Bio.: Professor Charles W. W. Ng (吴宏伟) is the Vice-President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in Guangzhou campus. He is also the Dean of HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School, CLP Holdings Professor of Sustainability and a Chair Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at HKUST. Professor Ng is Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and immediate Past President of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (2017 – 2022).

Professor Ng earned his PhD degree from the University of Bristol, the UK in 1993. After carrying out post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge between 1993 and 1995, he returned to Hong Kong and joined HKUST as Assistant Professor in 1995 and rose through the ranks to become Chair Professor in 2011.

As a world authority on unsaturated soil mechanics, eco-geotechnical engineering and landslides, Professor Ng is Changjiang Scholar (Chair Professorship in Geotechnical Engineering), Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, and Overseas Fellow of Churchill College, the University of Cambridge. He is also Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. Currently, he is a co-Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal.

Professor Ng has supervised more than 70 PhD and 60 MPhil students to graduation and has published some 400 SCI journal articles and 250 conference papers and delivered more than 100 keynotes and state-of-the-art reports across the six continents. He is the main author of three reference books: (i) A Short Course in Soil-structure Engineering of Deep Foundations, Excavations and Tunnels by Thomas Telford in 2004, (ii) Advanced Unsaturated Soil Mechanics and Engineering and (iii) Plant-Soil slope Interaction by CRC: Taylor & Francis in 2007 and 2019, respectively.

He has received many awards including the 2022 Varnes Medal from the International Consortium of Landslides, the 2017 Telford Premium Prize from the Institution of Civil Engineers, and the R. M. Quigley Award from the Canadian Geotechnical Society three times for his three best papers published in 2007, 2012 & 2016. In China, he received the prestigious 2022 HLHL Scientific and Technological Advancement Award (何梁何利基金科学与技术进步奖). He was also a recipient of the 2020 National Natural Science Award (國家2020年度自然科學), the 2015 Scientific Technological Advancement Award by the State Council (國家2015年度科技進步獎).

Bio.: Professor Chungsik Yoo is currently Professor of Civil, Architectural Engineering and Landscape Architecture at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) in Korea. He is the current President of Federation of International GeoEngineering Societies (FedIGS) and Immediate Past President of Geosynthetics Society (IGS). Professor Yoo is also active in international tunneling community and has served as an Executive Council member of International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA). Professor Yoo obtained his MSc and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 1989 and 1993, respectively. After briefly working at Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers in USA as a Geotechnical Engineer, he returned to Korea and joined SKKU as Assistant Professor in 1994. Since then, Professor Yoo is continuing to serve as a professor at SKKU, and has served as Chair Professor of School of Civil and Architectural Engineering from 2014 to 2016 and as Vice Dean of College of Engineering from 2017 to 2018. Professor Yoo has co-authored over 500 technical papers, including SCI journal papers and conference papers, in geotechnical engineering and tunneling based on laboratory testing, numerical modeling, and field testing. He was a recipient of 2010 IGS Award from the International Geosynthetic Society (IGS). Professor Yoo also received many awards from the Korean Civil Engineering Society, Korean Geotechnical Society, Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, and Korean Geosynthetics Society including Best Scientific and Engineering Paper Award from the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies in 2014. Currently, he is the Editor in Chief of Geotextiles and Geomembranes and an Associate Editor of Underground Space. He is also an Editorial Board Member of Geosynthetics International, Computers and Geotechnics, Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology.

Bio.:Faquan Wu, professor, Shaoxing University, China, Secretary General of IAEG. Obtained his BSc and MSc degrees in Engineering Geology from Wuhan College of Geology, China, in 1982 and 1985, and PhD degree in Engineering Geology from Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, in 1992.

Prof. Wu developed the statistical mechanics of rock mass (SMRM) and microstructural soil mechanics (MSM), solved a series of geomechanical problems of rock slope for large hydropower projects in Three Gorges Project and deep tunnel and underground spaces under high geostress condition, initiated and promoted technical innovation to make geotechnics more convenient and intelligent, and developed backpack laboratory and software system.

He won the Hans Cloos Medal of IAEG in 2020 and the China National Award of Science and Technology due to his outstanding contribution to the disciplines of engineering geology and rock mechanics.

Speech topic: Introduction to Micro-structural Soil Mechanics

Abstract: The speech is to introduce the frame of Micro-structural Soil Mechanics (MSM) including: the basic ideology of MSM; micro-structural model and physical-hydrological properties of soil, the mechanical behaviors and constitutive model, and the seepage model of soil.

Bio.:TBA...

Bio.:TBA...

Bio.: Professor of Engineering Geology at the University of Florence, Department of Earth Sciences. President of the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics. President of the Civil Protection Centre of University of Florence. President of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). Degree in Geology, MSc in Engineering Rock Mechanics at Imperial College of London and PhD in Engineering Geology. Expert of geological hazards and ground instability, monitoring technology, remote sensing, radar interferometry, engineering geological characterization and modeling. Member of the Major Risks National Committee of the Department of Civil Protection of the Italian Government. Member of the World Centre of Excellence on Landslide Risk Reduction of the International Programme on Landslides. Founder and Deputy Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Prevention and Sustainable Mitigation of Geo-hydrological Hazards. Adjunct Professor of the UNESCO Chair on Geoenvironmental Disaster Reduction at Shimane University (Japan). Member and former vice president of the International Consortium on Geo-disaster Reduction (ICGdR). Former head of the Department of Earth Sciences and past member of the Academic Senate of the University of Florence. Awarded with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (4th Class Officer). Author of more than 500 scientific publications and holder of 4 industrial patents.

Bio.: Reşat Ulusay, who was born in 1952 in Turkey, obtained BSc and MSc degrees on engineering geology from the Geological Engineering Department at Hacettepe University (H.U.) in 1975 and PhD degree from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in 1991, Ankara, Turkey, respectively.

His main research activities are concentrated on engineering geology, rock mechanics and soil mechanics; particularly on slope and waste pile stability, open pit slope design, laboratory and in-situ geomechanical testing, rock mass characterization and classification, geo-engineering at historical sites, geotechnical site investigations, earthquake-induced ground failures, attenuation relationships and swelling.

Between July 1975 and December 1995, he worked at the Mineral Research and Exploration Institute (MTA) of Turkey and was trained on mining geotechnology by Golder and Hoek Associates in UK and assigned to establish the “Rock and Soil Mechanics Division and Laboratories” of MTA under the auspices of the United Nations. During this period, he was involved in a number of geotechnical projects as engineer, project manager, Division Chief and Deputy Head of the Department responsible from geotechnique. He became Associate Professor in 1994. Between December 1995 and 1st of September 2019 he worked at the Applied Geology Division of the Geological Engineering Department at H.U. He became full Professor in 2000 and also acted as a part-time instructor in METU between 1992 and 2015. He supervised 21 MSc and 13 PhD theses, and retired on 1st of September 2019.

He is the author and/or co-author of more than 217 international and 87 national papers, four international book chapters, four technical books in Turkish on rock mechanics and geotechnics, two dictionaries on geo-engineering and rock mechanics, and the Co-editor and Editor of the ISRM Blue Book and Orange Book and proceeding of an ISRM symposium, respectively. He also acted as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the "Bulletin of Engineering Geology & the Environment" and the Ex-Officio Executive Committee Member of IAEG between January 2019 and 2021.

He is currently the ISRM President for the term 2019-2023. He is also the President of ISRM Commission on Testing Methods and member of ISRM Design Methodology Commission since 2006 and 2008, respectively. He presented “8th ISRM Online Lecture” and was awarded by ISRM as “Lifetime ISRM Fellow” in 2015. "2016 Hans Cloos Medal" of IAEG was conferred to Prof. Ulusay for his contribution to the development of engineering geology. He also acted as the President of the Turkish Society of Engineering Geology and member of the Turkish National Earthquake Council and Earthquake Advisory Board. He gives master courses at Department of Resources and Civil Engineering of Northeastern University, Shenyang, China, and University of Ss Cyril and Methodius, Department of Civil Engineering, Skopje, Macedonia, as Visiting Professor since 2018 and 2020, respectively.

Speech Title: Geo-engineering Aspects of the 6 February 2023 devastating Turkish Earthquakes and Lessons Learned

Bio.: Vassilis Marinos is President of the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAEG) for the period 2023 – 2026. He is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Geology and Rock Mechanics at the National Technical University of Athens, School of Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Division.

He was born in 1976 in Athens, Greece. He holds a Doctoral Degree from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), School of Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Division, an MSc in Engineering Geology with Distinction from Imperial College and a bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Athens (1st in graduation list).

He has published more than 100 papers in international journals, book chapters and international conferences. His research interests are in the field of the geotechnical classification and behaviour of weak and complex rock masses in tunnelling, landslide hazard and risk analysis, natural gas pipelines, construction of geotechnical database for tunnels and urban environments, rock slope stability and evaluation and analysis of ground movement in mines. His professional experience involves consulting services for numerous highway projects, tunnelling, rockfall and landslide analysis, geohazards correlated to natural gas pipelines but also engineering geological work in the field such as mapping, geoengineering models, geotechnical classification, geotechnical evaluation of ground investigation programs, geo-data processing, design of engineering structures in rock.

He has been a member of numerous professional and scientific bodies such as ISRM, ISSMGE, ITA, a member of the editorial boards of the scientific journals “Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment” and “Journal of Geotechnical and Geological Engineering” as well as a reviewer for numerous journals, such as “Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering”, “Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences”, “Engineering Geology”, “Journal of Geotechnical and Geological Engineering” and “Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology” and others.