Arch. Maria Nina Bailon Arce is the Senior Partner at Arce-Bailon-Arce Architects, a design firm she co-founded with her husband, Arch. Mariano Arce, Jr., in 1987. The firm has undertaken notable architectural and engineering design projects for both private entities and the national government.

She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas in 1981 and placed fifth in the PRC Board Exams in July 1983. In 2014, she was among the first 40 architects to be listed in the ASEAN Registry of Architects, and in June 2015, she was conferred as an APEC Architect. In the spirit of volunteerism, she has served as Secretary General and National Executive Vice-President of the United Architects of the Philippines, as Chancellor, and now as Jury of the College of Fellows.

A dedicated mother of three boys, two of whom are now architects collaborating with the firm, she has successfully balanced a thriving career and nurturing a family. She aims to continue this legacy by mentoring the next generation of architects through AYDA.

Tanya Karim is a Partner Architect at the esteemed architectural firm Tanya Karim N R Khan and Associates (TKNRK). She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 1990 and stands out as an educator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

She is a registered architect of RAJUK (Capital Development Authority) and a fellow member of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) where she currently leads as the Convener of Women in Architectural Practice. Additionally, she is a member of ArcAAB (Architecture Alumni Association, BUET) and holds a position as a board member of Bangladesh Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI).

With an impressive 31 years of experience in architectural practice, Tanya Karim is a prominent figure in the architectural realm. Her firm, TKNRK, has garnered numerous awards, and their architectural projects have been featured in various international and local magazines. Tanya has led several international architectural tours, served as a visiting faculty member and advisor at prestigious institutions, and judged esteemed design awards such as the Berger Award for Interior Design, the KSRM Student Awards, IAB Interior Design Awards, and the Asian Paints Beautiful Homes Awards, among others.

Fluent in multiple languages including Bengali, English, Urdu, and Hindi, Tanya Karim continues to inspire and mentor emerging architects, bringing her extensive experience and visionary approach to the global architectural stage.

Suhasini Ayer is an Architect and Urban Planner, and the co-founder of the Auroville Centre for Scientific Research (CSR) Trust. This collaborative organisation works with multiple agents and agencies in applied research for sustainable settlement planning, solar passive architecture, appropriate building materials and technologies, water and waste management, and renewable energy.

She heads Auroville Design Consultants, a planning and architectural design studio focused primarily on planning, designing, and implementing applied research development projects within Auroville. This approach responds to the natural and human geography, local climate, and culture to evolve minimal and elegant built forms. The underlying theme in all the projects is creating integrative systems, including water, energy, waste, building materials, and technology, to create passive sustainable networks between people and the built and unbuilt spaces, empowering them to take responsibility for their environment.

Suhasini hopes to bring her sustainability perspectives to the AYDA participants.

Russell Dandeniya is the Principal Architect at Russell Dandeniya Chartered Architects and the Director at RDC Architects Pvt. Ltd., both of which are small, experimental, studio-based practices. Believing in a practice mode that fuses the client's pragmatic requirements with the architect's inner belief, Russell searches for Architecture that is minimal in resource use, sustainable in environmental response, and conscientious in dealing with the local climate, people, and place.

As an award-winning Architect, he remains humble and is an active contributor to the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA), serving on the SLIA council for over 17 years in various roles & capacities, as the President of SLIA in year 2021/2023, also Zone – A Vice President in year 2021-2023 Architects Regional Council of Asia ARCASIA.

An activist within the Architectural community, Russell initiated many innovative programs and served as the Founder Chairman and Official Juror of the SLIA Online Design Awards Jury for 2019/2020-2021. This year, he hopes to share his experience with the next generation of the architectural community through AYDA.

Benjamin is currently immersed in the dynamic wine retail and bistro industry, where competition is fierce and consumer preferences evolve rapidly. In his role, he oversees the creation of immersive environments that captivate customers and enhance the brand identity of Wine Connection, the largest wine specialty retailer and European full-service restaurant in Singapore and Thailand.

Prior to his current undertaking, Benjamin’s Asia Pacific regional architectural exposure, spanning over 14 years of overseas postings to cities such as Chennai, Bangalore, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bali, provided him with an abundance of multicultural, memorable and invaluable experiences, both personally as well as professionally.

Benjamin began his participation with the AYDA Panel in Vietnam in 2019. Through AYDA, he hopes to inspire young minds to contribute positively and sustainably, mitigating the built environment’s effects on nature.

Upon receiving his master degree in Architecture from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design in 1985, Paul Tange joined the architectural firm headed by his father, renowned architect, Kenzo Tange. In 1997, Tange became President of Kenzo Tange Associates and in 2002, he founded Tange Associates. Tange Associates has designed landmark buildings both in Japan and abroad and has designed the Tokyo Aquatics Centre for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Tange Associates' design of the Olympic gymnasiums is the first time that father and son architects have designed the same facilities in the same city for two separate Olympics (Tokyo 1964 and 2020). Paul is a registered architect in both Japan and Singapore.

In 2005, he decided to expand into Asia by establishing an office in Singapore in response to the burgeoning demand for design and lifestyle services. Woo’s mandate from clients is clear: to create desire. His approach to design is to integrate the entire environment into a unique lifestyle experience appropriate to the place and to his clients’ shared vision. Although his firm’s celebrated portfolio of projects are as diverse as the countries and cultures it works in, every project is injected with a desirability factor that is keenly sought after internationally.

In November 2017, Cameron was elected as the President of the Interior Design Confederation Singapore (IDCS).