Speaker

Professor, Bing Xu, Nanchang Institute of Technology, China.

Xu Bin, Professor, Master Supervisor, Dean of School of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Nanchang Institute of Technology. He enjoys the special allowance of the State Council, the technical leader of major disciplines in Jiangxi Province, and the Millions of Talents Project in Jiangxi Province. Over the years, he has been unremittingly combining theoretical teaching and scientific research, mainly in geotechnical engineering, orbital engineering, seismology, etc., scientific research involves mathematics, physics, solid mechanics, materials science, structural engineering and computer science and other multidisciplinary basic theory and applied technology, especially in soil dynamics research. His research has been supported by 5 National Natural Science Foundation of China and Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation Key Project Fund, and his research results in the basic theory of vibration wave propagation in saturated soft soil foundation, the calculation method of soil-structure system coupling effect and the vibration isolation control mechanism have been published in domestic and international top professional core journals. For example, "Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering", "Computers and Geotechnics", "Mechanics Research Communications", "Journal of Sound and Vibration", "Geotechnical Mechanics", "Chinese Journal of Civil Engineering", etc. He has published more than 110 related academic papers. Among them, 49 papers were retrieved by SCI, 81 were retrieved by EI, and 3 monographs were published. The research results have been cited 284 times by experts at home and abroad, including 274 times by SCI. The research results won the second prize of Jiangxi Province Natural Science Award (ranked first), the National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Nomination Award and the Shanghai Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2018.

Professor Brahim Benmokrane, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Academy of Science), Canada.

Professor Brahim Benmokrane is an internationally renowned expert and world leader in the field of structural concrete internally reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement. Professor Benmokrane 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 pioneering research has significantly influenced the development of concrete structures reinforced with FRP rebars, building codes, and design specifications as well as FRP’s practical use in North America and beyond. 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. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Academy of Science), Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, American Concrete Institute, Canadian Academy of Engineers, International Institute for FRP in Construction, Engineering Institute of Canada, and Bridge Engineering Institute, he has received many awards, including the NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation; the Technology Partnership and Innovation Award from ADRIQ; the Order of Professional Engineers of Quebec Award for Outstanding Achievements in Research in recognition of research results’ wide use in practice; the CSA Medal of Merit in recognition of outstanding leadership, exceptional expertise, and tireless effort in advancing standards related to construction materials and structures; Conmat’15 Lifetime Achievements Award in recognition of exemplary research in the field of structural materials; CSCS’s P.L. Pratley Award; the Grand Prix d’Excellence of the Order of Professional Engineers of Quebec—the Order’s highest award—in recognition of excellence in an engineer’s professional practice and for being a model for the entire profession; the Julian C. Smith Medal of the Engineering Institute of Canada for Achievement in the Development of Canada; and the IIFC Medal of the International Institute in FRP for Construction for making distinguished contributions to the field of FRP composites for construction through research or practical applications, or both.

Professor Junxian Zhao, The South China University of Technology, China.

Junxian Zhao is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the South China University of Technology. He is now assistant dean of the School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, and head of the Civil Engineering Department. He is awarded the title of national high-level young talent, leader of the excellent young team in Guangdong Province, Guangdong Province Outstanding Young Scholar, member of the Chinese Society for Vibration Engineering, as well as an editorial board member of the Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His main research areas include passive damping and resilience of structures. He has hosted more than 10 national and provincial projects, ranking first in winning the first prize of scientific and technological progress in Hebei Province. He has published more than 80 papers, including more than 40 high-level papers in JCR Q1/Q2 journals and first-level journals (12 papers published in Engineering Structures as the first or corresponding author), and one paper was selected as the top 10 hot papers of the authoritative journal EESD in earthquake engineering. He is ranked first in authorizing 2 US patents and 17 Chinese patent for invention. He has hosted 1 provincial standard and participated in 4 provincial/association standards. His research findings have been applied in more than 100 engineering applications, such as Beijing New Airport.

Professor Bo Zhang, School of Civil Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, China.

Bo Zhang, Professor of Shandong University, Doctoral supervisor, National registered structural engineer. He is mainly engaged in high-pressure water jet, laser and other high efficiency rock-breaking method, mechanism and equipment; rock and soil damage mechanism, anchor bolt(cable) and grouting reinforcement; building structure and foundation reinforcement. He has published more than 40 papers as the first or corresponding author in Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, International Journal of Geomechanics (ASCE), Construction and Building Materials, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Journal of China Coal Society, Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering, Rock and Soil Mechanics and other famous journals. Of which more than 30 papers are SCI/EI indexed, and 12 national invention patents are authorized. He is presiding over two General Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, with a total of five projects under research, and nine other provincial and ministerial level projects. He was awarded the "National Xu Zhilun Mechanics Outstanding Teacher Award" by the Chinese Mechanics Society in 2021, the first prize of Shandong Province Technological Invention Award, and the second prize of Scientific and Technological Progress by the Chinese Society of Rock Mechanics and Engineering. He is the member of the Pit Engineering Committee of Shandong Civil Engineering Society, the director of the Underground Engineering Branch of China Rock Mechanics and Engineering Society, and the secretary-general of Shandong Mechanics Society.

Professor, Youngjin Cha, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, Canada.

Prof. Cha’s essential interest includes the development of advanced deep learning methods for smart sustainable structural systems using advanced structural health monitoring systems and control technologies. Dr. Cha is a tenured full Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba. He received his Ph.D. in structural engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas in 2008, and served as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T). His key scientific contribution is deep learning-based automated SHM with autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). He brought this topic to light with paper publications in top-ranking journals. Researchers, professors, scientists, students, and industry professionals from many countries have shown a strong interest in this innovative topic since 2016 and have conducted numerous follow-up studies. His journal article (Cha et al., 2017) published in CACAIE which is a top 1-2 ranked journal in the entire civil engineering field was reported as the lifetime topmost highly cited paper, and he was also reported as the lifetime second topmost highly cited author in this same journal. In 2023, Elsevier Data Repository identified him as one of the most cited scientists in the field of civil engineering, ranking in the top 0.29%, and in the broader engineering field, where he ranked in the top 0.34% for single-year impact worldwide. He has been reported several hundred times as the most read author, with the most read research items and citations in the Civil Engineering Department at U of M, with more than 111,000 readings since his account on www.researchgate.net was opened (retrieved on September 6, 2023).

Dr. Soufiane Haddout, Ibn Tofail University, Morocco.

Dr., S. Haddout is researcher in the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ibn Tofail University, Morocco. To date, he is the author of 3 books, 2 submitted books, published more than 60 refereed journal articles with 40 refereed articles as the first; is involved in collaborative research with 22 universities/institutions worldwide; expert reviewer with AEIC-Academic Exchange Information Centre (China); and reviewer for many project proposals from international universities; received more than 100 certificates from international conference and renowned journals; Keynote/invited speaker for many international conferences. Award-2020, 2021 and 2022: Best Research Awards (i.e., Thermodynamic in estuaries; and Water shortages and pandemics in Africa, and Bi-variate and CM plotting of the Sediment Dynamic Process in the estuaries)-International Research Awards, Iceat conference…etc. Co-Chair of the scientific session of the International Conference of Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation USA; Lead-Chair of the 1st and 2nd International Conference on Climate Change and Ocean Renewable Energy (CCORE 2022-2023); Coordinator of the 1st International Round Table Webinar on A Multi-criteria decision making tool for the management of water bodies in developing countries towards climate change resilience. Chair of the scientific session of the 16th International Conference on Computer and Electrical Engineering (ICCEE 2023) and is a Guest Editor of Regional Studies in Marine Science, Journal of Environmental Management, Elsevier and active reviewer of reputed journals of Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, Springer, Wiley, MDPI, Nature…etc.