Invited Speakers

Prof. Luigi COPPOLA

University of Bergamo, Italy

Biography: Luigi Coppola , Civil Engineer, Associate Professor at University of Bergamo (Italy) – Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences and President of American Concrete Institute - Italy Chapter . He has authored more than 300 original papers and 21 books on admixtures for concrete, alternative low-carbon binders, waste management in concrete production, deterioration, durability and repair of concrete structures, mix-design, deterioration and restoration of historical buildings, corrosion and protection of rebars in reinforced concrete structures.
In June 2000 Luigi Coppola was conferred an award for the “ Outstanding and sustained contributions to enhance the Durability of Concrete ” by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the Canadian Institute of Materials, Energy and Transportation (CANMET). Editor and member of many international Journals, he is the chairperson of Thirteenth International Conference on Superplasticizers and other Chemical Admixtures in Concrete – Milan, Italy, October-November 2021 and Fifteenth International Conference on Recent Advances in Concrete Technology and Sustainability Issues – Milan, Italy , October-November 2021.

 

Assoc. Prof. Chian Siau Chen, Darren

National University of Singapore, Singapore

Biography: Dr. Darren Chian Siau Chen obtained his PhD from Cambridge University in 2012. His core expertise is on earthquake engineering and land reclamation.
Dr. Chian’s contribution in earthquake engineering lies in the field of damage vulnerability of underground structures in earthquake induced soil liquefaction. He was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to carry out reconnaissance missions at the 2009 Padang, 2011 Tohoku and 2016 Muisne earthquakes.
Dr. Chian is an enthusiast of recycling waste material to good use. He is actively involved in collaborative research projects with local government agencies to recycle unwanted and contaminated soils from underground construction projects and sea dredging as land reclamation fill materials.
Dr. Chian is a nominated member of three International Technical Councils under the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). Dr. Chian also sits in the technical committee of SPRING Singapore to oversee and provide advice on geotechnical engineering practices in Singapore. He is presently the youngest elected Vice President of the Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS).
Dr. Chian was interviewed by the media from Singapore (Channel NewsAsia and Straits Times), USA (Northwestern News and The Edge), UK (BBC) and Denmark (Danish Broadcasting). Recently, Dr. Chian’s research work on catastrophe modelling at NUS led to his award of the prestigious Top 10 Innovators Under 35 in Asia by the MIT Technology Review in 2016. Other achievements include a 1st Prize in a National Technical Paper Competition and the Best Young Researcher Award at the 8th International Conference on Urban Earthquake Engineering in 2013 and 2011 respectively.

Speech title "Resource Recovery of Waste Soil as Reclamation Fill Material"

Abstract: With pressures arising from urbanization, cities worldwide are faced with land scarcity to cope with growing population and construction waste disposal. The reuse of waste soil materials such as soft clayey soils from dredged and excavated materials for construction material can potentially offer a sustainable built environment solution in land creation and resource generation. In this lecture, feasibility of these soft soils for land reclamation are presented with extensive laboratory testing. Despite the initial poor shear strength and high compressibility, these unwanted materials can be converted into suitable resources as land reclamation fill material with reduced impact to the coastal environment.