Dr. Emad Abu-Aisheh joined Saudi Aramco in Feb 2009 as structural and civil materials specialist within Consulting Services Department. He is currently the onshore structural standards committee vice chairman and member of the civil engineering standards committee. Emad is also a board member of Saudi Aramco IBTIKAR. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco he was leading the concrete technology and structural dynamics unit of WorleyParsons, Perth office, Australia. He served as lecturer and research scientist at the University of Melbourne, Curtin University Australia and Virginia Tech in the USA and Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE. He has over 25 years experience in structural engineering and concrete technology split between academia, research and industry. Emad specialty fields include: sustainability, durability, concrete technology, structural engineering, repair and waterproofing of concrete structures, Liquid retaining structures, Modal testing of Civil Structures, structural health monitoring, NDT of civil engineering structures, and Finite Element Modelling using STRAND and ANSYS. Emad received his B.S. (1986) and M.S. (1987) in Civil Engineering from the University of Mississippi, USA and his PhD. in Civil Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 2003.

Glenn Schaefer has 25 years of experience in concrete technology with a focus on materials and durability. His career has included both technical and business leadership roles. He is an active member of ACI (American Concrete Institute) and a Board Member of ACI’s Strategic Development Council. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Geology from West Virginia University and an MBA in Management from Bentley University. Mr. Schaefer is the Director of Durability Solutions at Structural Technologies, based in Maryland, USA. In this role, he manages the condition assessment process for existing concrete structures to determine the root causes of concrete degradation and to develop repair solution strategies. Prior to this position, Mr. Schaefer was Vice President of Engineering and Laboratory Operations for a consulting firm specializing in concrete degradation, durability, and service life assessment. Mr. Schaefer also has worked for CEMEX, a global cement, concrete, and aggregate producer. He began his career at Grace Construction Products where his roles included admixture technology research, development, and commercialization. Mr. Schaefer has written several technical papers related to concrete materials and technology. In addition, he is the co-inventor / patent holder (US 20120298012 A1) of “Admixtures for Shrink Crack Reduction of Portland Cement-Based Mortars and Concretes.”

Kyle A. Riding is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Kansas State University. Dr. Riding received his M.S.E. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with an emphasis on civil engineering materials from the University of Texas at Austin. After receiving his doctorate, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne. He served as the chair of the American Ceramic Society Cements Division from 2013-2014. He is the Chair of the Concrete Materials Technology committee of the Precast/ Prestressed Concrete Institute. He is a voting member of ACI committees 201 Durability of Concrete, 236 Material Science of Concrete, and is the Secretary of ACI committee 231 Properties of Concrete at Early Ages. Dr. Riding has received several awards for his research work. In 2005 he received a Top Research Innovations and Findings Award from the Texas Department of Transportation. In 2011 Dr. Riding was awarded the Wason Medal for Materials Research by the American Concrete Institute for his work on concrete materials and in 2013 the ACI Young Member Award for Professional Development. His research interests include concrete durability, concrete constructability, and the development of new sustainable cementitious materials.

Dr. Mohamad Nagi has more than 25 years experience in construction materials, corrosion of metals, durability, repair and non-destructive test methods. Currently services as the Director of Infrastructure Sustainability and Assessment Centre at the American University of Dubai. Until October of 2009, he was the regional manager of the materials technology and asset integrity group of GHD in Dubai. Prior to joining GHD, he worked for 16 years at CTLGroup, a leading engineering firm specialised in concrete materials and structures in the United States. Dr. Nagi worked on many projects dealing with all aspects of durability of reinforced concrete structures in the Gulf region and in the U.S.A. While at CTL, he was in charge of evaluating and assessing major structures such as bridges, refineries and nuclear power plants. At GHD, Dr. Nagi Served as project director of an IVTA (Independent Verification and Testing Agency) program for Burj Khalifa and the Qatalum Aluminium Plant in Qatar and he was appointed as third party reviewer for several key bridge projects in the region to asses the durability and define the actual service life of structures. In the last few years, he prepared durability studies for key projects in KSA, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar. He has been the author of more than 40 technical papers on concrete materials, asset integrity, corrosion, durability and non-destructive testing.