The ICCRRR 2024 will feature keynote presentations on specific themes in the areas of concrete durability, condition assessment of concrete structures, repair, rehabilitation and retrofitting.

Dr. Alice Titus Bakera is a Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Tanzania, and concurrently serves as a postdoctoral researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Civil and Structural Engineering from UDSM. Subsequently, Dr. Bakera pursued her academic journey, achieving both her Master of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in the same discipline at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. Dr Bakera’s research endeavors are centered on the durability and service life modelling of sewer concrete structures, innovative binders for fostering sustainable construction, and pioneering methodologies and techniques for constructing affordable housing in Africa. Her profound contributions have earned her distinction and recognition within the academic and professional communities.Furthermore, Dr. Bakera holds esteemed memberships in the Laboratory of Construction Materials (LMC) at EPFL, the Concrete Materials and Structural Integrity Research Unit (CoMSIRU) at UCT, the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM), and the Cement and Concrete South Africa (CCSA), where she has previously served as the CCSA Western Cape branch secretary, demonstrating her commitment to advancing the field of construction materials and structures.

Dr. Bakera will present on “Enhancing Maintenance and Sustainability of concrete sewers using a Predictive Service Life Approach”

Dr. Benoit Bissonnette is a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Water Engineering at Laval University, Canada, where he has co-managed the NSERC Industrial Research Chair on Durable Repair and Optimized Maintenance of Concrete Infrastructure in recent years. He is a member of the Research Center on Concrete Infrastructure (CRIB) and his research interests include rehabilitation, durability, specialty concretes, recycling and sustainability of concrete construction. He has authored or coauthored more than 180 scientific and technical publications, notably the book entitled Concrete Surface Engineering (2015). He is involved in several ACI, ICRI, and Rilem technical committees and currently chairs ACI 364 Rehabilitation. He received his PhD from Laval University and is a licensed engineer.

Dr. Bissonnette will present on “Guidance for the ACI/ICRI Cementitious Repair Material Data Sheet”

Prof. Bart Craeye is an associate professor in the section of materials and environment at University of Antwerp. He received the degree of civil engineering in construction from Ghent University in 2006 with a Master thesis concerning the effect of super absorbing polymers for mitigating autogenous shrinkage of High Strength Concrete. In 2010 he received his PhD at the same university under promotorship of Prof. Geert De Schutter. The focus of his doctoral research was on the thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of self-compacting concrete supercontainers for radwaste disposal. His main area of interest and expertise lies in (i) concrete technology and design for durability and low-impact materials, (ii) building pathology and deteriorating mechanisms, (iii) condition assessment, damage diagnostics, monitoring, safety evaluation and remaining service life prediction of existing concrete structures, (iv) the use of non-destructive techniques (NDT’s) for the evaluation of building components and (v) innovative and durable repair strategies for rehabilitation of concrete structures. Bart is also guest professor at Ghent University and lecturer at Odisee University College and provides guidance and advice for the industry on a regular base. As author/co-author, he has published 80 journal/conference papers, he is member of several RILEM Technical Committees and is part of the Board of Directors of the Belgian Concrete Group.

Prof. Craeye will present on “Life cycle strategy optimization: A methodological framework for concrete structures rehabilitation decision making through LCA and LCCA”

Prof. Dr.‐Ing. Sylvia Keßler  is Chair for engineering materials and building preservation at the Helmut‐Schmidt University / Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg in Germany. Her education includes a master degree in civil engineering from RWTH Aachen University and a PhD from Technical University of Munich. Her research interests cover service life design and assessment of reinforced concrete structures using non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring as well as repair of concrete structure. Her research aims to identify always the most sustainable option for the construction and maintenance of our infrastructure. Among others, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Keßler is Convener of the fib TG3.3 ‘Existing Concrete Structures – Life management, testing and structural health monitoring’ and Chair of the RILEM TC ECS ‘Assessment of electrochemical methods to study corrosion of steel in concrete’.

Prof. Keßler will present on “How reliable is non-destructive testing on reinforced concrete structures?”

Prof. Rob Polder holds an MSc in inorganic chemistry and PhD in physical chemistry. He is an independent researcher and private consultant after retiring as a materials scientist at TNO for over 30 years and a part-time professor at Delft University of Technology for 8 years. He has been active in national and international organisations such as RILEM and was chair of the Dutch Knowledge Centre for Cathodic Protection of concrete for many years. His main focus is corrosion and protection of steel reinforcement in concrete, including service life evaluation, chloride penetration, critical chloride threshold, corrosion detection, monitoring, prevention and protection, among others by mineral additions, surface treatments and electrochemical methods. His many publications comprise journal and conference papers, book chapters, technical recommendations and a text book on corrosion of steel in concrete.

Prof. Polder will present on “Concrete resistivity revisited: Experience with testing on existing structures“

Prof. Manu Santhanam is a professor in the Building Technology and Construction Management division, Department of Civil Engineering and currently Associate Dean for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR), IIT Madras. He completed his Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering from IIT Madras in 1994. He joined Purdue University for Masters program to explore wider research opportunities. In October 2001, he joined IIT Madras as an Assistant Professor and became Associate Professor in 2009 and Professor in 2013. His research domains cover cement chemistry and multi-scale characterization of concrete including non-destructive testing, assessment of deterioration mechanisms in concrete and masonry structures, 3D printing of concrete structures, concrete durability and use of supplementary cementing materials. He is part of the National Centre for Safety of Heritage Structures (NCSHS) at IITM and is actively involved in several research projects on the design, durability studies and development of performance specifications for high performance and self-compacting concrete. He is active in various professional associations such as ACI and ICI, and was distinguished as a RILEM fellow in 2019. He is also a member of the Editorial Boards of leading international journal on construction materials.

Prof. Santhanam will present on “Challenges in Implementation of Durability Design in Concrete Construction Projects in India”

Assoc. prof. Marijana Serdar earned her MSc and PhD degrees at the University of Zagreb, conducted part of her PhD research as a visiting scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and conducted postdoctoral research at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission CEA Paris-Saclay, France. She leads the LATOM research group at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Zagreb, mainly focused on sustainability of building materials, systems and structures, with emphasis on the links between nano- and micro-scale behaviour of materials and macro-scale behaviour of materials and structures. She coordinates several research projects on materials and structures funded by national, bilateral and EU funds, mainly aimed at reducing the overall environmental impact of the construction sector. She is the coordinator of the project “Autonomous system for assessment and prediction of infrastructure integrity – ASAP”, co-funded by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund. The project ASAP is carried out in cooperation with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (FSB) of the University of Zagreb. Combining the fields of civil engineering, robotics and computer science, an interdisciplinary team focuses on developing automated innovative solutions for infrastructure maintenance, monitoring and management, such as a wall-climbing robot with integrated GPR.

Assoc. prof. Marijana Serdar will present on “Opportunities for automation in the field of assessment of reinforced concrete structures”.

Dr. Peter C. Taylor  is the Director of the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center, and a Research Professor in the Dept of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University. He spends time helping agencies and contractors implement best practices in concrete pavement design, construction and maintenance. His research is focused on developing sustainable mixtures that are engineered to meet the requirements of the environment that will be used in, and developing test methods to prove that a mixture on site is going to survive. He is a Professional Engineer, registered in Illinois and active in a number of professional societies.

Dr. Taylor will present on “Service life design and health monitoring of concrete pavements”