Our Speakers

Director, MIT City Science

Kent Larson is an architect, entrepreneur, and academic. He is Director of City Science at MIT Media Lab, with research focused on compact transformable housing, ultralight autonomous mobility systems, sensing and algorithms to recognize and respond to complex human behavior, and advanced modeling, simulation, and tangible interfaces for urban design.

He has established an international network of affiliated City Science labs in Shanghai, Taipei, Gipuzkoa, Toronto, BioBío, Hamburg, Andorra, and Guadalajara. He and researchers from his MIT lab have twice received the “10-Year Impact Award” from Ubicomp: a “test of time” recognition of work that, with the benefit of hindsight, has had the greatest impact. Kent’s projects have been presented at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in NYC, the Venice Biennale of Architecture, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Kent’s book, Louis I. Kahn: Unbuilt Masterworks, was selected as one of the Ten Best Books in Architecture by the New York Times Review of Books. He is founder of L3Cities, which brings together metrics, data analytics, real-time simulation, and tangible interfaces to help cities and enterprises create more sustainable, equitable, and entrepreneurial communities. He is cofounder of ORI Living, an architectural robotics company to commercialize systems for dynamically reconfigurable spaces, and advisor to Butlr Technologies, SmartRE, evTS, and other MIT spinoff companies.

Kent is on the Advisory Board of the Norman Foster Foundation. His online professional education course, "Beyond Smart Cities," is recognized as one of the best resources for those interested in future cities.

Director, CSL@Andorra

Vanesa Arroyo is the Director of Andorra Research and Innovation. She holds a degree in Biotechnology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ​​has a master's degree in Biotechnology Management from ALITER, an additional master's degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management from the Universitat de Barcelona, and had also completed the Management Development Program from IESE Business School.

She has extensive experience in research and in the technical and financial management of research projects in biotechnology, biomedicine, genomics, and eHealth, both from private companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector (Sanofi, Oryzon Genomics or Werfen) as well as, public centers such as the CISTIB (Center for Computational Imaging & Simulation Technologies in Biomedicine) of Pompeu Fabra University. She has been the promoter of the creation of the ACTINN Cluster (Innovation and New Technologies of Andorra) of which she was the cluster manager during the first 3 years. She is a co-founder and president of the Biotechnology Association of Andorra. In 2019 she joined Actuatech. Before her position as Director, she was the Coordinator of the Innovation and International Relations Agency of AR+I.

Minister of the Presidency, Economy, Labor and Housing

Conxita Marsol Riart has a recognized political career. Born in 1960 in Artesa de Segre, she has a degree in law from the Faculty of Lleida of the University of Barcelona and has a postgraduate degree in Andorran law. She began her experience in the political field as president of the liberal parliamentary group between 2005 and 2007, after more than twenty years as general secretary of the Commune of Andorra la Vella, an institution to which she would return years later as consul major

After her time as president of the parliamentary group, in 2007 she was appointed Minister of the Presidency, Trade and Societies and spokesperson, under the mandate of Albert Pintat.

In 2015 she was councilor general for a very short period, because she resigned her seat to lead the Democrats' candidacy for Andorra in the communal elections of Andorra la Vella.

Conxita Marsol Riart was Consul Major of Andorra la Vella during the 2015-2019 mandate, a position she revalidated in 2019. In February 2023 she left the Commune of Andorra la Vella to head the Democrats' candidacy for the capital.

CEO, Forces Elèctriques d’Andorra (FEDA)

Albert Moles is an energy engineer and industry executive. He is the Chief Executive Officer at Forces Elèctriques d’Andorra (FEDA), the state-owned energy company in Andorra. FEDA is responsible for generating, importing, transporting, and supplying electricity throughout the country and promotes sustainability, technological, energy and waste valorization projects through its subsidiaries.

After graduating from the Institut national des sciences appliquées de Lyon, Moles participated in the deployment of the technical and industrial regulations of the Andorran Ministry of Industry in the mid-1980s. In 1988, he joined FEDA as Director of Engineering and Planning, responsible for projects and investments, and over the years he has taken on various responsibilities and roles within the company.

Currently, in addition to the executive management of FEDA, which he has held since 2006, he is also the President of the ACTINN Cluster (Innovation and New Technologies of Andorra), the Chairman of the Centre de Tractament de Residus (CTRA)  —the waste management center of Andorra —, and the Chairman of the two subsidiaries created by FEDA to develop energy production projects and heating networks (FEDA Ecoterm), and to implement services in the energy and mobility sectors (FEDA Solucions). He has also served on the Board of Directors of Andorra Diversificació i Inversió and the Board of Directors of ACTUATECH. Since last year, he has been a member of the council of the association of members of the French Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur and the Ordre national du Mérite.

Director, Strategic Infrastructure Projects, University of Guadalajara

Research and Project Management, CSL@Guadalajara

Pável Morales-Rivas is an engineer, strategist, and serial entrepreneur with a diverse educational background. His studies and certifications span a range of disciplines and specialties, including electronic engineering, computer science, Lean Six Sigma, project management, negotiation, STEM education, quality assurance, construction management, real estate development and computational optimization, modeling and simulation, among others.

As the Director of Strategic Infrastructure Projects at the University of Guadalajara, Pável leads the development and implementation of large-scale educational and research infrastructure projects. He also serves as a key institutional liaison, connecting the university with the private sector and government agencies to facilitate collaboration and secure resources for high-impact projects.

Pável has founded and contributed to numerous for-profit and non-profit ventures worldwide. His recent research interests encompass topics such as campus development, quadruple helix model, education for the 21st century, city science and urban centralities.

He is also an active member of several strategic planning committees within the University of Guadalajara, where he continues to influence decision-making and long-term planning.

Director, CSL@Hamburg

Gesa Ziemer (Prof. Dr.) is Academic Lead of the United Nation Innovation Accelerator of Cities (UNITAC) Hamburg and professor of Digital Urban Cultures at HafenCity University Hamburg. She is the director of the City Science Lab, a cooperation with MIT Media Lab. Her research focusses on digitalization of cities, new forms of (data-based) collaboration and international metropolitan research. She has been a fellow of the Humboldt Foundation at the Harvard Kennedy School, USA in the field of Science and Technology Studies and just published the book The Digital City. Data Curation for Urban Collaboration (2023). She is also the co-founder of the company comaps, an (open source) software that connects, analyses and simulates data for sustainable urban and regional planning.

Project Director at Corporacion Ciudades, presenting for CSL @ BioBío

Architect and Master in Urban Design and City Planning at the University College London. Nowadays is the Corporación Ciudades and the CityLab Biobío Project Director in Chile. In the last nine years, he has been working in more than 15 Urban Plans for Chilean cities and actively participating in different initiatives related to participatory design in a urban projects context. Fernando has a special interest in the implementation of new technologies that seek to promote urban development and improve people's quality of life.

Marcela did her studies in Geography, with a Master's degree in Geographic Analysis, all at the University of Concepción, Chile. She also has a master's degree in territorial studies and planning from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.

Marcela has professional experience in transport systems planning, spatial analysis, and studying the impacts of urban projects and infrastructure. Her research interests include socio-spatial inequality in cities and accessibility/mobility to urban services, contributing to the sustainable development of cities in the south of Chile.

Scientific Director, CSL@Gipuzkoa

Zuriñe Varela Aranguren is the Scientific Director of the City Science Lab in Gipuzkoa. The laboratory’s research focuses on interurban mobility, cohesion, and collaboration among cities in a region that will encourage a vibrant community. It is one of the latest incorporations to the network, happening this year.

Zuriñe’s experience lies in finding innovative ways to use data to boost business growth and solve user’s needs. First in NEM Solutions as a Data Analyst and then in Xabet as a Data Analytics Manager, she worked to develop strategies for data roadmaps in industry, energy, and retail sectors. This experience is built upon her engineering background. She did Industrial Engineering studies at Tecnun (Universidad de Navarra), where a problem-solving mindset provides the tools to tackle challenges effectively.

Director, CSL@Shanghai

Prof. Dr. Yongqi LOU is a Vice President and Dean of the College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University in Shanghai, the Board Director of World Design Organization (WDO), and the Vice President of the China Industrial Design Association. Lou has been the pioneer in China for design-driven innovation education, research and practices that connect design, business, and technology. He is the founder of Design Harvests, a design-driven urban-rural interaction project; Tongji-Huangpu School of Design and Innovation, the first design thinking K12 school in China; and She Ji — the Journal of Design, Innovation, and Economics published by Tongji and Elsevier. He is the Editorial Board Member of the journal Design Issues published by The MIT Press. Lou was elected as a fellow of Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) in 2019.

Director at City Science Lab @ Israel

Director, NUR - Negev Urban Research Lab

Merav Battat is the director of NUR – Negev Urban Research Lab based in Be’er Sheva, Israel. She is an architect and urban planner, a graduate of the Bezalel Program in Architecture, and an alumna of both the Azrieli Fellow Program and the Laboratory for Contemporary Urban Design. Merav holds a master’s degree in Environment, Society, and Planning from Tel Aviv University. Recently, she worked at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, where she oversaw the strategic and physical planning of industrial zones in Israel’s periphery. This role involved developing models and conducting research on the relationship between city and industry, with a focus on promoting Eco-Industrial Parks and sustainable development. Merav also teaches at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in the Master's Program in Urban Design and at the Negev School of Architecture. In addition, she is the co-founder and joint editor of the online magazine 'Street Language'.

Head of Urban Informatics, CSL@Taipei

Roy Yu-Ta Lin is an architect, urban designer, strategist, and data analyst with a passion for blending design and technology. He holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) and currently leads the Urban Informatics team at City Science Lab @ Taipei Tech. Before joining CSL, Roy was the Director of Data Analytics & Applications at the Taipei Urban Intelligence Center (TUIC).

Roy is also an entrepreneur, founding both IVC InVisibleCities, an open community for urban research, and CVI Civic Intelligence, a consulting firm specializing in urban intelligence. With experience working across various countries and for global firms like AECOM, OMA, frog, and WeWork, Roy has honed his expertise in navigating complex, cross-disciplinary design challenges—whether at the micro or macro scale, or between the physical and digital realms.

Director, CSL@Toronto

Hossein's research focuses on Artificial Intelligence, Human-Computer interaction, and the design of privacy-preserved data-driven services. He has written more than 30 publications and received 23 patents. He served as a council member at National Science and Research Engineering Council of Canada and is currently serving on the board of Canadian Science Publishing and the Home Capital Group. In 2012, MIT Technology Review selected him as one of its global TR35 list. In 2017, he was selected as part of Canada's 40 under 40. In addition to his work at Ryerson University, Hossein is also the Founder/CEO of Flybits and a Research Affiliate at the MIT Media Lab.

Founder & CEO Alfaquest Saboya Assessors

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs & Minister of Economy, Competitiveness and Innovation

After a Licence de Sciences Economiques et the Université de Toulouse, Gilbert worked for 19 years at Morabanc Group, being CEO of the Fund Management company of the group and Deputy General Manager responsible for Private Banking and Wealth Management.

In 2010, he founded Alfaquest Saboya Assessors, the 1st Independent Financial Advisory firm in Andorra. He is nowadays the CEO of the firm and member of the Board of Directors of Fecif (European Federation of Financial Advisors and Intermediaries)

From 1993 to 1997, he was member of the Parliament and President of the legislative comission of Economy. From 2011 to 2017 he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Andorran Government, and from 2017 to 2019 as Minister of Economy, Competitiveness and Innovation.