Mohamed Ayman Ashour holds the chair of a Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning and the position of the Vice Dean for Graduate Studies and Research at the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. Combining educational and technical experience between academic and professional work enriched Prof. Ashour with a sense of specialized consulting experience and made his theoretical guidance settled and valuable with a future aspiration for a generation that carries the heritage and legacy of the past to the rapid developing world of the future. His work focuses on projects of technical engineering, comprehensive planning providing integrated consultancy services in Master Planning, Urban Design, Landscape Design, Architecture and Interior Design as well as Project Management and Construction Supervision. He is the Director of Admission of the MSc IUSD and supervises various master theses within the IUSD at Ain Shams University.

Antje Stokman studied landscape architecture at Hanover University and Edinburgh College of Art. After graduation she gained practical experiences as a landscape architect in many international projects and was Associate Professor in Hanover University from 2005-2010. Since 2010 she is director of the Institute of Landscape Planning and Ecology within Stuttgart University and founding partner of the practice "osp urbanelandschaften" in Hamburg. Making use of the synergies between science, teaching and practice, her work evolves around the aim to develop new areas of involvement and design approaches for the profession of landscape architecture – by defining it as the art of integrating complex ecosystems, infrastructure systems and human lifeworlds. She was awarded the Topos Landscape Award in 2011, the Lower Saxony Science Prize in 2009 and is member of the German national advisory council on spatial planning since 2010. Since the implementation of the MSc IUSD, she is Director of Admissions and teaches in various courses within the IUSD. She is the Course Director of the MSc IUSD and teaches in various courses within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

Ines Wulfert studied at the University of Stuttgart, where she received her diploma of Architecture and Urban Planning in 2014. During her studies she developped a strong interest in projects with a social and ecological approach, which at the same time were not only planned, but also practically implemented in different cultural and spatial contexts. For that purpose she joined several international summerschools, in Southafrica, Egypt and Peru. During an internship of three months in a well established grassroots organisation  in Rwanda, she gained deep insights in the fields of architecture and infrastructure planning as tool for sustainable development aid. Since September 2014 Ines started to work as a research assistant at the Institute for International Urbanism and was part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at the University of Stuttgart, where she represented Raoul Humpert during his PhD research trip to Tunisia.

Franziska Laue holds a Diploma in Architecture from TU Berlin and a M.Sc. in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design (IUSD) Stuttgart/Cairo. Since 2003 she was engaged as a freelance advisor in projects in Germany, Syria and Burkina Faso and Egypt. From 2007 until 2011 she worked for the GIZ Urban Development Programme (UDP) in Aleppo. Since 2008 she was involved in local and international conferences, exhibitions and publications on local identity, informal urban development in the MENA region. Recently, Franziska was member of exhibition and publication teams for “Aleppo Archive” (DOC Aleppo) on urban heritage conservation and archiving as well as “Space Time Dignity Rights” (DAZ Berlin) on refugee camp improvement strategies. She has published on a long-term research on informal urban growth in Damascus, Syria. A present academic focus is climate change adaptation in the MENA region. Since October 2013 she is research assistant at the International Urbanism Institute and is part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at University of Stuttgart.

Aya El-Wageeh (1989) graduated from Ain Shams University department of Urban Planning and Design in 2011. Afterwards, she worked as a teacher assistant at the same university and a researcher in integrated development Group (IDG). In this period, she worked on an outreach plan for community participation in Cairo Future Vision. In 2014, she obtained her MSc. in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design (IUSD) from Stuttgart University in Germany and Ain Shams University in Egypt with special focus on development in remote areas. Since then, Aya has been working as assistant lecturer and joined the IUSD- Cairo team as a teaching assistant and researcher on different themes such as Eco-neighborhoods in New Cairo and approaches in dealing with upgrading informal areas. Aya is a PhD. candidate whose research interest is in urban retrofitting and neighborhood urban development.

Bernd Eisenberg completed a diploma in Landscape and Open Space Planning at TU Hannover  and worked in the field of GIS-based planning in Hamburg and Stuttgart. He obtained his PhD on the topic of “Park metrics - quantification methods for spatial potentials of green open spaces with regard to recreational uses” at the University of Stuttgart. Bernd is involved in ongoing research activities of the Institute of Landscape Planning and Ecology (ILPÖ) related to sustainability and resilience of cities (projects LiWa and TURaS) and international educational cooperations. His research interests include quantification methods of open space  qualities in general and in particular the relation between spatial configuration and usability as outlined in the space syntax research field. Since October 2010 Bernd is part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at University of Stuttgart and is involved in teaching electives within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

Lynn Mayer obtained the degree of Architecture at the University of Stuttgart in 2005. She worked in the architectural office LCM in Mexico City and took terms abroad in Barcelona and Cairo during her studies. After her thesis, she worked as a senior project architect for LIGANOVA, a multidisciplinary office of Brand&Retail Marketing in Stuttgart, Berlin and London. Her projects included mainly the interior design and furniture design, CI Design and Marketingstrategies for several Brands like Hugo Boss, Levi´s Blue and Dr. Hauschka. Parallel to her professional practice with small architectural projects, she is a research assistant at Stuttgart University at the Instiute of Urban Design. Since September 2011 Lynn was also a reseach assistant at the International Urbanism Institute and part of IUSD Course Coordination Team at University of Stuttgart.

After completing a Diploma in landscape and open space planning at Leibniz University Hannover in 2008 and landscape architecture (between 2004 and 2005) at Universiteit Wageningen, NL he worked for jbbug – landscape architects in Cologne from 2009 to 2011. Since July 2010 he teaches and researches at the Department of Landscape Planning and Ecology, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at University Stuttgart. His research interests focuses on performative landscape techniques, process driven designs and ecological engineering. Moritz is teaching in the "Urban Ecology and Ecosystem Design" Core Module and the "Integrated Research and Design Project" Module within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

Sandra Meireis graduated in 2010 with a diploma in architecture and design from the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart, where she subsequently became a teaching assistant in the department of architectural history, theory and criticism. During this period she was enrolled at the Architectural Association, London studying 2011/12 in the MA programme History and Critical Thinking. Following her main area of interest her master's thesis focused on the political relevance of (derelict) urban spaces in London, Berlin and Warsaw, so-called domains in abeyance. The prospective subject of her PhD continues to conduct this research. Since April 2013 Sandra is a research assistant at the International Urbanism Institute, was part of the IUSD Team and is now involved as external expert within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

After completing a Diploma in Architecture and Urban Design (Stuttgart University) at Prof. Kurt Ackermann in 1991, Matthias Rottner worked as a building planner and an architect in different architecture offices in Stuttgart (Heinle, Wischer and Partners, Fahlbusch and Köhler Architects, Rainer Walder Architects). Center of his interest was the planning of hospitals and retirement homes. Since 1996 he collaborated as an assistant lecturer at the Department of Planning and Construction with Prof. José Moro at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of Stuttgart University. In 2006 the complete department changed to the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning. He was teaching in the "Sustainable Architecture" Core Module within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

Carsten Vellguth studied Architecture at the Technische Universität München and the Architectural Association London with Archigram, Future Systems, Nato. He has been working for various architectural practices in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Singapore. He contributed to many projects ranging from Social Housing, Office Buildings to industrial projects like Coal Fired Power stations and their infrastructure. As practicing Architect and Facility Manager he completed a number of projects    in Germany, China, and Russia.  He supported the Charity 'Menschen für Menschen'   with projects in Ethiopia for many years. Carsten Vellguth has been teaching in Schools of Architecture in the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and Egypt for more than 20 years. He is interested in all aspects of the built environment, its urban, and historic contexts. His main focus is currently on materials, and methods of constructions, modes of delivery and their social, and environmental consequences. Carsten Vellguth is joining the IUSD team at the Ain Shams University, Cairo as the DAAD Professor of Integrated Urban Planning and Design.

Architect and urban planner, educated at Cambridge University and the Architectural Association London. Doctoral thesis “CampCities–Community-driven Planning for Urbanised Refugee Camps” (2009). He was professor at the institut for International Urbanism at the University of Stuttgart (2010–2013) and co-initiated the IUSD program.

Raoul Cyril Humpert studied at the École Nationale Supérieure d´Architecture de Montpellier, France and the University of Stuttgart, Germany where he received his diploma of Architecture and Urbanism in 2012. During his education, he developed a strong interest in the multidisciplinarity of architecture and gained extensive practical and international experiences while working for landscape architects Pfrommer + Roeder, architecture photographer Roland Halbe and Shanghai-based French interior design office LIME388. He also participated in different workshops for mudbrick constructions in Lyon, for walkable cities in Hefei, for public schoolyards in Cairo and for water sensitive urban design in Lima. Additionally Raoul worked as a student assistant at the Institute for Art and Design and the Institute for International Urbanism at the University of Stuttgart. He hold a teaching position at the University of Innsbruck and since November 2012 Raoul is research assistant at the International Urbanism Institute and is part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at University of Stuttgart. 2014 he participated in the cultural exchange program CCP by the IFA in the „Association pour la Sauvegard de la Médina“ in Tunis as well as he started his PhD research on the „Influence of traditional architecture on inhabitant’s satisfaction“ at the Institute of Housing and Design.

Marwa Dabaieh is an Egyptian architect and BioGeometry practitioner, worked for the last 12 years in the field of sustainable architectural conservation, environmental design and energy efficiency buildings. Marwa received her bachelor degree in architecture from Egypt in 2001. She earned a master degree in environmental design in 2006 and a PhD in conservation of vernacular architecture in 2011 from Lund University in Sweden. Marwa mainly applies transdisciplinary approaches in her research work through participatory action research methods. She received the Swedish Elna Bengtssons foundation prize for scientific research in 2012 for her PhD project in the Western Desert of Egypt. Marwa had several publications and lectures in the fields of energy efficiency buildings, sustainable conservation, environmental design, vernacular architecture and BioGeometry. As a practitioner, she participated in several design projects in Egypt, MENA region and Europe. She joined the teaching staff of IUSD master program at Ain Shams University during fall 2012. Marwa’s research focus was passive low-tech vernacular methods and their adaptation for contemporary energy efficient and zero energy building practice.

After completing a Diploma in Architecture and Urban Design (TU Berlin), the Bauhauskolleg Transitspaces (Bauhaus Dessau) and a MA in Planning Research and Theory (The University of Sheffield) Nina Gribat obtained her PhD on the topic of “Governing the Future of a Shrinking City: Hoyerswerda, East Germany” at the Department of Architecture and Planning at Sheffield Hallam University. Her research interests include governing processes of urban shrinkage and informal urban developments. Nina often works with Foucault's writings on governmentality and their potential contributions to reconceptualising critical planning and urban theory. Since April 2011 Nina was part of the IUSD Course Coordinatino Team and teaching in the "Urban Policy, Planning and Sustainable Urban Management" Core Module. Between 2013 and 2014 she was interim director of the International Urbanism Institute at University of Stuttgart.

Marwa A. Khalifa has obtained her B.Sc. & M.Sc., “Urban Planning” specialization from Ain Shams University (ASU), while her PhD was a joint supervision between ASU and the University of Sheffield, UK. Dr. Khalifa has major interest in environmental assessment, strategic planning, upgrading of informal settlements and participatory planning approaches. She combines the advantages of having both the theoretical grounds and practical application experience. She has been teaching and supervising multidisciplinary topics, both undergraduate and postgraduate since 1996 and is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Urban Planning and Design. Simultaneously, she provided consultancy services to both national organizations such as General Organization for Physical Planning and Informal Settlement Development Facility as well as International Organizations such as UN-Habitat related to her area of expertise mentioned above. Additionally, since 2007 she has participated and coordinated several international cooperation projects with universities in EU, Latin America, South Asia and MENA Region related to higher education reform in the field of participatory planning and natural resources management. Since the start of IUSD Marwa is intensively involved with the program teaching electives (informal settlement development) and Master Thesis supervison at the Ain Shams University in Cairo.

Mohamed Asar is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, where he received his Bachelors degree in 1997 & PhD in Architecture & Environmental Design in 2008.  He obtained his M.Arch in Human settlements from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium in 2000. Recently, he works as a Senior Technical Consultant & Advisor for both the General Organization of Physical Planning & the Technical Committee for the Higher Supreme Council of Planning & Urban development in Egypt. His research interests include environmental adaptation of buildings as well as sustainable design with the use of instruments during fieldwork & utilizing simulation programs to improve thermal performance of buildings. The strategies & process of dealing with Informal settlements and the urban poor is of special interest. He was part of the IUSD Course Coordination and is now external experts for Supervision of Master Theses within the IUSD at Ain Shams University.

Mai Moustafa Sabry received her BSc. in Architecture Department in 2009 from Ain Shams University, Cairo. She is MSc. candidate at Ain Shams University and currently working on her Master thesis. She attended several courses and workshops through the CNRD student exchange program in Cologne, Germany. Mai has worked as an architect at IDG consultancy offices in Cairo in 2009, she worked also as a Teacher Assistant at the department of Architecture “Misr international University” between the time 2010 and 2012. From September 2012 till March 2013 Mai was part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at Ain Shams University.

Nashwa Emad received her B.Sc. in Urban Planning and Design at Ain Shams University in 2012 and holds the position of a teaching assistant at the Department of Urban Planning and Design, Ain Shams University where she is currently enrolled as M.Sc. Candidate at Ain Shams. Nashwa is interested mainly in the role of landscape in the urban development of public open spaces, and its impact on the viability of the city. At the moment, Nashwa is a part time member of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at Ain Shams University.

Nouran Azouz received her BSc. in Urban Planning and Design in 2009 from Ain Shams University, Cairo. Nouran is MSc. Candidate at Ain Shams University; her on-going Master thesis is on the “Good Urban Governance of Informal settlements in Metropolitan Areas”. She attended several courses and workshops through the CNRD student exchange program in the Faculty of Applied Sciences, ITT, Cologne, Germany. Nouran worked for “Takween” for Integrated Communities, where she participated in a UNESCO report on rehabilitation of historic Cairo. She also participated in “Tadamun” project, which is under the partnership of the AU of Washington and Ford Organization, as a researcher on the issues of Urban Governance in Egypt in correspondence to Global Models. She was part of the IUSD Course Coordination Team at Ain Shams University.

Mona Mannoun received her BSc in Architectural Engineering from Misr International University, Egypt in 2008. Her Master thesis at the Department of Urban Planning at Ain Shams University, 2014 is on “Self-developed Areas in Egypt”, focusing on the urban fabric and the architectural elements  of different case studies in Egypt and Germany that depend on people who build their own neighborhood. In addition, Mona Mannoun works on a hands-on project related to informal settlements. She worked at ökoplan and IDG consultancy offices in Cairo between 2009 to 2010 and 2010 to 2012. Mona was the assistant programme coordinator for the MSc IUSD at Ain Shams University Cairo.

Ebtihal Abbas is an urban planner and designer holding a MSc. in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design (IUSD) from Stuttgart University in Germany and Ain Shams University (ASU) in Egypt. Ebtihal completed her bachelor of Regional and Urban Planning from Cairo University in 2004. Since then, she has been actively engaged in international multidisciplinary environments in both Egypt and Gulf Cooperation Council (G.C.C) where she was involved in projects varying from a national level to municipal, city centers and neighborhoods’ redevelopment. ‘Urban Development and Revitalization of Downtown-Cairo’ in Egypt, the ‘Pearl-Qatar in Doha’ and ‘Qatar National Master Plan’ in the G.C.C are among the major projects she participated in. Her interests in the role of civil society as well as the influences of political and socio-economical factors on urban development were the basis for her masters’ dissertation. She has also been involved in some freelancing projects, such as taking part in ‘Preparing the Guidance Physical Plans for the Egyptian Villages’- (GOPP), copyediting of the Arabic exhibition contents for ‘Space, Time, Dignity, Rights’- (UNRWA) and assisting in the community participation process for upgrading historical areas in old Cairo in ‘Al Athar Lena’ – (DEDI). She joined the IUSD Course Coordination Team at Ain Shams University in October 2013.

Yasar A. Adanali has a BA on social and political sciences from Sabanci University (Istanbul) and a master degree on development and planning: social development practice from Development Planning Unit, University College London, with specific focus on poverty reduction and social inclusion policies and practices at the urban level. His ongoing PhD research is on spaces of democracy and planning of informally developed neighborhoods in Istanbul. In addition to Ä°stanbul, he has worked in the cities of South America, Africa and the Middle East on various urban development related researches and hands-on projects. He teaches a masters’ course on participatory planning practice at TU Darmstadt. In 2011 he has been awarded the Urban Planning Journalism Award by the Turkish Chamber of Urban Planners. Yasar is guest lecturer within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

Since obtaining her BSc(Hons) in Architecture at the University of East London in 2002, Julia’s work experience with award-winning practices such as WWMArchitects (London) and ‘die Baupiloten’ (Berlin) has ranged from public space design to the scale of strategic urban framework plans and has included clients such as the London Development Agency (LDA), Hackney Council (London), Nature Park Vitosha (Bulgaria), and Amnesty International. Julia has also been teaching design-build workshop formats at several Universities in Britain and Bulgaria and worked with NGOs Shoreditch Trust (UK), THF (TAR, China) and Ziva Zemia (Bulgaria) on issues of resident-led urban regeneration and local construction skills transfer. In 2013, she completed the MSc IUSD at the University of Stuttgart with a thesis on neighbourhood-based urban upgrading and mobilization processes in Cairo’s informal settlements. Her current research interests evolve around marginalized urban spaces, their inhabitants, and the potential they harbour for the construction, sustenance and defence of the urban commons.  A member of several exhibition and publication teams, Julia has recently made editorial contributions to the exhibitions “Beyond Tourism-Zanzibar” (with Weissenhof-Galerie Stuttgart 2013); “Space Time Dignity Rights-Improving Palestinian Refugee Camps” (with UNRWA and GIZ 2012) and to the 2014/2 issue of “Trialog - Journal for Planning and Building in the Third World”.

After receiving her B.Sc. in Architectural Engineering, Youhansen Eid received her M. Arch. (1986), and her Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the University of Southern California (1992). Since then, she has worked at the Faculty of Engineering ASU. She held the positions of head of the department of Urban Planning (2007-2009) and Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Engineering (2009-2011). Prof. Eid conducted a private architectural and planning practice and held planning consulting positions in some agencies in Egypt including GAEB and GOPP. Her research interests include the impact of socio-political and technological changes on urban form, strategic planning and sustainability. Currently she is Professor of Urban Planning at Ain Shams University and Visiting Professor at the British University Egypt. She was Head of Admission for the IUSD programme and involved in teaching and supervision of master theses at Ain Shams University.

Ingo Helmedag studied architecture at Hanover University and at Graz University of Technology. After graduating from Hanover University he worked as an architect in a number of projects. Starting in 1993, he has taught as an assistant professor for Building Construction and Design at Dresden University of Technology. For the Faculty of Architecture, he established the European Erasmus Program and furthered worldwide University exchange. In 1998, he was a visiting professor at the UBC, Vancouver. His focus and research interest is on building technique and sustainable design. After joining DAAD in 2008, Ingo Helmedag became professor for Building Techniques and Design at the German Jordanian University (GJU) in Amman, where he remained until his transfer to Cairo’s Ain Shams University (IUSD Master Program) in September 2012.

Gerd Lüers is a senior advisor, trainer and coach in the field of organisation development with focal areas in international development cooperation and institutional capacity building. With an educational background of a political scientist he has worked in the field of German and European ODA since 1992, both as an officer responsible of project design and implementation as well as an advisor and evaluator of Technical Assistance projects worldwide. Based on this experience he began to be interested in the design and implementation of successful institutional change processes and found a promising approach in systemic organisation development. After completing a two year education in this field he, since 2010, is increasingly active in advising public and private organisations in achieving effective change which is fully build on the organisation’s own resources and motivation. With his own professional record as a long- and short term expert in many countries of the Near and Middle East and South Asia Gerd Lüers is furthermore working as a trainer and coach in the field of intercultural sensitization and conflict management. Since the start of IUSD Gerd is intensively involved with the program holding workshops on "Team Building", "Conflict Management", and "Project management" at the University of Stuttgart.

After completing a Diploma in Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Stuttgart, José Luis Moro worked as a project leader and office manager at different architecture practices in Madrid, Berlin, Munich, Darmstadt and Zürich (Fernando Higueras, Thomas Herzog, Santiago Calatrava). He was mainly involved in the design and implementation of large public buildings and bridges. In 1990 José Moro established his own architecture office in Darmstadt. In 1996 he responded to a call of Stuttgart University to the professorship of Planning and Construction at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. Since 2006 he holds the professorship for Design and Construction at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Design of the University of Stuttgart. He was the Director of Admission of the MSc IUSD and teaches in various courses within the IUSD at University of Stuttgart.

Mohammed Alfiky (1988); senior researcher, urban planner and GIS expert, graduated from Ain Shams University department of Urban Planning and Design in 2011. Obtained my M.Sc. in 2014 from IUSD entitled “Community Based Security of Tenure: Initial Framework for Squatted Areas in Cairo”. Since 2014, Alfiky is working for the IUSD-Cairo as a senior researcher on the research entitled “Development Priorities in Informal Areas: Planning, Realization and Local Perceptions” DEVEPER besides being a teaching assistant for the Integrated Case Study module in the IUSD. Beginning April 2015 till August 2015, he joined the Institute for Landscape Planning and Ecology (ILPÖ) in Stuttgart University for 3 months as a co-lecturer for Geo-design module for the IUSD-4th intake. Since August 2015, he is back again for the IUSD-Cairo. Further, he is a co-expert for GOPP for “urban development of Altawar’ Axis” in Assalam district. Additionally, Alfiky has a number of publications regarding urban informality in Egypt.