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Fotis Sotiropoulos serves as the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and a professor of Nuclear and Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to that he was: Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and State University of New York (SUNY) Distinguished Professor at Stony Brook University (2015-2021); the James L. Record Professor of Civil Engineering and director of the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (2006-2015); and on the faculty of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, with a joint appointment in the G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering (1995-2005). His research focuses on simulation-based engineering science for tackling complex, societally relevant fluid mechanics problems in renewable energy, environmental, human health and biological applications. He has authored over 200 peer reviewed journal papers and book chapters, his Google Scholar H-index is 72, and his research results have been featured on the cover of several prestigious journals. He is the recipient of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Fluids Engineering Award (2023), the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Borland Lecture Hydrology Days award (2019), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Hunter Rouse Hydraulic Engineering Award (2017), and a CAREER award from the US National Science Foundation. He has been elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and the ASME and has twice won the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Gallery of Fluid Motion (2009, 2011).
Wen-Cheng Liao is a professor of the Department of Civil Engineering and serves as the Vice President for General Affairs of National Taiwan University. He got his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2010. His primary research interests focus on innovative cementitious materials, as well as the application of high-performance fiber reinforced concrete in seismic resistant structures, concrete durability ,and deformation of concrete.
Dr. Rudi Seracino is a Professor of Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University. His primary research interest is in the application for fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) materials and systems to enhance the durability of civil infrastructure. Dr Seracino is a member of ACI Committee 440 on FRP Materials, ASTM International Sub-Committee D30.10 on Composites for Civil Structures, the ACMA FRP Rebar Manufacturers Council, and the PCI FRP Committee. He serves on the editorial board of the ASCE Journal of Composites for Construction, and is a Technical Advisor to the DOT Advisory Board, Regulatory Resources LLC. Dr Seracino is the NC State University Site Director of the NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center on Integrating Composites into Construction (CICI). He is an elected Fellow of ACI and the International Institute for FRP in Construction (IIFC).
Dr. Rajeev is a Professor in Civil Engineering and current Chair of Department of Civil and Construction Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology (SUT), Australia. He is also the director of Australia's first Trimble Technology Lab at SUT. He completed his BSc degree with Honors in civil engineering from University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and earned both his MSc and PhD in Earthquake Engineering from ROSE School, University of Pavia in Italy. Prior to pursuing his PhD work, he was a visiting researcher at TNO DIANA B.V in Netherlands and worked on dynamic soil-structure interaction modelling of geo-systems. Rajeev worked as a research fellow at Monash University from 2009 to 2013, where his work was focused on the areas of failure assessment of pipeline (both onshore and offshore), numerical modelling of pipe-soil interaction, and sensor technology for pipeline monitoring. His research interests include 3D concrete printing and concrete rheology, sustainable construction materials, pipeline engineering, earthquake resistant design and analysis of structures, soil-foundation-structure interaction (SFSI) and advanced sensor technology for structural health monitoring. He has coauthored more than 180 journal and conference publications and many technical reports in above research areas. His research projects have been funded by both national and international bodies including Australian Research Council, Australian Building Codes Board, European Union. He is a Fellow of Engineers Australia.
Dr. Qingli Dai is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan Tech. Dr. Dai’s structure resilience-related research has been conducted on smart actuator design, testing, and simulation for structural vibration reduction and power distribution structure resilience simulation under multi hazard loading conditions. She has published over 160 technical papers including about 115 journal articles and other 60+ conference papers. Dr. Dai has been a Principle Investigator of several research projects funded by US National Science Foundation and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Other sponsors of her research program include State Department of Transportation and Michigan Space Grant Consortium. Dr. Dai received 2017 Best Paper Award for the ASCE Journal of Aerospace Engineering. Dr. Dai is an associate editor for ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering since November 2011. She is a member of several ASCE committees. She is also a member of ACI committee 201, 236 and 555.
Professor Wang is now a professor at Shantou University. Based on his outstanding academic achievements, Prof. Wang was inducted to the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2016 and 2015 respectively. He was awarded the Blaise Pascal Medal of the European Academy of Sciences in Engineering in 2019 He has served as the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Mechanical Sciences. Prof. Wang is an influential scholar in his research areas of energy harvesting, smart materials, and nanotechnology. Prof. Q. Wang has invented, formalized, and applied accurate structural health monitoring and structural repair methods through his pioneering work in smart materials and wavelets. He solved the problem of how to monitor highly voluminous nanomaterials used in civil, mechanical, aerospace engineering applications, and solved this problem through the application of nonlocal continuum theory. His work has also contributed to the use of smart materials to harvest green energy from ambient vibrations.
Chengqing Wu is currently working as a professor in School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. Prof Wu is the Chair of the Australian Chapter of the International Association of Protective Structures from 2013 to 2017 and an associate editor of ASCE Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. He successfully organised many international conferences such as the 4th International Conference of Protective Structures (ICPS 2016) and the 8th and 13th International Conferences on Shock & Impact Loads on Structures, (SILOS 2009 and SILOS 2019). He has published a book “Development of Ultra-High Performance Concrete against Blasts” (2018) and over 260 referred international journal papers. Prof. Wu was ranked as No. 2 in the world by Scholarly Output of Top authors (leading by number of publications) from 2011 to 2020 in Topics “Blast Loads, Reinforced Concrete, Explosions” at SciVal database (https://scival.com/trends/authors/table?uri=Topic/9397). He is among the World’s Top 2% Scientists in the field of Civil Engineering in the 2020 - 2022 lists compiled by Stanford University. Prof Wu is also Fellow of Institute of Engineering in Australia and Fellow of International Associate of Protective Structures.
Yufei Wu has completed his PhD from the University of Adelaide, Australia. He is a Distinguished Professor of Shenzhen University in China, and a Professor in Infrastructure Engineering at RMIT University in Australia. He has published more than 190 papers in reputed journals with an H index of 64 (Google Scholar), and has been serving as an editorial board members of numerous journals including Engineering Structures and Journal of Composite for Construction. He is the inventor of numerous new structural theories and technologies and has received prestigious research awards including the Moisseiff Medal from ASCE.
Dr Zongjin LI is Chair professor at Macau University of Science and Technology. He received his B.E. from Zhejiang University in 1982 and obtained both his M.S. and PhD from Northwestern University, Chicago, in 1990 and 1993, respectively. He is honorary member and a fellow of American Concrete Institute, Chair of China Group of RILEM and Founding President of ACI China Chapter. As the chief scientist, he has led a China Key National Basic Research Project (973), ‘Basic study on environmentally friendly contemporary concrete’ that promoted the concrete research in China to a world-class level. He also founded the Gordon Research Conference, ‘Advanced Materials for Sustainable Infrastructure Development’ in 2014. He is pioneer in noncontact resistivity/impedance measurement for cement-based materials and lead the research activities in this area for about 20 years. He also developed cement-based piezoelectric and opened a new direction for civil engineering. The methodology he developed to utilizing the in-situ polymerization of monomer during cement hydration process has shown a strong effect in enhancing flexural strength of cement-based composite. He has published 5 technical books, in which ‘Advanced Concrete Technology’ published by John Wiley has been collected by many national libraries and major university libraries and used by many universities as text or reference books for civil engineering. He has also published more than 400 technical papers with a Google Scholar citation of 27399 and H-index of 89. He has also been awarded eight US and twenty Chinese patents. Three of his patents have been developed into commercial products. He received the Arthur R. Anderson Medal from American Concrete Institute in 2017 and Distinguished Visiting Fellowship Award from British Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014.
Vistasp M. Karbhari is a Professor in the Departments of Civil Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he served as the 8th president from 2013 to 2020. An internationally reputed researcher, Dr. Karbhari is an expert in the processing and mechanics of composites, durability of materials, infrastructure rehabilitation, and multi-threat mitigation and has authored/coauthored over 460 papers in journals and conference publications and is the editor/co-editor of 6 books. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); the National Academy of Inventors (NAI); the American Society of Civil Engineers; ASM International; the International Institute for Fiber-reinforced Polymers in Construction; the International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure; ASCE’s Structural Engineering Institute, and is an elected member of the European Academy of Science and Arts, as well as a Fellow of Complete College America (CCA).
Dr. Yang is a Distinguished Professor in Engineering in the School of Engineering, RMIT University, Australia. He received PhD in solid mechanics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China in 2002. Prior to joining RMIT as a Lecturer in 2007, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland from 2002-2004, a research fellow then a lecturer at the Department of Building and Construction, City University of Hong Kong for 3 years from the end of 2004. His main research interests include advanced composite structures, nanocomposites, structural stability and dynamics, smart structures and control, and nano/micro-mechanics. He is an author of over 400 papers including 305 journal papers which have so far attracted over 22200 Google Scholar citations with h-index 81. He is the Highly Cited Researcher (Cross Field) in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 by Clarivate Analytics and is named by Australian Research Magazine as Global Field Leader in Mechanical Engineering in 2020, Australia’s Research Field Leader in Mechanical Engineering in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 as well as in Structural Engineering in 2021. Prof Yang is the Lead Editor-in-Chief of Engineering Structures (JCR Q1), Associate Editor or Editorial Board Member of Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures, Thin-Walled Structures, International Journal of Structural Stability and Dynamics, Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines, Scientific Reports, Materials, and Shock and Vibration, etc.
Dr. Xilin Lu is a distinguished professor of Civil Engineering at Tongji University, Shanghai, China. He received his Ph D. degree in Structural Engineering at Tongji University in 1984, and worked as a visiting scholar at the University of Alberta in 1990, and as a research associate at the University of Hong Kong in 1992. His main research areas include dynamic testing, seismic analysis and design, and vibration control of tall buildings under wind and seismic actions. He is a recipient of Nathan M. Newmark Medal by ASCE in 2017. He was elected as a member of Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2019, elected as an International Fellow of the Engineering Academy of Japan in 2021, and elected as a member of European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2022. He is currently the Chief Editors of two prestigious SCI-indexed Journals: “The Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings”, and “Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering”.
Dr. Nabil Grace is the VP for Research and Dean of College of Engineering, Lawrence Technological University (LTU), Southfield, MI and the Director of the Nabil Grace Center for Innovative Materials Research (CIMR) at LTU. Through his research, Dr. Grace focuses on developing, testing and evaluating innovative construction materials for deployment in various infrastructure applications. He was awarded several federal and state research grants to evaluate the use of composite materials as internal/external non-prestressed/prestressed/post-tensioned reinforcement for highway bridges to mitigate corrosion problems associated with conventional steel reinforcement. His recent research work promoted the construction of several highway bridges in the US prestressed and reinforced with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) reinforcement. Dr. Grace is currently working on research projects to integrate innovative concrete materials such as ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) coupled with CFRP reinforcement in highway bridge construction. He has been awarded four US patents for the development and use of innovative materials.
Dr. Arvin Farid is a Professor of the Civil Engineering Department and the Director of the SEnS-GPS Program, sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation, at Boise State University. He is also the chair of the Geoenvironmental Engineering Technical Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Geo-Institute (GI) and an editor of the Environmental Geotechnics Journal of the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE). He also serves on several national and international committees. He received his Ph.D. from Northeastern University, Boston, MA, and his M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees from Shiraz (formerly Pahlavi) University, Shiraz, Iran. He has pioneered the leading edge of research on the use of electromagnetic (EM) fields for geoenvironmental/geotechnical applications. His research includes EM-induced remediation, EM waves’ effect on soil properties, energy geo-storage, wildfire research, recycling and reuse of industrial byproducts, material characterization, power infrastructure vulnerability, and liquefaction mitigation, among others. His most recent research focuses on wildfires’ impacts, resilience against them, restoration and remediation post-fire, and recycling waste. Dr. Farid was awarded several research grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) among others. He has published in several prestigious civil and electrical engineering journals and presented at numerous international civil engineering, electrical engineering, and geophysics conferences.
Professor Brahim Benmokrane is one of the world’s top and an internationally renowned expert in the field of structural concrete internally reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement. His pioneering research has produced ways to use fiber composites to replace steel in concrete structures, thereby eliminating the deterioration of urban infrastructure. Professor Benmokrane has developed innovative materials used worldwide. He is in demand worldwide as a lecturer for seminars and courses. His research has significantly influenced the development of concrete structures reinforced with FRP bars, building codes, design specifications, and its practical use in North America and beyond. He has pioneered the development of related specifications and industry standards for using these new structural materials. He has made outstanding contributions to research, teaching, innovation, and leadership targeting the development of FRP reinforcement for concrete structures and their durability, structural performance, field applications, development of design codes and standards and the unflagging pursuit of knowledge transfer to industry. His research and sustained leadership in technical societies and technology transfer have contributed to widespread use of FRP rebars around the world. His expertise is sought after for professional seminars, international conferences, and academic courses worldwide. His recognition as a leader in his field is not limited to his colleagues in academia but extends to industry, professional societies, and public agencies. His contributions go beyond his cutting-edge research to include leadership and involvement in developing international design codes and specifications for engineers and users. Professor Benmokrane has organized and chaired several international conferences/workshops in his research field and has freely given of his time and expertise in delivering many intensive courses, seminars/webinars, and workshops to thousands of engineers, researchers, and professionals across Canada and around the world. His research and professional services have been recognized with several awards. Some of his more note-worthy awards have come from ACI, CSCE, CSA, IIFC, NSERC, and the Royal Society of Canada (Fellow of Academy of Science). Professor Benmokrane has published over 750 papers, books, and book chapters and delivered over 250 lectures worldwide. He is one of the scientists most cited in the world in the field (20,700+ Citations, h-index=78, by Google Scholar). The outstanding merit and research significance of Professor Benmokrane’ s publications are widely recognized by many people in universities, industries and government agencies as well as being extensively referred to in national and international codes and design guides. Professor Benmokrane holds the prestigious Tier–1 Canada Research Chair in Advanced Composite Materials for Civil Structures and the NSERC-Alliance Industrial Research Chair in Innovative FRP Reinforcement for Sustainable Concrete Infrastructures at the Department of Civil and Building Engineering at the University of Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, QC, Canada). He currently leads a research group of 35 and has trained 185 researchers. He founded the world’s largest research lab on FRP reinforcing bars for concrete structures at the University of Sherbrooke, which helps the industry in developing and receiving approval for new construction materials requiring certification under International Codes and Standards. Over the last 25 years, Professor Benmokrane has worked with Canadian and international engineering firms and government departments and counts many world firsts to his credit in terms of bridges, parking facilities, water-treatment plants, and tunnels. He has acted as a consultant on major national and international projects using FRP bars, such as the Nipigon Cable Stayed Bridge on the Trans-Canada Highway (northwestern Ontario, Canada), Highway 40 & Champlain Bridge (Montreal, Canada), TTC Subway North Tunnels (Highway 407) (Toronto, Canada), Port of Tanger Med II (Morocco), and Port of Miami Tunnel (FL, USA).
Alessandro’s core research areas are on structural bridge engineering and timber/precast concrete buildings. He is a renowned researcher in the field seismic low-damage technologies and he has been exposed to several New Zealand post-earthquake reconnaissance missions in the last decade. His recent research also includes material aging, use of durable materials (glass reinforcing and ultra-high performance concrete) and recycled materials (rubberised concrete), tessellated materials (auxetic) and digital fabrication (3D concrete printing). Alessandro is author of more than 360 international conference and journal papers and 3 patents. He was one of the top 2% most cited researchers in SCOPUS in 2020. He has been awarded several national and international awards including the 2020 ASCE Alfred Noble Prize for a co-authored technical paper, the 2021 IABSE best technical paper and more recently the 2021 “Most Influential International Accelerated Bridge Construction Person of the Year Outside U.S.” in Academia. He is currently the fib New Zealand Head Delegate, the chair of the IABSE NZ group and the President of Concrete NZ Learned Society which counts over 400 members. He has always been passionate about history and aesthetics: he runs a very popular bridge building competition within the University of Canterbury undergraduate programme and supervises research projects on innovative pedestrian bridge design using novel materials, technologies and 3D visualization. Alessandro is a very passionate teacher. He received 5 awards (8 nominations in row) from the University of Canterbury Student Association (UCSA), being voted by the students Best Lecturer of the Year at the University of Canterbury (more than 850 staff) in 2016 and 2019. In 2019 he has been the only lecturer of engineering being recipient of the University of Canterbury Teaching Award (6000 words portfolio). In 2021 he was one of three finalist at the Engineering NZ awards (ENVI) education category.
Professor Nawawi CHOUW was Director of the University of Auckland Centre for Earthquake Engineering Research in New Zealand. Before joining the University of Auckland, he worked at universities in Germany, Japan, and Australia. He received his doctorate in Civil Engineering from the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. He has twice been awarded the Gledden Fellowship of the University of Western Australia, the Fritz-Peter-Mueller Prize of the Technical University of Karlsruhe, Germany, the Best Research Award of Chugoku Denryoku Research Foundation, Japan, and received two recognitions for excellence in research supervision from Chinese Scholarship Council. He has been invited by the Chinese Ministry of Education, the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Qatar Science Foundation, the SA National Research Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service, and other European Research Institutions to assess applications and the international standing of peers. He has published > 440 publications including > 140 international journal papers. He was invited to teach at several universities in Europe, China, and Japan. He was guest editor of several journals, e.g., Protective Structures, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering. He is associate editor of Materials, Shock and Vibration and Frontiers in Build Environment – Earthquake Engineering, Innovative Infrastructure Solutions and serves on the editorial board of several international journals, e.g., Engineering Structures. He was visiting and guest professor at several universities in China, Germany, Canada, Australia, Serbia, Macedonia, and Japan.