Dr. Evangelos Sapountzakis is Civil Engineer, Professor at the Institute of Structural Analysis and Antiseismic Research of the Structural Engineering Department of the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). He is also Vice Rector for Finance, Programming and Development of NTUA and Director of the Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Program “Structural Design and Analysis of Structures” of NTUA. He obtained his Diploma from NTUA in 1984, the MSc and DIC degrees (Concrete Structures) from Imperial College of Science and Technology of London in 1985 and the PhD degree from NTUA in 1991. He has extensive experience (over 35 years) in the design and analysis of bridge and other largescale structural projects, while since 1996 he has provided consultancy services in various structural and transportation large scale Civil Engineering projects. His published research work comprises 130 original papers published in international journals and 181 papers published in international conference proceedings. He is the author of 12 Chapters in books published by International Publishing Companies, 5 Technical Reports, 4 educational books and co-author of 3 educational books. He is the editor of 6 Books or Conference Proceedings. He has participated in 15 financially supported research projects, while in 11 of them as the Principal Investigator. His research work has received intentional recognition, since he is Honorary Editor, Editor-in-Chief, Academic Editor, Regional Editor, Associate Editor of international journals, member of the editorial board of 29 international journals, member of 72 scientific advisory committees of international conferences, while more than 3000 citations have been noticed in international literature.

Dr. Vassilios (Vassilis) Kappatos is the Head of Constructural and Infrastructure Research in Maritime and Air Transport Laboratory at Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT), Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Greece. He is a member of the board of CERTH, he is Visiting Fellow at School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, UK and collaborator of oN DuTy program supported by the Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) of the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and industrial partners. He is currently Fellow of The Welding Institute (FWeld) and Member of the - Engineering Council of United Kingdom (CEng) / Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE-TCG)/ Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (MIEEE)/ International Society for Condition Monitoring (ISCM) / Hellenic Society for Non Destructive Testing (H.S.N.T)/ Hellenic Institute of Acoustics (HELINA)/ Danish Center for Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (DCAMM)/ Society for Machinery Failure Prevention Technology (MFPT)/ Greek-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He obtained his PhD in the area of Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) and also holds the Diploma of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering (MEng) since 2002. His research areas are NDE, Structural Health Monitoring, Condition Monitoring, Structural Integrity, Pattern Recognition and Signal Processing. His research has been supported by the European Commission and other organizations. As a research leader, he has delivered and coordinated 45 European (European Defence Fund, Horizon Europe, Erasmus, H2020, FP7), 8 UK (TSB, Innovate UK), 5 Danish and 6 Greek National funded research projects with a total budget of more than 100 million €. He has over 140 publications in International Journals, Conference Proceedings, Book Chapters and Articles. He is a reviewer of several international journals and conference proceedings. Throughout his career, he has lectured at university level on a broad range of modules in the area of Applied Engineering in Denmark, the United Kingdom and Greece. He was Associate Professor (permanent position) at Mechanical Engineering Section, Department of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Denmark. He has managed more than 100 Research Fellows, Associates and Assistants, Technicians, PhD Students and Project Technical Assistants (Placement Students) over his career.

Title of Talk : New trends in Inspection and Structural Health Monitoring for Composite Rail Carbody Shell

Dai-Yeun Jeong is presently the Director of Asia Climate Change Education Center and an emeritus prof. of environmental sociology at Jeju National University in South Korea. He received BA and MA degree in sociology from Korea University (South Korea), and PhD in environmental sociology from University of Queensland (Australia). He was a prof. of environmental sociology at Jeju National University (South Korea) from 1981 to 2012. His past major professional activities include a teaching professor at University of Sheffield in UK, the president of Asia-Pacific Sociological Association, a delegate of South Korean Government to UNFCCC and OECD environmental meeting, and a member of Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development Republic of Korea, etc. He has published 60 environment-related research papers in domestic and international journals and 13 books including Environmental Sociology. He has conducted 100 unpublished environment-related research projects funded by domestic and international organizations.

Soshu Kirihara is a doctor of engineering and a professor of Joining and Welding Research Institute (JWRI), Osaka University, Japan. In his main investigation “Materials Tectonics as Sustainable Geoengineering” for environmental modifications and resource circulations, multi-dimensional structures were successfully fabricated to modulate energy and materials flows effectively. Ceramic and metal components were fabricated directly by smart additive manufacturing, design and evaluation (Smart MADE) using high power ultraviolet laser lithography. Original stereolithography systems were developed, and new start-up company “SK-Fine” was established through academic-industrial collaboration.

Dr. Shahria Alam is a Professor of Civil Engineering in the School of Engineering, and the Tier 1 Principal’s Research Chair in Resilient & Green Infrastructure at The University of British Columbia (UBC)’s Okanagan campus. He is serving as the Director of the Green Construction Research & Training Center (GCRTC) and the Applied Laboratory for Advanced Materials & Structures (ALAMS) at UBC. Dr. Alam is the Chair of the Engineering Mechanics and Materials Division of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE). He received his PhD in Civil Engineering from Western University in 2008. His research interests include smart and recycled materials and their structural engineering applications. He has published more than 300 peer reviewed articles in these areas, and is the recipient of two best paper awards and several national and international awards.

Dr. Wang is currently an Associate Professor of City University of Hong Kong. Dr. Wang is an internationally recognized expert in the field of micromechanical characterization and modeling of granular soils. His works over the past 20 years include the X-ray CT characterization of micro-structures and micro-morphologies of geomaterials, and the DEM modeling and analysis of fundamental soil behaviors of crushable sands and their applications in various kinds of geotechnical engineering problems such as pile foundation, slope stability and retaining structures, etc. Dr. Wang has received a number of prestigious international research awards including VEBLEO fellow 2022, International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) award 2022, Geotechnical Research Medal (UK Institution of Civil Engineers) 2011 and Higher Education Institutions Outstanding Research Award - Natural Science Award (the Ministry of Education of China) 2010. His research has attracted over 8 million HKD of external grants including the Research Grant Council (RGC) of Hong Kong SAR and National Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Dr. Wang currently serves as an Associate Editor of Géotechnique, and Editorial Board Member of Computers and Geotechnics, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, and Soils and Foundations. So far Dr. Wang has published over 90 SCI journal papers and delivered over 30 keynote/invited lectures, and has a Google Scholar H-index of 31. Dr. Wang is among the list of world's top 2% scientists in 2022.

Dr. Antonio Sandoli is currently Assistant Professor in Structural Engineering at University of Molise (Italy). He is graduated in Civil Engineering at University of Naples Federico II (Naples, Italy) and achieved his Ph.D. in Engineering of Materials and Structures at the same University with a dissertation on “Seismic behaviour, Modelling and Design of Cross-Laminated Timber Structures”. During his Ph.D., Dr. Sandoli joined the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand) as visiting Ph.D. student focusing on seismic behavior of crosslaminated timber buildings and studying alternative low-damage timber structures in seismic prone areas. In the period 2016-2022, Dr. Sandoli was post-doc at University of Naples Federico II (four years) and at University of Rome Niccolò Cusano (two years) working on the influence of mechanical connections of on seismic behaviour of timber structures and on strengthening solutions and modelling issues of existing masonry buildings under seismic actions. From 2015 he is member of the Italian National Research Council committee, taking part to the working group devoted to the updating of the Italian guidelines CNR DT-206-R1 “Instruction for the Design, Execution and Construction of Timber Structures”. Dr. Sandoli was teaching member to the international master “Sucscos” (Sustainable constructions under natural hazards) focusing on timber structures and for the course of Timber Structures at University of Naples Federico II. He is author of more than 60 scientific publications on international journals and on Conference proceedings concerning the seismic behaviour of timber and masonry structures mainly. In addition, papers on innovative and sustainable solutions for timber buildings in seismic prone areas he published too. Dr Sandoli was Chaired or Co-Chaired at national and international Conferences: 2021 International Conference on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering (8th COMPDYN), 2022 XIX Italian Conference on Earthquake Engineering (ANIDIS) and will chair for the next 2023 International Conference on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering (9th COMPDYN).

Paolo Venini is Associate Professor in Solids and Structural Mechanics at the University of Pavia, Italy. He holds a Laurea Degree in Civil Engineering (cum laude, 1992, University of Pavia, Italy), a Laurea Degree in Mathematics (cum laude, 1997, University of Pavia, Italy), a Master of Science in Civil Engineering (1992, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering (1995, Politecnico di Milano). He is the author of more than 40 papers on international journals of high impact factor mainly concerned with topology optimization, dynamic response of systems and structures, and mixed finite elements. He also works as a professional engineer in the fields of structural, fire and safety engineering with main focus on reinforced concrete and steel structures.

Dr. Tsai is a recognized worldwide leader in automatic detection and classification of pavement distresses using emerging 3D laser technology and ML. This is evidenced by his pioneering the competitively selected $3.5 million research projects, “Remote Sensing and GIS-enabled Asset Management (RS-GAMS) Phases I and II,” (2010-2014), sponsored by the US Department of Transportation Research and Innovative Technology Administration (USDOT RITA) program; these projects especially recognized for their first-time use of 3D laser technology in the US. His research over the past ten years has been largely responsible for 3D laser technology emerging as a mainstream technology. More than 80% of state departments of transportation in the US have moved from manual visual inspection to automated pavement condition evaluation. Dr. Tsai has led a team at Georgia Tech to develop and successfully implement a large-scale, IT-based Georgia Pavement Management System (GPAMS) for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) for more than 15 years GPAMS includes computerized data collection, performance forecasting, treatment determination, maintenance and rehabilitation prioritization, and resource optimization to assess, preserve and manage GDOT’s 18,000 centerline miles of highway.

Dr. Joram M. Amir Chairman, Piletest.com Ltd. Israel, Registered Professional Engineer (Structures and Geotechnics, License No. 147) . Ph.D. Tel Aviv University, 1980, M. Sc. (soils and roads), Technion IIT 1960, President, Amir Geotechnical Engineering Ltd, 1965-present, Chairman, Piletest.com Ltd, 1996-present, Teaching Experience Negev Academic College of Engineering, Campus Studies Ltd., University of Stellenbosch, Technion, IIT, Ort Technicum Givatayim. Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and member of ISSMGE, DFI, ASTM, GBA, ADSC.
Title of Talk : Testing Deep Foundations in the AI Age

Dr. Athanasios Chassiakos is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Project, Infrastructure, and City Management Laboratory of the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Patras. He holds a Civil Engineering Diploma from the National Technical University of Athens, and MSc and PhD degrees from the University of Minnesota, USA. His main research and academic interests are in the areas of construction project management, BIM and Digital Twin technologies for modelling structures, infrastructures and cities, resilient, sustainable, and smart infrastructures, energy end-use efficiency and energy services, life-cycle cost analysis and management of transportation projects, optimization in engineering problems. He is the author of books, articles inscientific journals and conference proceedings. He has participated in national and European projects as aproject coordinator or a researcher and has been a consultant in public agencies and private companies in the fields of transportation and project management. He has received awards for his doctoral thesis and published work.
Title of Talk : Optimizing Road Infrastructure Design using I-BIM Technology

Dr. Sherif Abdelaziz is an Associate Professor in The Charles E., Jr. Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. Sherif received his degrees from Cairo University and Virginia Tech. His overarching research goal is to enrich geotechnical engineering with resilient, sustainable, and eco-friendly techniques. Towards this goal, Sherif’s current research focuses on three thrusts: thermal and energy geotechnics, geoengineering with nature, and bioinspired geotechnics. His current research is supported by, among others, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and National Science Foundations. Dr. Abdelaziz received the U.S. Department of Defense Young Investigator Program (YIP) award in 2018 and the ASTM C.A. Hogentogler Award in 2022 for his research. Sherif has ongoing research projects on using natural materials (such as biopolymers) to engineer geo-construction and mitigate the effects of climate change on our geo-infrastructure.
Title of Talk : Geo-Engineering with Nature: A Step Towards More Sustainable, Resilient, and Eco-Friendly Construction

Dr. Michał Juszczyk serves as an associate professor at the Tadeusz Kościuszko Cracow University of Technology, Poland. His technical experience includes working as a an engineer in construction companies in Poland, where he was involved in building construction projects in Cracow, Poland. His particular professional and scientific interests include construction management problems and applications of BIM in construction projects. He has been involved as an expert witness in several court trials in Poland and has taken part in the development of professional opinions regarding construction projects disputes. His main research topics incorporate a wide range of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications in the problems of construction management. Specifically he is interested in the use of AI and ML tools in the cost estimation process. Dr. Juszczyk has published several papers on construction management, cost estimation as well as BIM applications combined with the use of AI and ML tools in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. Cooperates with researchers from technical universities in the Czech Republic, Germany and Lithuania. A member of the Society of Quantity Surveyors in Poland.

Dr. Mohamed Al-Hussein is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta. He held the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in the Industrialization of Building Construction and was the inaugural director of the Nasseri School of Building Science and Engineering. He is a highly sought researcher in the areas of modular and offsite construction, lean manufacturing, construction process optimization, and BIM. Dr. Al-Hussein’s research has been published in nearly 400 articles in leading journals and conference proceedings.

Title of Talk : Strategies for Efficient Industrialized and Offsite Construction Practice.

Prof. Markušić's scientific and professional work refers to the field of seismology, which includes research of seismicity of Croatia and neighboring areas, determination of seismic waves in the crust and upper mantle, earthquake magnitude, earthquake location problem, determination of maximum expected accelerations on the Earth's surface (seismic hazard), seismic zoning , defining the structure of the lithosphere below Croatia based on the analysis of receiving functions, assessment of seismic response and vulnerability of historic buildings, analysis of the impact of local soil conditions that play an important role in earthquake damage, historical earthquakes. She has more than 30 years of experience in professional, scientific and educational work in the field of seismology, and has been (or is) a collaborator/leader on a number of national and international projects. She has published more than 60 scientific papers in journals and has participated in development of several dozen professional studies. Prof. Markušić is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Environmental Engineering journal and the International Journal of Earth and Environment Sciences, as well as the Seismological Society of America and the Croatian Commission for Geodesy and Geophysics (Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts).