Speakers
Experts will present on the latest developments related to design, specifying, manufacturing, testing, construction, maintenance, and research of concrete as it relates to sustainable development. Topics include:
- Sustainability Initiatives in UAE and the Middle East Region
- Sustainable Construction Solutions
- Green Concrete
- Contribution of the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry towards Sustainable Construction
- Sustainable Concrete Construction Materials
Confirmed Speakers
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Eng. Rafia is currently the Assistant Director General for Engineering and Planning Sectorand the Head of The Sustainability Committee in Dubai Municipality.He holds a bachelor and master degree of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, USA. He has an Academic Experience as A Faculty Member at the College of Engineering at the University of U.A.E, Al-Ain, as a teaching Assistant 1980 – 1988. Eng. Abdullah joined Dubai Municipality in 1989 and held several positions such as Assistant Director General for Environment &Public Health Affairs from December 2003 to November 2009then Assistant Director General for General Support Sector from November .2009 to December 2012. Eng. Rafia was the Member of Board of Directors in the Society of Engineers-UAE from 1990 to 1996. He is a Member of the Board of Dubai world Trade Center; member of the Board of Directors of Dubai Green Economy Partnership; , member of the Board of Directors of the Energy Service Company (Etihad ESCO) since March 2014, and member of the Board of Directors of Demand side Management (DSM) of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE) since September 2013. |
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Mr. Lemay is Sr. Vice President, Structures and Sustainability for the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA). He leads a team of professionals to offer building owners and design professionals cost effective, durable and sustainable concrete building solutions though communications, education, research, design assistance and codes and standards advocacy. He has written over 50 articles on concrete design and construction and is co-author of the McGraw-Hill book Insulating Concrete Forms for Residential Design and Construction and contributor for FEMA 320 Taking Shelter From the Storm: Building a Safe Room For Your Home or Small Business. Mr. Lemay is a Registered Professional Engineer and Structural Engineer in the State of Illinois. He is also a LEED Accredited Professional. He is a member of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and serves on the ACI concrete sustainability and residential concrete committees. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and serves as a member of the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute Sustainability Committee. Mr. Lemay holds a bachelors and masters degree in civil engineering and applied mechanics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. |
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Mr. van Uffelen is the former director of the Dutch Green Building Council, owner of Cooll Sustainable Energy Solutions and coordinator of the WBCSD/CSI project where he is developing a responsible sourcing certification system for the world wide concrete sector. He is also program manager of the Dutch Concrete Network. In this network 30 concrete producers, contractors and the Dutch government do projects and pilots to bring sustainable solutions to the market. This network has signed a green deal with the government to lower carbon emissions of concrete by 30% in 2020. Making sustainability practical and helping the industry forward with making products more sustainable is his passion. |
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Mr. Lascarro is an industrial engineer from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana at Bogota, Colombia. He also has Masters studies in private development and finance of projects and concessions at the Fundación Antonio Camuñas in agreement with the Universidad San Pablo CEU in Madrid, Spain. He is the General Director of ASOCRETO, the Colombian Ready Mixed Concrete Producers Association, and simultaneously is the Executive Director of the Iberoamerican Federation of Ready Mixed Concrete (FIHP), an organization formed by companies, associations and institutes related to the ready mixed concrete in 20 countries including members from North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Mr. Lascarro is a former member of the board of directors of ASTM International,. He is also a member of the C09 Committee for Concrete and concrete aggregates and member of the E60 committee about building sustainability. In 2011, Mr Lascarro received the special appreciation award from ASTM for his outstanding and sustained commitment to advancing recognition of ASTM standards to improve health, safety, quality, sustainability and economy of concrete constructions in Latin America. Mr Lascarro has been representing ASOCRETO, FIHP and ASTM in several forums around the world including the major part of the Latin American Countries, USA, China, Turkey and the World Trade Organization in Switzerland. |
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Mrs. Ritchie, a Principal and Director of Sustainable Design at Gensler, has over 30 years of experience in the world of green building and urban infrastructure. She has played a pivotal role in the development of numerous building and product assessment standards and certification programs, including the USGBC Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating Systems, Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS), SCS Indoor Advantage, Floorscore, and BIFMA level, which have led to transformational changes in the building and interiors industries. Ms. Ritchie is a licensed Professional Engineer and LEED AP O+M. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from California State University, San Jose. She serves on the Board of the Green Electronics Council, as a Director of the Ecological Building Network and is a member of the Material and Resources Technical Advisory Group (MR-TAG) of the US Green Building Council. |
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Dr. Grichting is an architect, urbanist and musician from Switzerland.She graduated with a Doctor of Design in Urbanism from Harvard University. She has lived, practiced and studied in England, Ireland, Switzerland, the USA, and the Gulf region, and conducted research in Cyprus, Korea, Berlin and Qatar. She is interested in holistic and systems approaches to Design and her academic experience includes teaching at the Universities of Geneva and Harvard, developing an Education Initiative for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and teaching the Balkans Peace Parks Academic Expedition Summer Course. Her fields of research and interest include Food Security and Food Urbanism in Drylands, Urban Biodiversity, the Urban Legacies of Mega Events, Public Art in Contemporary Urban Realm, Cultural and Memorial Landscapes and Ecotourism and Healing Ecologies in Border Landscapes of Conflict. Dr. Grichting has published book chapters and papers in particular Stitching the Buffer Zone. As a musician, she has just released a CD with Desert Bridges in Qatar. Dr. Grichting is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Qatar University, teaching courses in Sustainable Architecture, Urban and Landscape Design, and Architectural Design Projects. |
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Dr. Zohrabi is Technical Director - Roads & Highways Design. In his role, he has full responsibility for review and sign off of all the highway designs and providing value engineering advice on infrastructure as well as quality performance of engineering materials. Morteza has over 34 years of experience in various aspects of construction management of highways projects and is recognised as a leading international authority on pavement engineering and its design and performance in adverse climatic conditions. Morteza holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from University in Southampton, UK and MSc Advanced Structural Engineering, University of Southampton, UK. Morteza is a Grade A registered Engineer with MMUP, Qatar as well as a Chartered Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers from UK. He has had a P1 Grade approved ATM from the Public Works Authority, ASHGHAL since 2013 as a senior pavement specialist in the Local Roads and Drainage Programme. His highly valuable contribution to the roads design in Qatar led to WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff winning the Qatar Construction Week 2014 Award for “The Most Sustainable Project of the Year”. Morteza is a firm believer in ensuring our designs consider their impact on the environment; we not only safe-guard country’s future but also save money and recourses. |
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Dr. Obla is Vice President, Technical Services at NRMCA. With nearly 25 years of experience in concrete technology he is responsible for NRMCA’s concrete producer quality initiatives as well as various educational and technical programs. He supports NRMCA’s P2P initiative and manages all the research and testing projects at the NRMCA research laboratory. A Fellow of ACI and a winner of ACI’s Young Professional Achievement Award and ASTM Award of appreciation from the Sustainability Committee, Dr. Obla is an active member of various ACI, ASTM, and TRB technical committees. He has served as chair for ASTM 09.49—Pervious Concrete, and ACI 232—Fly Ash and Natural Pozzolans. He has published a book on concrete quality and a chapter in a book on concrete sustainability and has over 75 technical articles in journals. He holds a B. Tech in civil engineering from IIT (BHU) Varanasi, India and a MS and Ph.D from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Maryland and has served as Vice-president and President for the ACI San Antonio Chapter. |
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Mr. Rifki is a Lebanese-American who was born in Northern Lebanon and lived in Houston Texas. He studied Computer Science in University of Houston in Texas, USA and then received his MBA from the American University of Beirut; Lebanon., He started his career in the oil business. In the year 2004, Sam moved to Abu Dhabi where he started a career in the Ready Mix industry with AL Falah Ready Mix as Operations Manager and Assistant General Manager. Three years ago, Sam became the Marketing Manager for Al Falah Holding. Currently, and fter recent expansion of Al Falah in KSA and Qatar, Sam is currently serving as Regional Marketing Manager for Al Falah Holding. |
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Mr. Wilko van der Meer is the managing director of Doka Concremote and the managing director and co-owner of BAS Research & Technology. With over a decade of experience in the concrete industry, Mr. van der Meer completed his bachelor’s degree in business economics from the Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Eindhoven, Netherlands and held board positions in various companies that operate in the areas of FMCG, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications. In his capacity as Doka Concremote’s managing director, Mr. van der Meer oversees the development and industry integration of Concremote, a remote in-place concrete sensor that yields real-time information on compressive strength build-up and hydration temperature evolution, helping to expedite concrete operations, while offering significant cost savings. Mr. van der Meer also is co-owner of BAS Research & Technology, a company specialising in optimising concrete mix-designs for durability and sustainability, old age concrete degradation expertise and research and development of construction materials and their material properties. BAS is an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited research centre with branches in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. |
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Ms. Shea is a structural engineer in the Austin, Texas office of Walter P Moore, a 500+ person structural engineering firm with nationwide offices and a worldwide portfolio. Kileigh’s professional expertise relates to the application of WBLCA (Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment) to structural and enclosure systems. She was an integral team member of the Capitol Tower WBLCA process, which developed a strategy of cement minimization to environmentally optimize the structural system and achieve the required impact reduction thresholds of LEED v4. Kileigh is also an integral member of Walter P Moore’s Sustainability Community of Practice Committee. She is an ACE Austin Board Member as well as a part of the ACE Mentor Program and a member of the USGBC Central Texas Balcones chapter. While at Oregon State University, Kileigh earned her Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering with a focus in Structural Engineering while also completing coursework focused on sustainability. She later attended The University of Texas at Austin for her Master’s degree in Civil Engineering with a focus in Structural Engineering. |
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Mr. Mellor is a technical specification manager and structural engineer at Lytag, UK. He has worked within the construction industry for more than ten years and the majority of that has been within the specialty concrete market providing solutions for waterproofing, high strength and lightweight concrete. His presentation will focus on sustainable structural lightweight concrete. |
Eng.
Abdulla Rafia – Assistant Director General for Engineering and Public
Sector, Head of Sustainability Committee in Dubai Municipality, UAE
Stefan
van Uffelen – Coordinator, Concrete Sustainability Council,
Switzerland
Manuel
Lascarro – Executive Director, Iberoamerican Federation of Ready Mixed
Concrete, Colombia
Kirsten Ritchie – Director of Sustainable Design, Gensler, USA
Dr.
Anna Grichting Solder – Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture
and Urban Planning, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Qatar
Kileigh
Shea – Structural Engineer, Walter P Moore, USA
Barry
Mellor – Technical Specification Manager/ Lytag, UK If you are interested in presenting at the conference, contact Rabih Fakih of Grey Matters at rabih.fakih@greymatters.ws.