Plenary and Keynote Speakers

Dr. Shamim A. Sheikh
University of Toronto, Canada
Plenary Speaker

Dr. Sheikh is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto and a Fellow of The Canadian Academy of Engineering. He was the Graduate Chair of the department from 1998 to 2004 and Academic Chair from 2009 to 2012. Before joining Toronto in 1989, he was a faculty member for over nine years at the University of Houston. He also holds adjunct High-Level Talent Research Professorship at Zhengzhou University, China.
He has served as Chair and member of several ACI-ASCE (American Concrete Institute-American Society of Civil Engineers) and CSCE (Canadian Society for Civil Engineering) technical Committees on Reinforced Concrete Structures. He is also active in several code committees and currently chairs the CSA (Canadian Standards Association) committee on Structures with FRP of the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code.
Dr. Sheikh’s major areas of research include behaviour of structures, seismic resistance of concrete structures and their upgrade, FRP-reinforced concrete structures for durable, resilient, and corrosion-free infrastructure to withstand extreme loads, environment, and climate change. He has authored over 250 papers published in international journals and conference proceedings and has a U.S. patent to his credit for an Expansive Cement.
His published research has formed the basis of many design provisions in North American, European, and Asian design codes among others. His work has been extensively cited by researchers and used by engineers. His research on upgrading structures with FRP has provided unique solutions for sustainability and resulted in several applications around the world. This innovative and economical solution for the deteriorating infrastructure has been featured in various TV programs such as CBC National, Discovery Channel, and print media. He has consulted on complex structural safety issues on a variety of structures around the world.

Dr. Sheikh has received several awards and accolades for his accomplishments including the coveted ACI Structural Research Award, CSCE Horst Leipholz Medal, CSCE A. B. Sanderson Award and The Senate of Canada Sesquicentennial Medal. He was also presented with the high Civil Award ‘Sitara-e-Imtiaz’ by the President of Pakistan for his achievements and services to engineering education. He has also received prestigious fellowships for lecture tours in Japan, China, Saudi Arabia among others.
Dr. Sheikh’s non-engineering activities are focused on understanding educational, social, economic, religious, and political complexities of struggling societies and providing help with educational activities in these regions.

Topic of Plenary: FRP for Sustainable, Resilient, and Seismically Resistant Concrete Structures
Plenary Abstract

Dr. Husham Almansour
University of Ottawa & National Research Council Canada (NRC), Canada
Keynote Speaker

Husham Almansour, Ph.D., P.Eng. is a Senior Research Officer in the Sustainable Resilient Infrastructures and Communities Research Unit, the Construction Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, and an Adjunct Professor in the area of Structural Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, the University of Ottawa, and Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto. Dr. Almansour’s expertise is in the area of structural mechanics with a focus on the performance, protection, and rehabilitation of aging structures and infrastructure against extreme loads and innovative structural systems using advanced materials. He is leading the NRC research teams in the area of climate-resilient bridge infrastructure and the area of innovative high-performance structural systems using advanced materials. Dr. Almansour supervised more than twenty Ph.D. and M.A.Sc research theses. Dr. Almansour is a member of many national and international committees, including NBCC, CSA committees S6, S 850, S806, ASCE Blast and impact loads on structures, and TAC Structure Standing Committee.

Topic of Keynote:

Dr. Ashraf Ashour
University of Bradford, UK
Keynote Speaker

Ashraf Ashour is a Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Bradford, received his PhD from Cambridge University, was the Head of Civil Engineering Department and the Director of Research, and is currently the Leader of the sustainable environments research group at the University of Bradford. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers (FIStructE) and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). He has extensive research experience in the development of new sustainable construction materials and their use in sustainable infrastructure as well as techniques to extend the life of concrete structures. He has published more than 300 journal and conference papers and is consistently ranked amongst the top 2% scientists in Civil Engineering in accordance with the Global Database produced by Stanford University and was recently awarded Newton Prize-2020 for his work in developing sustainable concrete materials and structures. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Structures and Buildings Journal (ICE) and is currently an Associated Editor for Structures, Composite Structures and many other journals.

Topic of Keynote: Geopolymer Concrete from Construction and Demolition Waste: A Sustainable Solution for Carbon Emission Reduction
Keynote Abstract

Dr. Moncef Nehdi
University of Guelph, Canada
Keynote Speaker

Topic of Keynote: