Prof. González-Cruz is the SUNY Empire Innovation Professor at the University of Albany of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, lead scientist of the Coastal-Urban Environmental Research Group (CUERG). Prof. González-Cruz earned his Doctorate (1994) and Bachelor (1988) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, respectively. He teaches and conducts research in urban energy sustainability and resiliency, urban weather and climate, and regional climate modeling and analysis.  Professor González-Cruz holds several patents in solar energy equipment, solar desalination systems, aerosol detection, and energy forecasting for buildings, and was recognized as a prominent young researcher by the National Science Foundation with a prestigious CAREER Award.  He has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, has delivered 100s of conference presentations, and his research has attracted more than $50M in external funding.  He is a Fellow Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME), and Former Vice-Chairman of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Board on the Urban Environment. He is the 2025 recipient of the AMS Helmut E. Landsberg Award for Outstanding Contributions to Urban Climate.  He was appointed in 2015 by the Mayor of the City as Member of the Climate Change Panel for City of New York, and more recently named Senior Scientist of Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Member of the US Department of Energy Office of Science Scientific Advisory Committee. He is the co-editor of the ASME Handbook of Integrated and Sustainable Buildings Equipment and Systems, and was named in 2019 as the Founding Editor of the ASME Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities.