Speakers

Engineer Khaled Seddik serves as Assistant Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, overseeing the Minister’s Office. He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Urban Development Fund (UDF), formerly the Informal Settlements Development Fund (ISDF). In this capacity, he leads the UDF and directs its team in delivering its mandate, including the formulation of strategies and policies, as well as the implementation and monitoring of development plans at the national, regional, and local levels. With over 35 years of experience, he has played a pivotal role in the planning and execution of major development projects.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Military Sciences (Civil Division) from the Military Technical College. Throughout his career, he has specialized in overseeing the design and implementation of a wide range of large-scale projects, including housing, administrative buildings, road networks, and service infrastructure. His extensive experience in informal settlement development reflects strong expertise in community engagement, negotiation, problem-solving, and adaptive management.

He has also contributed to numerous local and international workshops and conferences, both sharing insights and engaging with global best practices in urban development.

Dr. Marwa Ahmed Soliman is an urban planning expert and the General Manager of the International Cooperation and Community Participation Department at the Urban Development Fund (UDF) under the Egyptian Cabinet. With more than 25 years of professional experience in urban planning, development policy, and international cooperation, she has played a leading role in advancing integrated urban development initiatives in Egypt.

Dr. Soliman holds a Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering (Urban Planning) from Cairo University, a Master’s degree in Architectural Engineering, and a Bachelor’s degree in Regional and Urban Planning. She also holds a postgraduate diploma in Developing Social Housing Projects from the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her professional focus includes urban policies and strategies, informal settlement upgrading, climate responsive urban development, governance, and community participation.

At the Urban Development Fund, she leads international cooperation, technical proposal development, and funding dialogue with global institutions including the World Bank Group, German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. She has also contributed as a local expert to a national project implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on improving multi-level planning, governance, and funding for regional sustainable development in Egypt.

Her recent work includes leading and participating in projects under the “Connective Cities program”, as well as research initiatives related to governance and community engagement in MENA region. She also contributes to developing technical frameworks, policy concepts, and collaborative programs that support integrated urban regeneration and sustainable development.

Dr. Soliman has represented UDF in numerous international conferences and workshops and led the working group responsible for the Urban Development Fund’s participation in the World Urban Forum WUF10, WUF 11, WUF 12, and WUF 13, organizing sessions, delivering presentations, and contributing to knowledge exchange on urban transformation.

In addition to her professional work, she has academic experience as a lecturer in urban design and GIS and actively contributes to international policy dialogues, training programs, research collaborations and competition jury. Her work focuses on promoting integrated, inclusive, and climate resilient urban development, supporting sustainable urban transformation and improved quality of life.

Shady Ahmed Hanafy is a premier senior executive with over 25 years of facility management and real estate expertise across the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian markets. He currently serves as the Director of Facility and General Service at Orange Egypt, driving strategic real estate, operations and maintenance , fleet logistics, health and safety . In addition to his enterprise responsibilities, he shapes industry standards as the Africa Ambassador for Facility Management (2024–2026) and contributes directly to national guidelines as a Ministry of Housing expert committee member. Highly committed to the future of the built environment, he has been appointed as the President for the upcoming Egypt Facility Management Forum for 2027. His career is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of building modernization by seamlessly merging cutting-edge generative AI tools with green corporate sustainability and infrastructure.

Dr. Mohamed Salheen is the Vice President 0f National Ain Shams University for Academic Affairs. He is a Professor of Integrated Planning & Design and the founder and Director of the Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design (IUSD) at Ain Shams University. Around 220 students from over 32 nationalities and from multidisciplinary backgrounds have graduated from the IUSD Master’s Program. This formed very strong research platform and strong international network of researchers focused on all facets of sustainability. 

 He served as advisor to the minister of scientific research on Integrated Development and with the minister of higher Education and scientific research for strategic planning and international Cooperation. He was also appointed as advisor to the minister of Housing for Development of informal areas supporting National Strategy and Action Plans. He has been supporting the ministry of Finance since 2009 leading the mission on Computer-Aided Mass Appraisal (CAMA) of Egyptian Real estate.

 Salheen is active in practice and consultation. He started practicing upon graduation in 1993 and later founded the Integrated Development Group (IDG), offering services in Strategic Planning and Comprehensive Engineering consultancy. IDG, along with its international partners, offers high level Research and Design consultancy for various international Agencies such as the EACEA, BMBW, GIZ, UN-Habitat, UNEP and UNDP.

Dr. Ahmad Wafiq is the CEO of Integral RISE and a senior energy, climate change, and industrial sustainability expert with more than 16 years of professional experience supporting governments, international organizations, financial institutions, and private sector stakeholders across the Middle East and Africa. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Cairo University in cooperation with the Institute of Chemical and Energy Process Engineering at the Technical University of Freiberg, Germany.

His expertise spans energy efficiency, industrial decarbonization, energy management systems, renewable energy, green hydrogen, resource efficiency and cleaner production (RECP), carbon foot-printing, climate change mitigation, greenhouse gas inventories, MRV systems, and sustainable industrial transformation. Throughout his career, he has led numerous strategic assignments supporting the transition toward low-carbon and resource-efficient economies.

Dr. Wafiq has played a leading role in shaping Egypt’s industrial decarbonization agenda. He served as Team Leader for the development of the national decarbonization roadmaps for the four Egyptian CBAM sectors, a study adopted by the Ministry of Environment in 2025. He also led the development of energy efficiency roadmaps and benchmarking systems for four heavy industries and is currently leading a team of experts to assess the economic impact of the EU and UK CBAM on the national economy and to assess having carbon tax and emission trading systems as mitigation measures.

A Certified Energy Management Professional (CEMP), Dr. Wafiq has conducted approximately 100 detailed energy audits across industrial facilities and commercial buildings and has extensive experience in energy management systems, industrial energy efficiency, motor systems optimization, renewable energy integration, and investment-grade feasibility studies. He has also led major projects related to solar PV systems, industrial solar heating, cogeneration, and green hydrogen development, working with organizations such as GIZ, IFC, UNIDO, UNDP, the World Bank, EBRD, and USAID.

Beyond his technical expertise, Dr. Wafiq is widely recognized for his contributions to policy dialogue and capacity building. He regularly supports high-level governmental and international initiatives on climate and energy transition and serves as a UNFCCC Lead Reviewer for Biennial Transparency Reports (BTRs) and Biennial Update Reports (BURs). He has designed and delivered regional and international training programs on energy efficiency, climate change mitigation, greenhouse gas management, and sustainable industrial development across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Fahmy Abdel Aleem is a distinguished expert in sustainable architecture and urbanism, with extensive academic and professional experience in environmentally responsive design. He holds a PhD in Sustainable Built Environment from the University of Sheffield, with research focused on sustainable urban design inspired by traditional Egyptian courtyard typologies.

He has held several leadership positions, including Head of the Architecture Department (2015–2019) and Vice Dean for Civil and Architectural Engineering Programs (2019–2021) at the Military Technical College. In 2021, he was awarded full professorship with scientific excellence and established the Research Excellence Center for Urban Governance and Sustainability.

Prof. Fahmy is also the founder and director of the Egyptian branch of the Building Performance Network and serves as a member of the scientific council at Galala University. He has participated as a member of the Egyptian negotiation delegation in the United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COP25–COP27).

In addition to his academic contributions, he is an accredited architectural consultant with the Egyptian Engineers Syndicate and has led the design and development of several projects integrating sustainable urbanism and heritage preservation, and most notably as recognized by the international Union of Architects for his 5G Neo-Arid cities concepts in addition to being the principal master-planer and designer of “Sultan Plaza; Sahat-Ul-Sultan” project in Historic Cairo.

He is an active researcher and international author, with approximately 60 indexed scientific publications, and serves as a reviewer and jury member for postgraduate studies, international journals and conferences.