Speakers

Dr. Surendra Shah is distinguished for his seminal research on synthesizing engineering mechanics and material science. Professor Shah has made unique, original and extensive contributions to better understand and define properties of cement-based materials and developing new advanced materials which has become a world standard in these fields. He is responsible for developing high performance concrete, fibre reinforced concrete, self-consolidating concrete, shrinkage reducing admixtures, carbon nano-tube reinforced cement based composites and extrusion processing of concrete. These have revolutionized the way modern concretes are used worldwide. Dr. Shah has been recognized with many awards and honors, notably he is a member of the National Academy of Inventors, National Academy of Engineering, Academy of Athens, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Indian Academy of Engineering, and the Russian Academy of Engineering. Dr. Shah is currently the Director of the Center for Advanced Construction Materials and Presidential Distinguished Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington and Emeritus Professor at Northwestern University.

Prof. Paulo Monteiro is a Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School at the U.C. Berkeley. He has published over 310 archival papers and he co-authored a comprehensive textbook on concrete that is widely used and has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, and Persian. He has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and has received the following awards for this research: Stephen Brunauer Award (twice), Premio Ari Torres, and Wason Medal for Materials Research.

Claudia P. Ostertag is Professor in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at the University of California, Berkeley and the recipient of the T.Y. Lin Endowed Chair of Engineering. Prior to joining the CEE department at UC Berkeley, she was a staff scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Washington DC and at the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, Germany. Professor Ostertag’s research areas focus on microstructural engineering of high performance materials, damage characterization, performance enhancement of reinforced concrete structures through the use of high performance materials, and fabrication and development of 3D printed metamaterials for structural applications. She received numerous awards for her research including the Scientist Medal Award from the International Association of Advanced Materials in recognition for her contribution to Composites Engineering and Applications, the NIST Director’s award, the NIST Research Innovation Award, the UC Berkeley Faculty Research Award, the NSF CAREER award, and the IMSE Innovation Award.

Professor Doug Hooton is the NSERC/CAC Industrial Research Chair in Concrete Durability and Sustainability at the University of Toronto. His research involves finding ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with concrete infrastructure. He investigates the use of materials such as supplementary cementitious materials and ground limestone to produce a stronger and more durable concrete product. His research has informed the specification codes associated with the American Concrete Institute, the Canadian Standards Association and ASTM standards.

David A. Lange holds a B.S. (Valparaiso University 1981) in civil engineering, MBA (Wichita State University 1984), and Ph.D. (Northwestern University 1991) in civil engineering. He has been on the faculty of the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois since 1992. From 2005-2020, he served as the Director of the Center of Excellence for Airport Technology (CEAT), a research center funded by the Federal Aviation Administration and the O’Hare Modernization Program. Dr. Lange teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in civil engineering materials, repair of civil structures, systems engineering and engineering economics. Dr. Lange is a fellow of the American Concrete Institute and a fellow of the American Ceramic Society. He served as president of the American Concrete Institute in 2018-19.

Jan Olek is a James H. and Carol H. Cure Professor of Civil Engineering in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University where he also serves as the Director of the North Central Superpave Center and the Director of Pankow Materials Laboratory. He received his master’s degree in construction materials from Cracow University of Technology in Krakow, Poland and his second master’s degree in materials & structures from the University of Texas at Austin. He received his PhD in in cementitious materials from Purdue University. After holding academic appointments at Colorado School of Mines and at Penn State University he returned to Purdue University in 1994. His current research interests include sustainability of concrete materials and structures, durability of concrete and asphalt pavements and application of 3D-printing technology for structural optimization of cement-based materials.

John Provis is the Group Leader for Cements at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, Switzerland. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and was from 2012-2023 the Professor of Cement Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield, UK. His main research interests are in the chemistry and materials science of all types of cements, particularly less-conventional cements, for applications in sustainable construction and in the storage and disposal of nuclear wastes. He is particularly active in standardisation, beamline-based analysis of cements, and testing and modelling of processes related to cement durability. He has held senior editorial roles for journals including Cement and Concrete Research and Materials and Structures, has published approximately 300 journal articles, received research funding from various agencies including an ERC Starting Grant, and is a Fellow of RILEM, IoM3, the Institute of Concrete Technology, and the American Ceramic Society.

Professor Fernando Martirena is the director of the Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de Estructuras y Materiales, CIDEM (Centre for Research & Development of Structures and Materials) at the Universidad Central de las Villas; a world leading institution in the development and implementation of appropriate technologies for the manufacture of ecomaterials in the field of social housing.
Professor Fernando Martirena headed the emerging movement for the introduction of appropriate technologies in Cuba and Latin America at the beginning of the 1990’s, with a strong focus on making cement more sustainable through the use of pozzolans. . Through the years this movement has evolved to a network -the Latin American Network for the Sustainable Habitat, ecosur (www.ecosur.org)- that encourages south to south technology transfer
Professor Martirena has the rare ability of combining fundamental and applied research in every work he endeavors. This has enabled CIDEM to complete the full innovation cycle, from the fundamental science to the grassroots application with a very strong emphasis on mitigation of poverty and disaster response projects from the point of view of the sustainability. Some of his recent results, such as the low carbon cement LC3 –done in collaboration with universities in Switzerland and India- are making global impact. During the last 15 years he has been very active advocating for an ecologically friendlier lifestyle in major events in Cuba, Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia, including Australia.

Dr. Mohammad Javad Abdolhosseini Qomi is an associate professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California Irvine (UCI). He received his Ph.D. from MIT in 2015 and M.Sc. degree in structural engineering from Sharif University of Technology and B.Sc. in civil engineering from Tehran University. His teaching and research efforts are directed toward quantitative understanding of mechanics, physics, and chemistry in porous media in a broad sense, with applications in cement science, geosciences, and urban planning to design sustainable and resilient cities. Dr. Qomi is the recipient of Hellman Fellowship, DOE Early Career award in the basic energy sciences in the area of geoscience (2021) and NSF CAREER award (2022) from the Engineering for Civil Infrastructure program.

Mohsen Ben Haha is the team leader of scientific coordination and the principal scientist of the Global R&D department at Heidelberg Materials AG in Germany. He graduated in 2006 from EPFL, Switzerland, with a Ph.D. in materials science, “cement-based materials.
The themes underpinning my research are the development of high-performance building products that address energy consumption, waste use, and emissions reductions; the development of innovative manufacturing practices that reduce the environmental impact and the waste generation during the building materials production process; the increase of the level of substitution of Portland cement by traditional and novel SCMs beyond actual standards and the development of activation methods to enhance the reactivity of cementitious materials. The area of study covers the fields of the chemistry and mineralogy of cementitious-based materials, their respective hydration mechanisms, and their influence on both mechanical performances and durability.

Dr. Eric Bescher is Adjunct Professor in the Materials Science Department at UCLA. He is the recipient of the 2001 Czech Academy of Engineering Award for his work on the rehabilitation of Prague Cathedral. In 2015, the Bescher Fellowship in Materials Science was created to recognize his work on calcium sulfoaluminate cements and concrete. He has worked in the field for CSA cements for over 25 years, from production, characterization and applications. He teaches Materials Science as well as Materials Science for Civil Engineers. He is the author of 50 publications and 13 patents.
In 2016 he successfully lobbied Congress for inclusion in the Fast Act of a clause prioritizing funding for innovative pavement materials with three characteristics: fast re-opening to service, longevity and low carbon footprint. This infrastructure funding clause was adopted and passed in the 2016 United States Transportation Bill.

Shashank Bishnoi is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He is a civil engineer with an interest in construction materials. His areas of interest include cement chemistry, sustainability in construction, durability, repair, retrofitting and strengthening of structures. He has worked in the area of supplementary cementitious materials. The most significant contribution has been in the area of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3). He is also an active consultant in the area of structural assessment. He has over 150 publications, in the area of cement and concrete technology. He has worked on over 300 industry and government sponsored research and consulting projects. He is the member and chairman of various committees of Bureau of Indian Standards and leader Indian delegations at ISO Technical Committees. He is also a member of several technical committees of RILEM. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Cement and Concrete Research and an Associate Editor of RILEM Technical Letters.

Ana Paula Kirchheim is an Associate Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, ranked the best university in Brazil. She is a member of the Civil Engineering Committee and Researcher 1B, agreed to the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Awarded 37 honorary degrees and awards throughout an intense research career. Has outstanding experience managing research projects, including collaboration with several universities, research institutes, and industrial partners across Brazil, the U.S., China, and Europe. She coordinates the Cement Working Group of the National Association of the Built Environment (ANTAC) and the Laboratory of Innovation in Eco-efficient Cements of NORIE|PPGCI|UFRGS. With expertise in Civil Engineering, focusing on Materials and Components of Construction, she primarily works on topics such as Portland and alternative cement chemistry, the utilization of waste in producing new innovative materials, techniques for analyzing the micro and nanostructure of cementitious materials, technology, and durability of concrete, among others.

Dr. Juhyuk Moon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Seoul National University. His lab is developing various structural civil materials including next-generation concrete based on fundamental and advanced characterization methods. From the understanding on electronic structure of a material, numerous sustainable and high-performance concrete materials are being theoretically and experimentally verified, developed, and actually implemented for enabling next-generation infrastructure development and its rehabilitation.

Dr. Cagla Meral Akgul is an expert in advanced material synthesis and characterization, with a particular emphasis on the development of sustainable, durable, and multifunctional construction materials for efficient use in the built environment. She currently holds the position of Associate Professor at Middle East Technical University in the Department of Civil Engineering. Her recent research topics focus on additive manufacturing applications in construction sector and solutions for a resilient built environment.

Dr. Craig W. Hargis is a materials scientist with extensive experience in construction materials, reduced carbon intensity cements, composites, novel inorganic binders, and durability. Craig is the vice president of products at Fortera, which he joined in 2020. Fortera is a materials technology company focused on decarbonizing cement in collaboration with manufacturers and builders. He was previously an Assistant Professor at the University of North Florida in the Construction Management Department. Prior to that he was a researcher at Empa, Calera, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Geng received his Doctoral degree in CEE at University of California at Berkeley in 2017. His PhD work focused on investigating the microscale chemistry and mineralogy of modern construction materials. He was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland), where he studied the durability of concrete both as a construction material and hosting material for radioactive waste. He joined the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in National University of Singapore in 2019. Since then, he has been leading a research group focusing on sustainability and performance-based designing of modern construction materials, as well as predicting and enhancing their long-term durability. Currently he is a board member of ACI-Singapore Chapter, of Singapore Concrete Institute, and the convener of East Asia for RILEM. He is the recipient of the 2023 RILEM Colonnetti Medal, awarded to researchers under 35-year-old who have performed high level scientific research in the field of construction material.

Dr. Jiaqi Li is a Lawrence Fellow in the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate. He earned a B.Eng. in Civil Engineering in 2014 from Beijing University of Technology. Jiaqi completed his M.S. (2015) and Ph.D. (2019) in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on nanostructures of infrastructure and building materials using advanced synchrotron-based techniques. He received a Roy Carlson, Milos Polivka, & Arthur Ross Fellowship from UC Berkeley. Prior to joining LLNL, he was a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley, studying nanomechanical properties of cement and in the Chemical Sciences Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, studying microalgae biomineralization.

Kemal Celik is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at New York University (NYU) in Abu Dhabi and holds an appointment with New York University, Tandon School of Engineering, as a Global Network Assistant Professor. Professor Celik is the director of the Advanced Materials and Building Efficiency Research Laboratory (AMBER Lab) at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). He received his Ph.D. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, with a major in Structural Engineering, Mechanics & Materials and two minors in Geoengineering and Material Science & Engineering. He holds MS and BS degrees in Civil Engineering from Istanbul University.
Prior to joining New York University Abu Dhabi, Celik was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, and Singapore‐Berkeley Building Efficiency and Sustainability in the Tropics (SinBerBEST) program, an international collaboration led by the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Celik’s work focuses on construction materials and building energy efficiency to develop sustainable and multi‐functional structural materials. To this end, he conducts multi‐scale and interdisciplinary research. His research interests include characterization and development of sustainable and energy-efficient construction materials, low carbon cements, multi‐functional building envelopes, enhancement of urban seawall sustainability, characterization and manufacturing of lunar regolith simulants, and development of experimentally‐validated geospatial‐computational‐thermodynamic model for cities.

His selected and recent achievements are the NYUAD Transformative Research Award, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Award, the Golden Lion at Venice Architecture Biennale, 2021 with the National Pavilion of UAE as an exhibitor, the ADEK Award for Research Excellence (AARE 2019), NYUAD Research Enhancement Fund Award, and New York University Research Challenge Fund.