Daniela Bemfica

Daniela Bemfica is an experienced professional specialising in water management, strategic planning, and project execution. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree in Water Resources Engineering and Environmental Sanitation. Currently, she serves as the Director of Strategic Programmes and Engagement at the International Water Association (IWA) Secretariat, where she oversees a diverse portfolio of programmes, including the Inclusive Urban Sanitation and Climate Smart Utilities initiatives, and the Digital Water Programme. Previously, she held key roles in public service, including a tenure as the Director-General of the Porto Alegre City Stormwater Department in Brazil, where she successfully secured and managed funding for large-scale projects, including stormwater and wastewater initiatives.

David T. Fung

Dr. Fung is the Founding Scientist of EM Fluids Inc. (https://emfluids.com/). The solar-powered disruptive water technology of EM Fluids Inc. activates the natural microbial processes to restore the ecological balance of large water bodies suffering from eutrophication and organic wastes accumulation. Commercial deployments of the technology are taking place on six continents.

Dr. Fung is also the co-founder, Board Chair and CEO of the ACDEG Group of companies, a global technology integrator. He has founded, co-founded or restructured over twenty-five business ventures/corporations in North America, Europe and Asia. Dr. Fung is the co-inventor of forty-one patents with more than twenty patent applications pending.

Dr. Fung was the Research Manager of one of the largest chemical companies in Canada and President of a proprietary process engineering contractor with five divisions on four continents, including eleven offices in Europe, and chemical plant installation projects on six continents.

Dr. Fung has been a board member of more than thirty organizations, including Chair of the Chemical Institute of Canada, Co-chair of the Members of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, National Board Chair of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters Association, Vice-chair of the national boards of Canada China Business Council, the Canadian Standards Association Group and the National Zero Waste Council of Canada. He was the Chancellor and a member of the Board of Governors and the Senate of Capilano University of British Columbia, the President of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering and a member of the Advisory Board of the McGill School of Religious Studies.

He was awarded the Canadian Asian of the Year (Business and Public Service), 2009 by Asia Network Canada, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012 by the Governor General of Canada, the honorary Doctor of Law degree by Capilano University (BC) in 2014, the honorary Doctor of Science degree by Concordia University (Quebec) in 2020, the Award of Merit by the McGill Alumni Association in 2022 and the Fellow of Engineers Canada in 2024.

Devi Bühler

Devi Bühler is a research associate at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland and is concurrently pursuing her PhD at Ghent University in Belgium. She did her bachelor’s and master’s degree in environmental engineering at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

She is specialized in decentralized water treatment, greywater treatment and reuse, and its integration into the built environment. Her work aligns closely with the principles of the circular economy. Her professional endeavors have an international dimension, with notable experiences in South Africa. A project that stands out in her international work is the LaundReCycle project in Cape Town, a practical application of her expertise in water treatment and reuse. In Switzerland, her most notable project is the "KREIS-Haus," a nearly self-sufficient house that serves as both a holiday house and a living lab for testing new circular building concepts and technologies in practice. It also functions as an educational hub, offering visitors hands-on experience with these innovations.