Keynote speakers
Professor Emad Gad
PhD
Professor and Dean, School of Engineering
Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Topic
Human-Induced Floor Vibration Assessment and Development of Innovative Passive Dampers
Professor Emad Gad is the Dean of the School of Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. Prior to this appointment, he was the Chair of the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering at Swinburne, an Associate Professor at The University of Melbourne and Research Scientist at CSIRO.
Professor Gad is a civil engineer with extensive experience in structural dynamics, residential construction and structural connections. His applied research has contributed to the development of several standards and codes of practice. He is the Chair of the Board of the Australian Engineered Fasteners and Anchors Council (AEFAC), Co-Editor of the Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, appointment member of the Victorian Government Building Advisory Council (BAC), Director on the Board of the Australian Steel Institute (ASI) and Fellow of Engineers Australia
Dr Andrew Minson
PhD
Director, Concrete and Sustainable Construction
GCCA – Global Cement and Concrete Association
United Kingdom
Topic
Delivering Low Carbon Concrete Projects: Outlining the Contribution of Design Engineers
Andrew is originally from Australia where he graduated from the University of Queensland with a first class honours degree in Civil Engineering before going to the University of Oxford to do his engineering doctorate as a Rhodes Scholar. He then joined engineering consultancy ARUP for 10 years working on projects around the world before joining and leading The Concrete Centre and British Precast in the UK.
He joined the Global Cement and Concrete Association when it was founded in 2018 as Director of Concrete and Sustainable Construction. He led the work to publish “The GCCA 2050 Cement and Concrete Industry Roadmap for Net Zero Concrete” in 2021 and now leads the Net Zero Accelerator Initiative that seeks to take the global commitment to local action. He is responsible for the GCCA Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) tool that enables the cement and concrete industry to meet the demand from designers and clients for EPDs, and leads other initiatives to support decarbonisation of the sector through whole value chain action.
He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Structural Engineers where he has served on the Board, and is currently a member of the IStructE Engineering Leadership Group. He authored the Wiley published book “Sustainable Concrete Solutions” in 2013.
Professor Somnuk Tangtermsirikul
D.Eng. (Civil Engineering)
Professor, School of Civil Engineering and Technology
Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology
Thammasat University, Thailand
Topic
Effective Utilization of Fly Ash and Bottom Ash in Concrete Industry in Thailand
Prof. Somnuk Tangtermsirikul received his B.Eng. degree from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand in 1984. He obtained his M.Eng and D.Eng. degrees from the University of Tokyo, Japan in 1986 and 1989, respectively. He is currently a Professor at the School of Civil Engineering and Technology, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technoogy, Thammasat University, Thailand and the former director of the Institute. He is also the head of the Construction and Maintenance Technology Research Center (CONTEC) of the same Institute. He was a former president of the Thailand Concrete Association and is now serving as the Vice-President (Technical) of the Asian Concrete Federation (ACF). He serves as the the editorial as well as board member of various journals. He is also a member of many national and international academic and professional committees in the field of cement and concrete. His research fields cover cement replacing materials, utilization of wastes and recycled materials in cement and concrete, new cementitious materials and concrete technologies, modelling of concrete behaviors, durability and service life of concrete structures, analysis of damaged and deteriorated concrete structures, repair and maintenance of concrete structures
Prof Khalifa S Al-Jabri
PhD
Professor
Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Topic
Properties of Concrete containing Waste Slag as Fine Aggregate at Elevated Temperature
Professor Al-Jabri is working as a Professor in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. Prof. Al-Jabri obtained his BSc in Civil Engineering from Sultan Qaboos University in 1991 and MSc and PhD degrees from the University of Sheffield, UK in 1993 and 2000, respectively. After obtaining the PhD, he joined the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering as an Assistant Professor and in 2006, he was promoted to an Associate Professor and appointed as the Assistant Dean for Postgraduate Studies and Research in the College of Engineering. In 2011, he was promoted to a Professor and appointed as the Head of the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering until September 2017. He served as a member in the State Council of Oman from 2011-2015 Prof. Al-Jabri is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), UK, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), USA, and Oman Society of engineers, Oman. His research interest is focusing on three areas: 1) studying the behaviour of materials and structures at elevated temperatures, 2) Use of waste materials and industrial by-products as green and sustainable construction materials, 3) Seismic hazard assessment and earthquake engineering. Prof. Al-Jabri has published more than 180 research articles. He served as principal investigator and researcher in about 31 research grants and consultancy projects. He received several distinguished awards such as the distinguished scientist from Venus international foundation, Best research’s award from Sultan Qaboos University and the Pioneer Engineer from Gulf Engineering Union
Dr. Surendra Keshav Manjrekar
PhD
Chairman and Managing Director
Sunanda Speciality Coatings Pvt Ltd, India
Topic
Recovery of Global Construction Industry with Innovative Use of Smart Materials to Overcome Pandemic Shock, Oil Crisis, Economic Crisis and Extended War Situation
Dr. Surendra Manjrekar is an Honorary Member of the American Concrete Institute (ACI). He is also a guest editor for these magazines: Construction and Building Materials, UK. Cement and Concrete Research, USA. Revista ALCONPAT, Mexico. Dr. Surendra is a recipient of the Industry Doyen Award by the Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC) of the Indian Government.
He is the past president of the Indian Chapter of American Concrete Institute and currently involved in various capacity within the chapter
Professor Nelson Lam
PhD
Professor and leader of the Structures and Buildings Discipline
Department of Infrastructure Engineering
The University of Melbourne, Australia.
Topic
Reinforced Concrete Design and Detailing for Compliance with Eurocode 8 DCM requirements and related online tools on Quakeadvice
Nelson Lam is Professor and leader of the Structures and Buildings Discipline in Department of Infrastructure Engineering at The University of Melbourne. He has 36 years of experience in structural engineering, and has been working in the specialized field of earthquake engineering, impact dynamics and structural dynamics in the past 29 years. He is member of the Seismic and Dynamic Events Panel commissioned by the London Headquarter of The Institution of Structural Engineers and also member of the standing committee for future revisions to the Australian standard for seismic actions. His achievement in research in this field was recognized by the award of the Chapman Medal (1999) and Warren Medal (2006) by Engineers Australia; and Chapman Medal for the second time in 2010, and for the third time in 2020. He is also recipient of Award for Teaching Excellence given out by Engineers Australia in 2012 and Academic Staff Teaching Award by Melbourne School of Engineering in 2013. He is lead author of the professional guidebook titled Design of Buildings and Structures in Low to Moderate Seismicity Regions which was launched in June this year. The book can be accessed free online using this link: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/cnerc-steel/publications.html. Nelson’s early career as a structural engineer was with Scott Wilson International throughout the 1980’s and attained British chartered engineer status during that period. He was awarded the degree of BSc in civil engineering with first class honours at the University of Leeds, England in 1981, MSc degree in concrete structures at Imperial College of Science & Technology, London in 1982 and PhD in earthquake engineering at The University of Melbourne in 1993.
Professor Kiang Hwee Tan
Dr.Eng., FIES, FJCI, FJSCE, PEng(S)
Professor
National University of Singapore
Topic
Innovative Applications of Fibre-Reinforced Concrete in Construction
Professor Kiang Hwee Tan is a faculty member of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS) since July 1981. He obtained his doctorate degree from the University of Tokyo, Japan in 1985. He specialises in the area of structural concrete and composites, and has taught courses in reinforced and prestressed concrete design at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has carried out extensive research on concrete beams with transverse openings, external prestressing, fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement and systems, and sustainable materials and construction. He has published more than 280 refereed technical papers, a book entitled “Beams with Openings: Analysis & Design” (CRC Press LLC, USA, 1999), and edited the proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on FRP Reinforcement for Concrete Structures (World Scientific, 2003). Professor Tan is also active in professional committees including the ACI Committee 440 on FRP Reinforcement. He was Vice-Chairman of the International Committee on Concrete Model Code for Asia. He is currently a member of the Enterprise Singapore Technical Committee on Structures and Sub-Structures, and serves as Convenor for Working Groups on the establishment of Singapore Standards on the Design of Fibre Concrete Structures, and the Design of Fastenings for Use in Concrete. He has also been a consultant in structural engineering to several agencies in Singapore and the region. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES), Japan Concrete Institute, and Japan Society of Civil Engineers. He is also a registered professional engineer in Singapore
Ir. Adj. A/ Prof. Dr. Voo Yen Lei
PhD, UNSW (Australia)
Executive Director and CEO
Dura Technology Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
Adjunct Associate Professor
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Australia
Topic
Making UHPC Prefabricated Bridge Elements as Standard Products
Dr. Voo Y. L. is the CEO and Founder of Dura Technology Sdn Bhd. (DTSB), which specialises in the manufacturing of precast and customised concrete products made from Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC). He founded DTSB in Malaysia in 2006 based on his interest and knowledge in UHPC and his passion to create a more sustainable and environment friendly development. He saw the shortcomings of the existing bridge construction systems and was convinced that UHPC can fill the gaps. DTSB was built and operated under his supervision since 2006. Dr. Voo reformulated UHPC according to the local context and needs and branding it for commercialization. He often travels to educate related industries and governmental sectors about UHPC development. He has also patented his UHPC, has innovated bridge designs ideally for UHPC and to counter specific construction glitch. To-date DTSB has supplied or constructed over 120 UHPC bridges in Malaysia, and has also transferred the technology to China, India and Canada. Dr. Voo is also an Adjunct Associate Professor with UNSW Sydney and Adjunct Professor with the Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. With four Malaysia Book of Records in hand, he is aiming for more marvels to be erected in Malaysia. He was awarded the 2016 PCI Design Award Winner: Best International Transportation Structure on Construction of the 100m Single Span Batu 6 UHPFRC Bridge from the USA Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institution; and the 2017 Best Project Award - Infrastructure Projects (Small Category) of the Malaysia Construction Industry Excellence Award 2017