Nick Johns-WickbergIAQ25: Meet the keynote speakers
With less than two weeks to go until IAQ25, we meet the two international keynote speakers.
AIRAH’s 2025 Indoor Air Quality Conference will take place at the Langham, Melbourne, from May 26–27, with an additional interactive workshop to be held on Sunday, May 25 from midday.
“IAQ25 is a great opportunity to hear from more than 20 different speakers during the conference and five during the workshop,” says Dr Brad Prezant, Affil.AIRAH, chair of the organising committee for the conference.
“Some of the topics include equipment, infection control, and carbon dioxide and its use as a metric.”
“If you’re interested in indoor air quality, this is a great opportunity to hear from a wide variety of experts.”
Dr Brad Prezant, Affil.AIRAH
The conference features two full days of presentations and panel sessions, with cocktail functions at the end of both days and a dinner function on Monday, May 26. You can check out the full program on the IAQ25 website.
With less than two weeks to go before the event, let’s meet the international keynote speakers.
International keynote speakers
IAQ25 will feature presentations from two world-renowned international keynote speakers: Dr Richard J Shaughnessy and Dr Max Sherman. Here’s what to expect from their presentations.
Dr Max Sherman
Dr Max Sherman is a retired distinguished senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with over 30 years of experience in building physics. He earned his PhD in Physics from the University of California, where his dissertation focused on natural air infiltration in buildings.
Max is a fellow member of both ASHRAE – having won the Holladay Distinguished Fellow award – and ISIAQ, as well as being a board member of the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Center. He is the co-chair of ASHRAE 241 (Control of Infectious Aerosols) and chair of ASHRAE 62.2 (Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Residential Buildings).
Max will be extremely active at IAQ25: he will deliver the opening keynote – introducing the philosophy behind ASHRAE Standard 241 and highlighting what will change in the proposed updated of the standard – before participating in a panel discussion at 11:50am, in which he and his fellow panellists will sum up the findings from the Sunday workshop.
Max is also speaking on day two of the conference: at 10:30am, he will present on the future of IAQ, focusing in particular on the “harm paradigm”, an approach designed to minimise the damage caused by poor IAQ. The presentation will look at how to apply this paradigm in a standard, using ASHRAE Standards 62.1 and 62.2 as examples.
Dr Richard J Shaughnessy
Dr Richard J Shaughnessy has served as director of the University of Tulsa’s Indoor Air Quality Research Program in the Department of Chemical Engineering since 1991. His studies have focused on particulate research, air cleaner evaluation, indoor chemistry, school studies, asthma/housing research, and resolution and remediation of bioaerosol-related problems.
Richard is a past president of ISIAQ and also served as vice-president of the ISIAQ global conference in Hawaii, in 2024. He has been a primary contributor to, and reviewer of, IICRC Standards S500 and S520 since their conception.
Richard is experienced in field research in homes and associated measurements and tools relating to IAQ and moisture. He currently works as the principal investigator of multiple grants focusing on mould in the built environment, schools and cleaning efficacy.
Richard will present the keynote speech on day two of the conference. His presentation delves beyond the theory of air cleaning and applies practical measurements to draw connections between cleaner air and health outcomes.
Interactive workshop
From midday to 6pm on Sunday, May 25 – the day before the conference begins in earnest – there will be an interactive workshop focusing on international standards for CO₂.
The workshop will explore the differences in ventilation standards across Australia, the United States, and Europe, questioning whether 800ppm CO₂ is truly an appropriate benchmark for indoor air quality.
Experts in the field will provide insights into current regulations, practical applications, and the latest research shaping ventilation policies. Attendees will engage in discussions on the implications of these standards and their effectiveness in different environments.
You can view the full program for the workshop via the IAQ25 website.
Register now
You can register for the conference via the IAQ25 website. AIRAH members receive discounted registration.
Flexible registration allows attendees to register for the full conference + workshop, only the conference, only the workshop, or a single day of the conference. There is also an optional dinner function that will take place on Monday, May 26 at 6:30pm.
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