Zoltan is a Hungarian native who grew up in Germany. He earned his first degree in Law from the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom. Motivated by a strong interest in the practical aspects of people management and the real-world dilemmas it presents, he went on to complete a Global MBA at CASS Business School in London.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain, Zoltan returned to Hungary, where he pursued a Ph.D. focusing on the strategic challenges encountered by transition economies. In parallel with his academic career, he developed a passion for meeting people and designing innovative, forward-looking management concepts, as well as value-based leadership development solutions.

Since 2000, he has served as Director of MBA Programs at both of the top business schools in Central Europe. His most prominent courses include Flow & Leadership for Executive MBA students, Flow, Development and Serious Games at the Ph.D. level, and Global Leadership / Global Management Practice as part of the CEMS program.

Dr. Chokan Laumulin is a Professor at the School of Natural and Social Sciences of the British Kazakh Technical University (KBTU) in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Originally from Almaty, he has accumulated over 30 years of global professional experience across academia, education, media, and entrepreneurship. He is widely published, with hundreds of academic articles, interviews, and media contributions, and actively participates in international academic forums and conferences.

He holds a Ph.D. in Development Studies from Darwin College and the Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge (2019). His doctoral thesis, titled "Science and Social Policy: Underpinning of Soviet Industrial Paradigms", was supervised by Professor Peter Nolan, CBE. He also earned an MSc in European Political Economy from the London School of Economics (2001), where he studied under Professor Nicholas Barr, and a BSc with distinction in Journalism from Kazakh National University (1996). His current research focuses on science policy, particularly the organization and development of fundamental science in relation to technology, industry, society, and modernization.

At KBTU, Professor Laumulin teaches Philosophy and History of Science and continues his research in science policy. He plays an active role in promoting the energy transition and green agenda in Kazakhstan, including organizing the annual UN-backed Almaty Energy Forums at KBTU. The second forum in 2022 featured high-ranking UN officials and a delegation from the University of Cambridge's Department of Physics and Cavendish Laboratory, including its head, Professor Andy Parker, and quantum physicist Dr. Siddharth Saxena.

Beyond his academic role, Dr. Laumulin serves as an Advisor to the President of the National Academy of Sciences in Kazakhstan, is a Research Affiliate at the Cambridge Central Asia Forum (Jesus College, University of Cambridge), a Member of the Education Committee of the British Kazakh Society (UK), and Vice Chair of the UNECE Committee on Sustainable Energy in Geneva, Switzerland.

He is also leading the development of the Almaty Centre of Advanced Science and Technology (ACAST), a future-oriented institution aimed at advancing fundamental research and technology in Kazakhstan under the guidance of world-class scientists. This initiative seeks to contribute to national and international progress through scientific innovation, certification, and high-impact exploration.

Arman Bekembaev is a space systems engineer and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in the aerospace industry. He began his career in 2010 and has since worked extensively in the fields of space systems modeling, motion control, and navigation technologies.

Throughout his career, he has taken on roles ranging from engineering to leadership, including project management and heading a design bureau for space technology development. His multidisciplinary expertise bridges both technical and strategic aspects of space engineering.

Currently, Arman serves as the CEO of SpaceLab, a startup focused on advancing innovative solutions in the aerospace sector.

Dr. Janay Sagin, Ph.D., is a Professor of Geomatics Engineering at the School of Information Technology and Engineering (SITE), Kazakh-British Technical University (KBTU). He holds a doctorate from the Department of Geosciences at Western Michigan University, with deep research expertise in water resources, particularly integrated surface-groundwater modelling.

His work focuses on the application of Earth Observation Satellite (EOS) data, Geospatial Analysis, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for environmental data processing. He is actively involved in SDG-related initiatives and is currently developing interconnected Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs through the School-College-Community-Industry-University (SCCIU) model. These programs are designed for Kazakhstan and the broader Central Asian region, with a focus on Geomatics, sustainable water usage, and biodiversity issues, in alignment with the New Global Framework for Managing Nature led by Canada.

Dr. Sagin is contributing to the expansion of the Water-Food-Ecosystem Resilience in the Mid-Latitude Region Network (MLRN) and exploring hydrogen applications for Kazakhstan, including floodwater collection via managed aquifer recharge (MAR) systems. He is involved in several international collaborations, including the FLOOD-MAR HUB, the TERESA project on urban water management with German partners, and the INOWAS initiative on innovative groundwater solutions. His work also includes the Chitral-Kabul River Basin project, focusing on satellite-enhanced snowmelt flood and drought predictions using both surface and groundwater modeling.

In addition, he is engaged in adapting US-Canada basin-based transboundary TVET programs for Central Asia, contributing to cross-border educational and environmental solutions. More information can be found at: https://www.redriverbasincommission.org

Contact:
Email: j.sagin@kbtu.kz
WhatsApp: +1 269 359 5211

ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0386-888X
ResearcherID: F-7522-2013
Scopus Author ID: 24279862700
Google Scholar Citations: 982 | h-index: 16 | i10-index: 21

Professor Alexander Pak is a leading researcher and head of the AGI Lab at the SDG Center. His academic and research experience spans advanced artificial intelligence methodologies and the coordination of several state-funded research projects in the fields of natural language processing, machine learning, and remote sensing.

He has led the following major research projects:

AP05132760: Development of methods for deep learning of semantic probability inference (successfully completed);

AP09260670: Development of methods and algorithms for augmentation of input data for modification of vector word embeddings;

AP14871214: Development of machine learning methods to increase the coherence of text in summaries produced by Extractive Summarization Methods.

In addition to his leadership roles, Professor Pak has contributed deep technical expertise to several interdisciplinary projects, including:

AP05134241: Monitoring of the territory of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China within transboundary river basins and dependent territories using satellite data;

AR05134227: Modelling of complex systems using graphodynamics and discrete differential geometry (successfully completed);

BR11265420: Development of an expert decision support system for the space industry.

His research interests focus on the development of self-correcting language models and reinforcement learning frameworks; the design of AI tools for education, mental health, and sustainable development; the creation of open-source algorithms for abstractive summarization and decision-making under uncertainty; and the promotion of AI ethics and transparency, particularly in addressing the "black box" problem in governmental applications.

Contact:
Email: a.pak@kbtu.kz
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ru/citations?user=XkKtTK8AAAAJ&hl=ru

Dr. Muhammad Ilyas, PhD in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, is a Professor in the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics (RaM) at the School of IT and Engineering (SiTE), Kazakh-British Technical University (KBTU) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

He has over 20 years of combined academic and industry experience across Pakistan, South Korea, and Singapore. From 2019 to 2022, Dr. Ilyas worked as a Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University. Prior to that, he served as a postdoctoral researcher at the RoAR Lab of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) between 2018 and 2019. He earned his PhD in Robotics and Virtual Engineering from UST, South Korea, in 2016, and subsequently worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) in Lahore, Pakistan, from November 2016 to March 2018.

Dr. Ilyas holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Seoul National University (2008) and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from UET Taxila, Pakistan (2000). His research interests include mobile robot navigation in complex environments, AI applications in robotics, guidance–navigation–control (GNC) systems for robotics, and ROS-based robotic system development. He has authored more than 30 publications in international journals and conferences.

Contact information:
Email: m.ilyas@kbtu.kz
Mobile / WhatsApp: +7 747 865 2964
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WqC8Dt0AAAAJ&hl=en
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7555-3839
Scopus ID: 57205118652
Web of Science ID: KLC-9442-2024

Dr. Yevgeniya Daineko graduated from the Physics Department of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. From 2004 to 2007, she worked in the Laboratory of Micro- and Optoelectronics at the Scientific Research Institute of Experimental and Theoretical Physics at the same university. Between 2007 and 2011, she served as a lecturer at the Department of Solid State Physics and Materials Science, Faculty of Physics, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Since 2011, Dr. Daineko has been working at JSC International Information Technology University (IITU). In October 2018, she was appointed Head of the Department of Radio Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications. A year later, in October 2019, she assumed the role of Vice-Rector for Scientific and International Activities at JSC IITU.

She is the author of over 140 scientific publications in national and international peer-reviewed journals, including high-impact journals. Her academic contributions also include copyright certificates for intellectual property protection, as well as the development of educational and teaching materials.

Dr. Daineko's research interests include micro- and optoelectronics, stemming from her early experience at the Laboratory of Micro- and Optoelectronics, and the application of augmented reality in education, where she has developed practical physics tasks for secondary school students using AR technologies.

Dr. Alina Gutoreva, PhD in Psychology, is an Assistant Professor in Cognitive Science and the lead of the AI Lab at the School of Information Technology and Engineering at the Kazakh-British Technical University (KBTU), Kazakhstan. She earned her doctorate from the University of Warwick, where her research focused on the behavioural economics of risk-taking, particularly how such behaviours are shaped by personal and social information.

Her research interests lie at the intersection of cognitive science and artificial intelligence, with a particular focus on AI-human interaction, cognitive control, and the use of AI to enhance cognitive processes. With experience in both academic and industry settings, Dr. Gutoreva has consulted for international companies including BT, Ericsson, and Amazon. She also served as a research fellow at the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), contributing to the Behavioural Economics and Design Unit. Her projects have included data analysis aimed at reducing recruitment bias, modeling shifts in consumer behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic, and drafting consumer protection legislation targeting manipulative digital design practices, known as Dark Patterns.

She is actively involved in several international research collaborations. These include the development of a formal model of free will contrasting social and individual perspectives with University College London (UCL), a study on adolescent mental health and well-being with the University of Edinburgh and UNICEF Kazakhstan, research on gravitational effects on awareness with Birkbeck University, and the creation of a multimodal cognitive and behavioural AI model in partnership with the Kazakhstan Aerospace Committee.

Dr. Gutoreva is also a partner of the AI for Good initiative in Central Asia, where her work focuses on regulatory frameworks for artificial intelligence in developing nations.

Contact information:
Email: a.gutoreva@kbtu.kz
Phone: +7 701 958 4091
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6893-7252