Nikolaus A. Sifferlinger, born in 1961 in Wolfsberg, Austria. Married, two grown up children. Master Science (Dipl.-Ing.) in Electrics and Electronics; PhD in Mining Science; TÜV Certified Functional Safety Expert 2013. In the mining and tunneling industry since 1989; 2007-2012 Vice-President R&D and Engineering at Sandvik Mining and Construction GmbH; 2012-2016 own consulting company Dr. Sifferlinger Consulting e.U. in the international mining and tunneling industry. Since July 2016 professor for excavation and materials handling technology at the Montanuniversitaet Leoben. Long experience in research and development, operation, safety and automation of machinery in mining and tunneling.

Zachary is a Systems Engineer at Nova Systems, a 100% Australian owned and controlled engineering services and technology solutions company. As part of the Autonomous & Intelligent Systems team, Zachary works with clients in the defence, transport, mining, and resources sectors. Most recently this work has involved integrating systems engineering principles into project management and discipline engineering methods, and executing complex test and evaluation programs for client projects.

Kun Wang, Ph.D, associate professor in the field of mining safety, from Shandong University of Science and Technology (SDUST). He obtained his Ph.D. degree from University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), collaborating with the University of Exeter (UoE) in the United Kingdom. Additionally, he conducted post-doctoral research at SDUST. His research focuses on tailings dam disaster prevention and control, unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing applications in the mining industry. Throughout his career, Kun Wang has led various research projects as the principal investigator, including the prestigious National Natural Science Foundation and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province.