Keynote Speakers

Keynote Session 1
Ultra-high performance ductile concrete: the delivery from research into practice

Abstract

Combined keynote presentation by:
Professor Stephen Foster and Dr Yen Lai Voo

Stephen_Foster resizeProfessor Stephen Foster
Head of School
Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of New South WalesStephen Foster is Professor and Head of School, Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNSW Australia. Professor Foster has more than 30 years of experience in research and over 240 publications. His doctorate research was in the field of reinforced concrete, specifically in the area of analysis and design of reinforced concrete deep beams. He has developed and calibrated a powerful non-linear finite element program, using a number of state of the art numerical techniques, for the analysis of non-flexural concrete elements. His work in the last 13 years has been in SFRC and UHPC. He was a member of the team for the development of the 2010 fib Model Code that includes structural design for SFRC and chaired the working party under the guidance of BD90-5 to review the potential of introducing SFRC into the Australian Bridge Standard.Prof. Foster is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia, Member of the Concrete Institute of Australia, Member of the Standards Australia Committee BD2 “Concrete Structures”, Chairman of Standards Australia Subcommittee BD2/5 “Strength”, Chairman of the Standards Australia Subcommittee BD2/8 “Fibre Reinforced Concrete” and has been a Member of the Presidium for the Federation of Structural Concrete (fib) since 2011. He is currently the President, fib Australia National Member Group, a post he has held since 2012, and Member, fib Model Code Task Group (SAG5) (2003-2011).

Yen_Lei_Voo resizeDr Yen Lai Voo
Dura Technology Sdn Bhd
MalaysiaVoo Yen Lei has been setting world records in bridge-building. In 2011, the company that he founded and of which he is CEO and Executive Director, DURA Technology, built the world’s longest trafficable bridge using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC): the Kampung Linsum Bridge in Malaysia. Voo designed, manufactured and built the cutting-edge bridge, which won the Husband Prize from the Institution of Structural Engineers. His company is currently building a 100m single-span bridge using the same technology.Dr. Voo completed his B.E in Civil Engineering at the University of NSW where he also finished his PhD. Following this he left Sydney and spent four years developing the ultra-high performance concrete technology, marketing the material, and dealing with regulators and industry bodies. The company has completed 14 bridges for the Malaysian government, 12 more are under construction and 10 others are under tender. Dr. Voo is also an adjunct professor at the University Putra Malaysia where he teaches students the technology of UHPC.

Keynote Session 2
Geopolymer Concrete: Research into Practice of a Low Carbon Technology

Abstract

Combined keynote presentation by:
Professor John L. Provis and Professor Jannie S.J. van Deventer

provis resizeProfessor John L. Provis
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
The University of Sheffield
United KingdomJohn L. Provis is Professor of Cement Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, and is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He was awarded the 2013 RILEM Robert L’Hermite Medal “in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the research and development of geopolymers and other construction materials”, and holds funding from the European Research Council (Starting Grant “GeopolyConc”), as well as UK Research Councils, industry, and international sources. He is Chair of RILEM Technical Committee 247-DTA, and Associate Editor of Cement and Concrete Research and Materials and Structures.

JSJ van Deventer_photojpeg resizeProfessor Jannie S.J. van Deventer
Chief Executive Officer
Zeobond Group
Melbourne, AustraliaJannie S.J van Deventer was educated in South Africa and holds doctorates in chemical engineering, mineral processing and business economics. He migrated to Australia in 1995 and served as Dean of Engineering from 2003 to 2007 at the University of Melbourne, where he is currently Honorary Professorial Fellow. He remains active in both mineral processing and cementitious materials, and has commercialised several technologies in the mining industry and construction. His has received several awards, including INNOVIC’s national “The Next Big Thing Award” for geopolymer technology in 2008. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Zeobond Pty Ltd in Melbourne, which are commercialising alkali-activated binders.

Keynote Session 3

Global Construction and Engineering Practices – An India Story

Abstract


Keynote presentation by:

Mr K. Sreekumar

Capture_resizeMr K. Sreekumar
Vice President & Head – Corporate
L&T Construction (Buildings and Factories)
India.
Mr. K. Sreekumar is a Vice President of Larsen & Toubro Limited, India, and heads the Buildings & Factories Independent Company (B&F IC) within their Construction Division. The Construction Division of L&T is India’s largest construction organization and is ranked among the world’s top 30 contractors.As head of L&T’s Corporate Centre Function for Buildings & Factories Mr Sreekumar is responsible for initiatives in operational excellence, mergers & acquisitions, corporate sustainability, and all the support functions required for engineering, procurement and construction of residential and commercial buildings and factories.He joined L&T as a Graduate Engineer Trainee in 1978 after obtaining a Civil Engineering degree from the College of Engineering at Guindy in Chennai. His experience includes design of structures, construction methods planning, project management, contracting, construction products manufacturing, and marketing & business development. Mr Sreekumar’s interests include adopting innovative technology with achieving efficient design & operational excellence and he has recently been nominated by L&T to serve as a member of Board of the Institute for Lean Construction Excellence (ILCE) in India, which has been specifically established by the Indian Construction industry for popularizing and executing lean construction methods throughout India.

Keynote Session 5

2015 Robert L’Hermite Medal Presentation

Prof. Dr. Guillaume Habert
Chair of Sustainable Construction
ETH Zurich

Paving the path toward sustainable concrete

Guillaume Habert resized 2Guillaume Habert graduated in 1999 from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, with a degree in earth, atmospheric and oceanic studies. In 2004 he completed his PhD in Toulouse (France) on structural geology. After his PhD Guillaume Habert used his knowledge of natural rocks mineralogy to explore how specific clays and pozzolans can be used as a cement substitute. This work, funded by the CNRS and Lafarge, was followed by a post doctorate position at the Federal University of Paraiba (Brazil), where he looked into how waste products from the ceramic industry, can be used as pozzolanic materials to improve the mechanical and water resistance of adobes. From 2007 to 2012 Guillaume Habert conducted research at the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris. His work focused on the development of sustainable concrete. This also led him to address the environmental evaluation of building materials as well as the development of new binders such as geopolymers.

Since August 2012, Guillaume Habert holds the Chair of Sustainable Construction and is associate professor at the ETH Zurich (Switzerland). The objective of the chair is to identify the relevant parameters that influence the environmental impacts of buildings and infrastructures in order to implement sustainable practices throughout the development of innovative constructive techniques adapted to the technical, economic and socio-cultural situation of specific territories.

Keynote Session 6
Creep and shrinkage of concrete – from theoretical background and experimental characteristics to practical prediction models

Abstract

Keynote presentation by:
Professor Harald Müller

Harald_Müller_resizeProfessor Harald S. Müller
Head of the Institute
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
GermanyHarald Müller is a full professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, a Director of the Institute of Concrete Structures and Building Materials, a Director of the Materials Testing Institute, Karlsruhe, and Managing Partner in the Society of Engineers of Constructions Ltd in Karlsruhe, in Germany.Professor Müller has produced approximately 360 papers on his work related to:

  • Concrete and concrete structures
  • Life cycle analysis and management of concrete structures
  • Protection, maintenance, strengthening and repair of structures
  • Mortars and masonry made of natural or artificial stones
  • Testing methods for concrete and masonry (materials and structures)
  • Mechanical behaviour and constitutive modelling of concrete
  • Microstructure and durability of building materials
  • Temperature and moisture flow in mineral building materials
  • German and international standards and guidelines

Professor Müller is also a member of various national and international scientific and technical commissions and associations, in particular the National Science Foundation of Germany (DFG), the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib) (elected President for 2015-2016), the advisory board of the German Federal Institute of Building Technology (DIBt) and is the Chair of TG 7 “Time dependent effects” within Eurocode 2.