann takes on a more skeptical view on the current state of AI, in particular about the analogy that the brain is comparable to a computer.

His vision “to think with the power of 1,000 brains” gave rise to the concept of the “Corporate Brain” which is today the core technology of the software company Starmind International which he founded with Marc Vontobel in 2010. The company is based in Zurich, Switzerland and has operations in New York and Frankfurt.

In 2017, Kaufmann initiated the non-profit Mindfire foundation dedicated to progressing AI openly, responsibly and ethically. In 2019, he gave rise to the Mindfire Group. Ultimately, to use the power of human level AI to solve our most pressing global challenges. Kaufmann ist president of the Swiss AI Award dedicated to promoting artificial intelligence.

Pascal Kaufmann was born in Zurich, Switzerland. He joined the Kantonsschule Zürcher Unterland (KZU) with a focus on ancient languages and philosophy. Kaufmann received his master’s degree in Neuroscience and Economics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, United States.

10/2023-03/2024 UN Under-Secretary-General, Head of Independent Strategic Review Team for UNAMI (United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq)

02/2021-10/2023 UN Under-Secretary-General, Special Representative for Sudan and head of UNITAMS (United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan)

10/2005-09/2020 Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and Executive Chairman of the Board of SWP

2015-2018 Senior Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria; Chairperson of the Ceasefire Task Force (CTF) of the International Syria Support Group

2006-2019 Professor, Humboldt University Berlin

1992-2005 Senior Research Associate at SWP, Head of Middle East and Africa Division up to March 2005

1999 Habilitation, Duisburg University

1991-1993, Assistant Professor, American University of Beirut

1990 PhD, Duisburg University

Professor of Autonomous Systems, ETH Zurich, Founding Co-Director, Wyss Zurich, Zurich

To date

Roland Siegwart (1959) is full Professor of Autonomous Systems at ETH Zurich since July 2006 and Founding Co-Director of the Wyss Zurich. From January 2010 to December 2014, he took office as Vice President Research and Corporate Relations in the ETH Executive Board. He is member of the board of directors of various companies, including Komax and NZZ.

He received his Diploma in Mechanical Engineering in 1983 and his Doctoral Degree in 1989 from ETH Zurich. He brought up a spin-off company, spent ten years as professor at EPFL Lausanne (1996 – 2006) and held visiting positions at Stanford University and NASA Ames.

He is and was the coordinator of multiple European projects and co-founder of half a dozen spin-off companies. He is IEEE Fellow, recipient of the IEEE RAS Inaba Technical Award and officer of the International Federation of Robotics Research (IFRR). He is in the editorial board of multiple journals in robotics and was a general chair of several conferences in robotics including IROS 2002, AIM 2007, FSR 2007 and ISRR 2009.

Roland Siegwart’s research interests are in the design and control of robot systems operating in complex and highly dynamical environments. His major goal is to find new ways to deal with uncertainties and enable the design of highly interactive and adaptive autonomous robots. Prominent application examples are personal and service robots, autonomous micro-aircrafts, walking and swimming robots and driver assistant systems. Furthermore, he is a strong promotor of innovation and entrepreneurship in Switzerland.

CEO, Happiness Planet; Fellow and Former Corporate Chief Scientist, Hitachi, Tokyo

To date

Dr. Kazuo YANO is a Fellow of Hitachi, where he currently leads the Happiness Project in the Future Investment Division. He previously served as Corporate Chief Scientist of Hitachi. Kazuo is known for his pioneering work in the fields of semiconductors, sensors, big data and artificial intelligence. Over the last decade, he has taken the lead in collecting human big data using wearable sensors and quantifying happiness using artificial intelligence. His work on quantifying happiness from human big data has been applied to over 30 companies to raise the collective happiness level of employees in the workplace. Kazuo holds a doctorate in engineering from Waseda University and he is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Kazuo has over 350 patent applications in his name and he also serves as a Member of the stars Scientific Board.