Keynote Speakers
Assoc. Prof. Khairunisa Muthusamy
Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia
Biography:
Khairunisa Muthusamy is an Associate Professor who has been involved in teaching and research activities for more than 20 years in the Faculty of Civil Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang. She received her PhD in Civil Engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in 2009. Since then, she has been actively involved in environmental friendly concrete research. She has published more than 100 journal papers and conference proceedings related to concrete research. Her keen interest in exploring the potential of local waste materials especially from palm oil industry for concrete use has resulted in development of green lightweight concretes. Her research product has won gold awards in international exhibition. She is also the member of Board of Engineers Malaysia and Concrete Society of Malaysia.
Dr. Hamid Soleymani
City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Biography:
Dr. Hamid R. Soleymani received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) in 1987. He spent over four years teaching and conducting research at IUST before continuing his education in Canada, where he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan in 1997.
Following his Ph.D., Dr. Soleymani worked as a research associate at the North Central Superpave Center at Purdue University, USA, for three years. During this time, he served as the principal research engineer for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 9-12 project, titled: "Incorporation of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement with Superpave.”
From 2000 to 2006, and again from 2010 to 2012, Dr. Soleymani was a faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta, Canada. He taught both undergraduate and graduate courses, including civil engineering materials, transportation engineering, and pavement management systems. He was also involved in several research projects for Alberta Transportation and the City of Edmonton, focusing on pavement engineering.
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Soleymani has over four years of experience as a senior pavements and materials engineer in consulting firms in Edmonton, Canada. For the past decade, he has worked with both the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and the City of Edmonton. Throughout his career, he has delivered numerous professional courses for road engineers and technologists across Canada.
With more than 25 years of combined academic and industry experience, Dr. Soleymani brings a unique North American perspective in the field of pavement and infrastructure engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in Alberta (APEGA) and holds various professional certifications, including IPWEA Professional Certificate in Asset Management Planning.
Dr. Soleymani has authored over 50 papers in technical journals and conference proceedings. His research interests include infrastructure maintenance and management, asphalt and concrete materials characterization, Superpave technology, pavement design, rehabilitation and maintenance, materials modeling, pavement performance evaluation, and pavement management systems.
Dr. Jitendra Kumar Singh
Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology
Biography:
Dr. Jitendra Kumar Singh was born in Varanasi, India, and earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur-Howrah, West Bengal, in 2017. He began his career as a Project Associate in the Corrosion and Surface Engineering division at CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory (CSIR-NML), Jamshedpur, where he worked from April 2009 to October 2014. Following this, he joined the Department of Architectural Engineering at ERICA campus, Hanyang University, South Korea, as a researcher from August 2015 to February 2019. He continued at the same institute as a Research Professor until March 2022.
In April 2022, Dr. Singh took on the role of Assistant Professor, and in March 2024, he was promoted to Associate Professor at Hanyang University, South Korea. In July 2024, he returned to India, joined Jindal Steel and Power in Odisha as an Assistant General Manager (AGM) in the R&D department.
With over 100 publications, including research articles in SCI/SCIE journals, patents, copyrights, and book chapters, Dr. Singh's research interests span a wide array of topics. These include nanocomposite coatings, dual metal/polymer coatings, thermal spray technology, hot-dip galvanizing, corrosion, inhibitors, electrochemistry, the synthesis of novel materials for corrosion protection of metals and alloys, conservation of metallic artifacts, concrete durability, sensors and semiconductors, advanced materials, techniques to reduce coating porosity, and energy storage materials.