Dr. Ananth Ramaswamy, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IISc, Bengaluru

Dr. Ananth Ramaswamy is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He has done his B. Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) in the Department of Civil Engineering in 1985. He has completed his MS from University of California at Davis in 1986 and obtained his doctorate from Louisiana State University in 1992. Prior to joining as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, IISc, he served as a lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Research interest of Prof. Ananth Ramaswamy involves various interdisciplinary subjects and broadly encircles, 'Analysis and design of reinforced concrete structures', 'pre-stressed and fiber reinforced concrete'; 'Bridge Engineering'; 'Structural and Shape Optimization'; 'FRP Composites';  'Smart Materials and Vibration Control'. Further details of his research interests are highlighted in research page. He has published more than 30 research papers in various international journals, 2 book chapters and more than 45 national and international conference papers. He has served as a reviewer for various prestigious national and international journals.

Dr. CS Manohar, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IISc, Bengaluru

Prof Manohar’s research interest include (i) Bayesian methods for system identification and model selection (ii) Global sensitivity analysis for dependent random and hybrid uncertainty models (iii) Random vibration testing with controlled samples (iv) Performance based structural engineering for multiple hazards. He has published more than 70 research papers in various international journals, 2 book chapters and more than 100 national and international conference papers. He has served as a reviewer for various prestigious national and international journals.

Dr. Carlos Ventura, Director Earthquake Engineering Research Facility, Professor of Civil Engineering, , University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Dr. Carlos Ventura is currently the Director of the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility (EERF) at UBC and has more than 30 years of experience as a structural engineer.  Dr. Ventura's areas of research are in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering. He has been conducting research on the dynamic behavior and analysis of structural systems subjected to extreme dynamic loads, including severe ground shaking for more than twenty years. His research work includes experimental studies in the field and in the laboratory of structural systems and components.   His current research is focused on the development of performance-based guidelines for seismic retrofit of schools, on methods to evaluate the interaction between critical infrastructure vulnerable to natural and man-made hazards, and on structural health monitoring of building, bridges and dams. Dr. Ventura has written over 400 technical papers and reports related to the seismic behaviour of structures, and has received numerous awards for his research accomplishments, including the Lieutenant Governor's Award of Excellence (2013), the Innovation Award of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering (2010) and the APEGBC Meritorious Achievement Award (2006).  He is a member of several national and international professional societies and advisory committees.  He is a member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and Fellow of Engineers Canada.  He is also a member of several building and bridge code committees. In addition to his academic activities, Dr. Ventura is a recognized international consultant on structural vibrations and safety of large Civil Engineering structures. 

Dr. K.V.L. Subramaniam, Professor and Head, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Hyderabad

Dr. Subramaniam’s  research expertise  is in the areas of material  characterization using destructive  and non-destructive methods , health monitoring and strengthening of structures. He has published several papers on condition assessment and repair of concrete structures. He has also served as a consultant on various projects related to condition assessment and strengthening. He is a fellow of ASCE and ACI, USA and serves on several international committees on concrete structures

Dr. Nemy Banthia, CEO & Scientific Director, IC-IMPACTS; Professor of Civil Engineering, Distinguished University Scholar and Senior Canada Research Chair in Structural Rehabilitation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Dr. Banthia’s research interests are in low carbon footprint construction materials, crack resistant concrete, repair and strengthening and structural health monitoring using advanced sensors.  A professional engineer in the province of BC, he continues to serves on the technical committees of various professional societies including the American Concrete Institute where he chaired the committee on fiber reinforced concrete for six years, RILEM where he chaired the Technical Committee on FRP-Concrete Bond, and the Canadian Standards Association where he chairs the Durability Committee of the Highway Bridge Design Code. Dr. Banthia has edited/co-edited eighteen volumes, published over 350 technical papers, and holds five international patents in the field of the present research proposal. Dr. Banthia serves on the editorial boards of eight international journals and is the Editor-In-Chief of Journal of Cement and Concrete Composites—a journal with the highest impact factor in the areas covered here. His awards include:  WG Hislop Award of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) BC Chapter, four Best Paper Awards, the Wason Medal of the ACI International,  Solutions Through Research Award of the British Columbia Innovation Council, Wolfson Merit Award of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom,  Distinguished Researcher Award of the Korea Concrete Institute, Killam Research Prize from the Killam Foundation,  Horst Leipholz Medal of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering and the Mufti Medal of the Int.  Society for Health Monitoring of Infrastructure (ISHMII).  He is a fellow of the ACI International, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, Indian Concrete Institute, Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Canada.

Dr. Abdussamad Siddiqui, Director, Starmass Environment Technologies, Canada

Mohammed Abdussamad is a Director with Starmass Environment Technologies, Canada. He is responsible for Starmass activities both in the middle-east and India. He leads a highly specialized team of 150 - in areas of Infrastructure health monitoring. This includes, structural health monitoring, environmental monitoring, sub-surface water flow and distribution networks. His focus is Structural Health Monitoring. He has 35 years of experience behind him, with a large part in SHM. He is at present executing SHM for mega projects as large as 10,000 SHM sensing points networked to a single control station. Also, he has the honor of leading a mega corrosion prevention project for a large piled raft spread over an area of 4.4 square kilometers. He holds keen interest in academic research as well, and is associated with Universities in Canada, Middle-East and India. He is a visiting faculty in area of SHM. He enjoys being a guest lecturer. He has also mentored some of the graduate students in sensory networks in India.

Dr. Ashutosh Bagchi, Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

Dr. Bagchi, currently an Associate Professor at Concordia University, Canada, received Ph.D. degree from Carleton University, Canada in 2001, M.S. from IIT-Madras in 1993, and B.E. from Jadapur University, Kolkata in 1989. His research interests include Structural Health Monitoring, Structural Dynamics and Earthquake engineering, Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Management. Dr. Bagchi is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario and member of many professional societies like CSCE, ASCE, CAEE (Can. Assoc. of Earthquake Engineering) and ISHMII (Int. Soc. for SHM of Intelligent Infrastructure). He has authored/coauthored more than one hundred articles in technical journals and conferences, two patent applications, and a number of technical reports for academia and industry

Dr. Gopal Rai, Founder, R&M International Inc.

Dr. Gopal Rai now has around a decade experience in the structural strengthening and  retrofitting. He was involved in execution of various projects like Apsara reactor BARC, Mumbai Airport mithi river bridge strengthening, ESIC Hospitals,and JNPT ROB Bridge. He is also associated with structural engineering association like ASTR (Association of  Structural Rehabilitation) as a General Secretary. Member in program committee of IEI, Mumbai. He has corodinated several conferences and technical seminars actively like WSRR. He is also associated with various research projects in IIT Bombay, SPCE Mumbai, DST and BARC

Dr. Rishi Gupta, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

Dr. Gupta’s research is in the area of: (i) Advanced materials for structures- Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Concrete, use of supplementing cementing materials in concrete, cement-based mortars for masonry with improved bond properties, cellular light weight concrete, and Fiber Reinforced Polymers; (ii) Structural health monitoring of reinforced concrete structures and NDTs; (iii) Plastic shrinkage of concrete and development of ‘crack-free’ cement composites; (iv) Durability and corrosion studies of reinforced concrete; and (v) Innovative construction technologies: insulated wall systems, rammed earth, Light Gauge Steel system for modular construction. He is has served as the Chair and Vice Chair of the Association of Professional Engineers of British Columbia and serves as a member of the American Concrete Institute, and held various roles including Deputy Chair, International Affairs Committee of the CSCE.

Dr. Shashank Bishnoi, Assistant Professor, IIT Delhi

Dr .Bishnoi’s research expertise is on experimental and numerical studies into hydration of cement and supplementary cementitious materials, sustainability, resource utilisation, durability, repair and life-cycle costs of concrete structures. Before joining IIT-Delhi, he worked as a Post-doctoral fellow in Laval University, Quebec City, Canada (2009-2010). He was also a post-doctoral fellow at Ecole polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland (2008-2009. He completed his Ph.D. from Institute of Materials, Ecole polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 2008. He received his Master of Engineering from University of Tokyo in 2004 ad Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 2002. He has published several research papers in various international journals, national and international conference papers. He is also a reviewer for various prestigious national and international journals.

Dr. Anil Agarwal, Assistant Professor, IIT Hyderabad

Dr. Anil Agarwal’s research expertise is Fire and its effects on structural systems; Design of fire resistant structures; Design and behavior of steel structures; Structural stability; Steel-concrete composite structures; Collapse analysis; Earthquake Engineering, Soil-structure interaction, Finite element method of analysis. He did his PhD from Purdue University, USA, 2011. He received his both M-Tech and B-Tech from IIT Kanpur. Before joining IIT H, he worked Research and Development Engineer, with Bentley Systems, Inc., USA from July 2011 to July 2014.

Dr .S. Suriya Prakash, Assistant Professor, IIT Hyderabad

Dr. Suriya Prakash’s research expertise is on structural behaviour and design of reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete systems. He worked with Structural Group Inc, USA a renowned firm in strengthening design and construction using advanced construction materials. He has designed strengthening solutions for several buildings in the US and middle east. He has authored several papers on behaviour of reinforced concrete columns and strengthening with FRP composites. He is a member of ASCE and ACI, USA. He is also a reviewer for various prestigious national and international journals.