Keynote speakers

Prof. Karen SCRIVENER has been a Professor and the Director of the Laboratory of Construction Materials in the Department of Materials at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) for the last 20 years. She is a Fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering and the author of over 200 journal papers. Her research focuses on understanding the chemistry and microstructure of cement-based materials and improving their sustainability. In 2008, she came up with the idea for LC3 cement, a material with the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions related to cement production by more than 400 million tonnes per year. She received her bachelor’s degree in Materials Science from the University of Cambridge in 1979 and her PhD from Imperial College London in 1984.

Prof. Nele De BELIE is professor at Ghent University and director of the Magnel-Vandepitte Laboratory for Structural Engineering and Building Materials. She is member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts. Her research focuses on sustainable concrete with supplementary cementitious materials, concrete durability, biodeterioration, bioconsolidation, smart concrete with self-healing or self-cleaning properties, circular economy and life cycle assessment. She has supervised more than 60 (inter)national projects in these areas. She is president of RILEM and laureate of several awards in recognition of her scientific work, such as the Robert L’Hermite medal (2010). She is author of > 400 WoS publications and 20 book chapters, editor of 10 books, inventor in 4 patent applications and editorial board member of 3 SCI-indexed scientific journals.

Prof. Hans BEUSHAUSEN studied civil engineering in Germany and South Africa and completed his PhD at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2005, working in the fields of repair and rehabilitation of concrete structures. In subsequent years at UCT, he broadened his scope of research and teaching from general fields related to structural engineering into service life prediction and performance-based design of concrete structures, steel reinforcement corrosion, and sustainable concrete technology. He is an active member of RILEM and fib and involved in a range of international research activities. At UCT, he is the Deputy Dean for Research and Strategic Innovation of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Director of the Concrete Materials and Structural Integrity Research Unit, and the Convenor of the postgraduate programme on Civil Infrastructure Management and Maintenance.

Enrico SASSONI is Associate Professor of “Materials Science and Technology” at the University of Bologna (Italy). His main research topics include innovative materials and techniques for the conservation of historic building materials and cultural heritage artefacts. In 2015 he was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, thanks to which he has worked at Princeton University (USA) and the University of Göttingen (Germany). In 2017 he was awarded the prestigious "Gustavo Colonnetti Medal" by RILEM. He is currently Deputy Editor-in-Chief of "Materials and Structures" and member of the Editorial Boards of "RILEM Technical Letters" and "Frontiers in Materials".

Nicolas ROUSSEL is the head of the physico-chemistry of construction materials laboratory at Gustave Eiffel university, France. He is moreover the current outgoing president of RILEM. His research focuses on mix design, rheology and processing of construction materials. With 150 journal papers and more than 12.000 citations, his Web-of-Science H-index is currently 58. He received in 2007 the Robert L'Hermite medal for his work on fresh concrete rheology and processing.

Prof. Ken KAWAMOTO currently works at the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, and is Head of the Frontier Science and Technology in Sound Material-Cycle Society and Zero Emission Principles, Research and Development Bureau, Saitama University (SU), Japan. He received his Ph.D from the University of Tokyo in 2002, and is specialized in the research areas of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, as well as Material Recycling and Waste Management. He has been a Visiting Professor at Hanoi University of Civil Engineering (HUCE), Vietnam since 2019. Prof. Kawamoto supervised more than 50 Master students and 20 Ph.D students for their dissertation works and is currently supervising 5 Ph.D candidates. He frequently published his research outcomes in academic journals and has had more than 140 international peer-reviewed journal papers, together with more than 250 conference proceedings papers (H-Index 25 according to the “Web of Science” of ClarivateTM). He was awarded with the Saitama University President’s Award in 2007 and in 2018, as well as with many Best Paper Awards from various International Conferences.

From 2017 - 2022, he was the Project Manager of the JST-JICA SATREPS Project "Establishment of Environmentally Sound Management of Construction and Demolition Waste and Its Wise Utilization for Environmental Pollution Control and for New Recycled Construction Materials in Vietnam".

Dr. Guang YE is a professor of Advanced Construction Materials in the Section of Materials and Environment at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). He leads the research group on Concrete Modelling and Materials Behavior. Dr. Ye earned his PhD with honors from TU Delft in 2003. Dr. Ye’s research interests focus on alternative binders for concrete (for example alkali-activated materials/geopolymer concrete), the properties of cementitious materials, and the numerical simulation of materials behavior. He has authored or co-authored over 400 journal and conference papers. Dr. Ye is a Fellow of RILEM in 2024 and serves as Chair of RILEM Technical Committee 294 MPA (Mechanical Properties of Alkali-Activated Materials).

Ir Prof. Chi Sun POON obtained his PhD from Imperial College London. He joined The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) as a lecturer in 1992. Currently, he is the Michael Anson Professor in Civil Engineering, Chair Professor of Sustainable Construction Materials, Head of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Director of Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality (RCRE) and Director of Research Center for Design for safety (RCDfS) of PolyU. He is also one of the Directors of PolyU-NAMI 3D Concrete Robotic Printing Research Centre (RCC3D). He has been awarded the title of Changjiang Chair Professor by the Ministry of Education in 2017. Ir Prof. Poon specializes in the research and development of environmental-friendly construction materials, waste management, waste recycling technologies, concrete technologies and sustainable construction. He is an Editor of Construction and Building Materials since 2014. He is also an Editorial Board Member of Cement and Concrete Composites since 2017. Ir Prof. Poon has published over 800 papers in international journals and conferences (including 650 international journal papers, 160 referred conference papers, and 7 book chapters). His current Scopus h-index is 116, with a total number of over 46,000 citations in Scopus. He has obtained more than 20 patents related to concrete and waste recycling technologies. He has been listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists released by Stanford University. He was awarded the State Technological Innovation Award 2017 (2nd Class).

Ir Prof. Poon is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE), past Chairman of the HKIE Environmental Division and past Panel Chair and Representative of the HKIE Environmental Discipline. He is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Concrete Institute (HKCI) and past President of the HKCI. He is also a past President of the American Concrete Institute (China) Chapter. He has served on the Advisory Council on the Environment (ACE) and the Council for Sustainable Development.

Prof. Erik SCHLANGEN is Professor in the chair of “Experimental Micromechanics” and head of the Material & Environment section at the faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

He is specialized in fracture mechanics of quasi-brittle materials like concrete, durability mechanics, finite element modelling, design of experimental techniques and self-healing of concrete and asphalt. He is (co-)PI of several ongoing EU and national projects on self-healing materials, 3D printing of concrete, recycling, micromechanics and durability aspects of construction materials. He received his BSc and MSc degree in Structural Engineering from Eindhoven Technical University in 1989 and his PhD from Delft University of Technology in 1993.

Prof. R. Doug HOOTON is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto and was the NSERC/Cement Association of Canada Industrial Research Chair in Concrete Durability and Sustainability.

His research has focused on concrete durability, sustainability, and the fundamental understanding of cementitious materials as well as performance of concrete including assessment of fluid transport properties, sulfate resistance, freezing and thawing resistance and avoiding alkali-aggregate reaction, He is active in  development of  related concrete durability performance tests and specifications that enable the use of new materials.

He is an Honorary member of RILEM, American Concrete Institute (ACI), the Institute of Concrete Technology (UK), as well as of ASTM Committees C01 & C09. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, the Engineering Institute of Canada, and ASTM.

Dr. Kefei LI works in Civil Engineering Department of Tsinghua University as tenured full professor, and principal investigator (PI) of the research group of building materials. He obtained his Ph.D degrees from Tongji University (2000) and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris (2002). His research fields include the physical and mechanics of cement-based materials, the durability of concrete materials and structures and the life-cycle engineering of concrete structures. He leads multiples national projects of research, publishes 100+ peer-reviewed papers, heads the draft team of the durability standards of China (CCES01 and GB/T 50476), and serves as associate editors for Cement and Concrete Research, Materials and Structures. He leads the RILEM TC 289-DCM and has been Cluster convener of TAC (Cluster D) and regional convener of China Region of RILEM. He is also active member of IABSE (deputy executive member of China group), fib (COM8) and ISO TC71/SC4.

Prof. Moncef NEHDI

Prof. Caijun SHI

Prof. Kang Hai TAN is Professor and the Director of the Protective Technology Research Centre (PTRC) at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He received both his Bachelor's and PhD degrees from the University of Manchester. He serves as Editor/Board Editor for several prestigious international journals including Cement and Concrete Composites. He has published over 300 top tier SCI journal papers with about 15,000 citations, consistently ranking among Stanford University's World's Top 2% Scientists. His research encompasses both structural resilience and innovative construction materials, with significant contributions to developing novel concrete technologies. He has delivered over 40 keynote addresses and served as conference chair at numerous international conferences, including PROTECT, ASFE, and PSH series. His research expertise has been widely recognized through numerous awards, including the prestigious Public Administration Medal (Bronze) from the President of Singapore in 2020, multiple Best Paper Awards from leading international conferences, and the Certificate of Highly Cited Research from Engineering Structures journal. As Co-Director of the SJ-NTU Corporate Lab (2018-2020) and current Chair of Singapore's Appeal Advisory Board for Infrastructure Protection Act, he successfully bridges fundamental research with practical engineering applications. Prof. Tan has secured over S$80M in research funding, demonstrating exceptional leadership in advancing both structural engineering and materials science.

Prof. Donguk CHOI has been a Professor of Hankyong National University, Anseong, South Korea, for over 28 years. He is Fellow of Korea Concrete Institute (KCI), Immediate Past President of Asian Concrete Federation (ACF) and also CEO of CECM Co. Ltd. Prof. CHOI received his Master’s and Ph.D. degree from The University of Texas at Austin after graduating from Seoul National University. His research interest was mainly in structural engineering including bond and development, repair and strengthening and non-traditional reinforcement and has been broadened to material research including recycled aggregate and recycled aggregate concrete, ultra-high performance concrete, ultra-lightweight concrete, and circular economy and sustainability topics. He was also active in the international standardization work where he has led launching of ISO 13315-8 Labels and declaration of concrete and concrete structures and ISO/DIS 18985 Recycled aggregates for concrete. He is a member of Rilem TC RAC and UMW.

Assoc. Prof. Trung Thanh LE is Director General, Department of Building Materials, Ministry of Construction. He used to be the 7th President of Vietnam Institute for Building Materials (VIBM), Ministry of Construction and President of the Vietnam Concrete Association. He graduated Hanoi Universsity of Civil Engineering (HUCE) in 1997 and then earned PhD degree in Civil Engineering from The University of Liverpool, UK in 2008. After the completion of PhD program, Thanh worked as a post-doctoral researcher in building materials for a research project on 3D Freeform Printing Concrete at Loughborough University, UK.

Thanh’s research interests comprise concrete and other building materials, structural design, manufacturing and production engineering, built environment and sustainability. Thanh led a research team to implement the research project on Strategy for Development of Building Materials in Vietnam to 2030 and orientation towards 2050, that was officially approved at the decision no. 1266/QD-TTg dated 18 August 2020 by the Prime Minister.

Carmen ANDRADE is Doctor. in Industrial Chemistry and Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Trondheim (Norway) and of Alicante (Spain) and has been Titular Prof. 2021 of the Chair “Construindo a Amanha” of San Paulo University-Brasil. She has been Research Professor at the Institute of Construction Sciences of the CSIC of Spain until 2017, devoting his research to concrete durability and reinforcement corrosion. She has received several awards among which are: R. N. Robert L’Hermite Medal 1987 from RILEM and Whitney Prize 2013 by NACE. She has been President of several international organizations: RILEM, UEAtc, WFTAO, Liaison Committeee and the Iberoamerican Ass. For Concrete Rehabilitation (ALCONPAT Int.) and is Fellow of Rilem and fib and Honorary member of RILEM. She is now Research Visiting Professor at the International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE) of the Technical University of Catalonia-Spain. Also is Honorary President of ALCONPAT Int.  and her Director of International Relations.

Dr. Quoc Tri PHUNG (PhD in Civil Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium, 2015) brings over 15 years of extensive expertise in cement and concrete materials, spanning academia and industry. He was formerly a lecturer in construction materials at Danang University of Technology, Vietnam before joining the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre as a researcher. His research focuses on the development of innovative methodologies and modelling tools to investigate the long-term degradation of cementitious materials utilized in nuclear-related facilities (nuclear power plant, disposal facilities). His research also encompasses diverse areas such as transport properties of cementitious materials, degradation processes (including carbonation, leaching, and alkali-silica reaction), and their profound effects on microstructure and transport properties. Currently serving as a project leader, he plays a pivotal role in various national and EU projects dedicated to enhancing the durability of concrete and the immobilization of radioactive wastes using cementitious materials and novel binder systems including alkali-activated materials and geopolymers. He also supervises various PhD and Master’s students on related research topics and actively contributes to RILEM Technical Committees, including ASR, MPA, CCC, GDP, CUC and ARM.

Miguel AZENHA is Associate Professor with Habilitation at the Structural Division in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho. His research interests comprise: (i) numerical and experimental study of concrete at early ages regarding phenomena such as thermo-hygral-mechanical couplings, concrete properties evolution during hydration, creep and shrinkage; (ii) use of digital processes in construction, namely Building Information Modelling.

He is the Director of the ERASMUS+ Master Course in Building Information Modelling (bimaplus.org), Deputy Coordinator of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action European Training network – Innovative Training Network (ETN ITN) – SUBLime (sublime-etn.eu). He coordinates the EU Project RecycleBIM (recyclebim.eu) and is the local coordinator at the University of Minho of the CHEK EU Project for Digital Building Permits (chekdbp.eu).

He is a RILEM Fellow and current Chair of RILEM TC 287-CCS “Early age and long-term crack width analysis in RC Structures”, past deputy-chair of RILEM TC 254-CMS “Thermal cracking of massive concrete structures” and past Chair of COST Action TU1404 “Towards the next generation of standards for service life of cement-based materials and structures” (tu1404.eu).

Member of the Editorial Team of the Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology and RILEM Letters.

Prof. Tuan NGO is the Research Program Leader of the Building 4.0 CRC, a $130m initiative to transform the building industry in Australia. He is the President of  the International Research Network for Decarbonising the Building Industry (DBI Network). He is a board director of PrefabAUS, the peak industry body in prefabrication and offsite construction in Australia. Prof Ngo is one of the pioneers in Australia carrying out research in the area of modular prefab technologies using low carbon materials for buildings and infrastructure. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) and a member of the Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Experts and the European Research Council (ERC). He received Scopus Research Award in 2022 for Excellence in the Research Impacting a Sustainable Future. Prof Ngo is named the world’s top Composite Materials researcher in 2023.

Dimitrios AGGELIS is Professor of the Department of Mechanics of Materials and Constructions at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Prior, he worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Ioannina, Greece (2008-2012) and as research fellow in the Research Institute of Technology, Tobishima Corporation, Japan (2006-2008). He received his PhD from the University of Patras in 2004 and his diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the same department in 1998. His main area of interest includes characterization of cementitious materials by use of non-destructive inspection techniques focused on elastic wave propagation. He was the recipient of the RILEM Robert L’Hermite medal of 2012 for his contribution in the field of construction materials and is active member of several technical committees of RILEM. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Developments in the Built Environment, editor of the journal Construction and Building Materials, associate editor of Materials and Structures and the journal of Non-Destructive Evaluation, the acoustics section-editor-in-chief of Applied Sciences, editor in Sensors and editorial board member of NDT&E International.

Dr. José NORAMBUENA-CONTRERAS

Assoc. Prof. Truong Thang NGUYEN received his bachelor’s degree from Hanoi Univercity of Civil Engneering (HUCE) in 1996 and his PhD from Nanyang Technological University (NTU, Singapore) in 2013. In 2017, he was appointed as the Head of Department of Concrete Structures, HUCE. His research interests include behaviour of concrete structures subjected to abnormal actions (seismic, fire, blast); applying advanced code provisions and performance-based approaches in the design of  concrete structures at ambient and elevated temperatures; and application of machine learning on sustainable concrete material  and structures. Qualified as an Asian Chartered Professional Engineer (ACPE), he has also been involved in a fair number of consultancy and design projects in Vietnam and Singapore.

Prof. Van Tuan NGUYEN is currently working at Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, Vietnam. He started studying Building Materials and Components at the University of Civil Engineering (NUCE) in 1995 (now Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, University of Civil Engineering); then finished his master’s degree in Building Materials Technology here in 2004. He received his PhD from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands in 2011. His main research is sustainable building materials; life cycle assessment; recycling of industrial and agricultural by-products, construction and demolition wastes. His publications, training, research and application, and collaborative studies are in these directions.