Keynote Speakers

Prof. Hossam A. Gabbar

Prof. Hossam A. Gabbar

P.Eng, Fellow IET, Distinguished Lecturer-IEEE NPSS,
Director of Smart Energy Systems Lab, Ontario Tech University, Canada
Speech Title: Resilient Energy Systems for Interconnected Infrastructures

Abstract: This talk will present advances in research on planning, design and control strategies of hybrid energy systems and their applications on interconnected infrastructures. The talk will explain design approaches, strategies, and planning of smart energy grids. Nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems will be discussed with different coupling strategies. Interconnected infrastructures are modeled and linked with energy, water, transportation, waste, food, health, and social systems. Fast charging station design is illustrated using hybrid energy systems with diverse energy storage and integrated within transportation electrification based on resiliency demand and control strategies. Demonstration of resilient micro energy grid is discussed and analyzed in view of different application scenarios, such as energy-water systems, modeling, and simulation of fast charging stations.

Biography: Dr. Gabbar is a full Professor in the Department of Energy and Nuclear Engineering, the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, at Ontario Tech University (UOIT), where he has established the Energy Safety and Control Lab (ESCL), Smart Energy Systems Lab, and Advanced Plasma Engineering Lab. He is the recipient of the Senior Research Excellence Aware for 2016, UOIT. He is recognized among the top 2% of worldwide scientists with high citation in the area of energy. He is a Distinguished Lecturer – IEEE NPSS on Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy Systems and Plasma-based Waste-to-Energy. He is leading national and international research in the areas of smart energy grids, energy safety and control systems, and waste to energy using advanced plasma technologies. Dr. Gabbar obtained his B.Sc. degree in 1988 with first class of honor from the Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University (Egypt). In 2001, he obtained his Ph.D. degree from Okayama University (Japan). From 2001 till 2004, he joined Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan), as a research associate. From 2004 till 2008, he joined Okayama University (Japan) as an Associate Professor, in the Division of Industrial Innovation Sciences. From 2007 till 2008, he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto. He also worked as process control, safety, and automation specialist in energy and oil & gas industries. Dr. Gabbar has more than 230 publications, including patents, books / chapters, journal and conference papers.



Prof. Müslüm Arıcı

Prof. Müslüm Arıcı

Mechanical Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Kocaeli University, Turkey
Speech Title: To be updated

Abstract: To be updated

Biography: Müslüm Arıcı is a Professor in Thermodynamics and Heat Technique Division of Mechanical Engineering Department of Kocaeli University, Turkey. He completed Diploma Course at von Karman Institute, Belgium in 2007 and received PhD degree from Kocaeli University, Turkey in 2010. He is co-author of 250+ papers in refereed SCI-indexed journal papers. He has been serving as associate editor in Case Studies in Thermal Engineering (IF=6.8); Energy, Ecology, and Environment (IF=4.4), Journal of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of Gazi University (IF=1.1), and Journal of Thermal Engineering (E-SCI). Besides, he is co-editor of 3 books. He has also been serving as a guest editor in several prestigious journals such as Journal of Cleaner Production; Energy and Buildings; Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments; Energy for Sustainable Development; Energy; Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials. He was enlisted among world’s top 2% scientists according to Stanford University in last three consecutive years. His fields of interest are energy efficient buildings, thermal energy storage, solar energy, and thermal management.



Dr. Marco Domaneschi

Dr. Marco Domaneschi

Department of Structural, Geotechnical and Building Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Speech Title: Sustainable and Resilient Retrofit Strategies in Civil Structures and Infrastructures

Abstract: The keynote is focused on the implementation of innovative design and optimization strategies for solving multi-criteria problems, in which the structural design of civil buildings complies with the sustainability goals of this century. Moreover, resilience aspects in structure and infrastructures will be discussed with reference to monitoring and control.

The first part of the discussion will include also the Greece's Polyfytos viaduct, the nation's second-longest bridge spanning 1,372 meters, renowned also for providing access to key power plants in South-East Europe. The study has interdisciplinary aspects, considering not only different technological solutions but also LCA and LCC, along with a study of quantifying the resilience of the different solutions under investigation. Thus, the focus in reinforcement and retrofitting solutions is not purely on technical aspects but associates considerations related to economic and environmental costs, and the overall resilience of the solution. So the design proposal that emerges is characterized by a holistic and multidisciplinary approach for transportation infrastructure that in many countries around the world is facing these kinds of issues related to aging and capacity degradation.

The second part of the discussion will focus on a Genetic Algorithm and the well-known one-dimensional bin packing problem (BPP) within a structural optimization process for civil engineering structures. The Objective Function formulation lies in a marked change of the paradigm, in which the target function is represented by the amount of steel required by the factory instead of the structural cost (e.g. weight). The proposed approach is tested on different steel structures with an increasing number of pieces moving from 2D truss beams to 3D domes. The comparison between the traditional minimum-weight approach and the proposed one has been provided for each case study, highlighting economic and environmental benefits deriving from the latter one.

Biography: Dr. Marco Domaneschi is Assistant Professor and lecturer of courses in Earthquake Engineering and Structural Design (since 2016) at Politecnico di Torino. He graduated at University of Pavia in Civil Engineering, specialization at UPC Barcelona. He was a professional structural engineer and consultant for special structures (3 years), and also a consultant in mechanical and computational engineering for industry (8 years). He had his PhD in civil engineering at the University of Pavia (2006). He was associate researcher and adjunct professor in Structural Engineering courses at Politecnico di Milano (2007-2016). He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Vibration and Control SAGE, Associate Editor of Bridge Engineering of The Institution of Civil Engineers UK, and Associate Editor of Frontiers in Built Environment. He is Editorial Board Member of Advances in Eng. Software ELSEVIER, J Traffic and Transportation Eng. ELSEVIER, J Building Pathology and Rehabilitation SPRINGER, Structural Monitoring and Maintenance TECHNO-PRESS, and Bridge Eng. - ICE (2014-2022). He is reviewer for several journals, speaker, session chair, editorial board member and organizer of more than 20 conferences. He is holder of patents, registered and under evaluation. He received Takuji Kobori Prize 2014 and other research awards. He is scientific leader and participant in commercial and public research programs. He is author of more than 70 journal publications, 130 papers to conference proceedings, 1 book and some chapters. He is member of professional and research societies EACS, IABMAS, ISHMII, SPONSE, SISCON (www.siscon.polito.it), ArtIStE (http://www.civilml.polito.it). He is included in "World's Top 2% Scientists" list, Stanford University - Elsevier.



Prof. Ji-Dong Gu

Prof. Ji-Dong Gu

Environmental Science and Engineering Research Group, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, China
Speech Title: To be updated

Abstract: To be updated

Biography: Ji-Dong Gu is currently a full professor of the Environmental Engineering, Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and also Israel Institute of Technology. He obtained his B.Sc from Heilongjiang August First Land reclamation University, M.Sc. from University of Alberta (Canada), and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech (USA). After a brief post-doc at University of Massachusetts – Lowell, he joined Ralph Mitchell’s Laboratory at Harvard University for 6 years before taking a faculty position at The University of Hong Kong for more than 21 years. After resigning from the University in Hong Kong, he started his new full-time position with Guangdong Technion - Guangdong Israel Institute of Technology in 2020.

His recent research interest includes: 1) carbon and nitrogen cycling, including anaerobic ammonium oxidation and nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation; 2) oil field microbiology for enhanced oil recovery and pollution remediation; and 3) microbiology of cultural heritage.

His h-index is 86, i10-index 449, and total citations of 27,249 (GoogleScholar). He has been the world top 1% scientists by WoS since 2013. He has published in the areas of applied and environmental microbiology and toxicology with more than 450 refereed scientific journal papers, 40 book chapters. He co-edited a book with Ralph Mitchell on ‘Environmental Microbiology’ (2nd ed, John Wiley-Blackwell. 2010), and wrote a book on ‘Biosusceptibility of Polymers and Fiber-reinforced Composites and Testing Methods’ (Springer, 2024/5), and additionally edited/co-edited 8 special issues in International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, Ecotoxicology, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, and Frontiers in Microbiology. In the Environmental Science and Engineering category, he is ranked the top scientists and highly cited in China.

He is the editor-in-chief for International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation (2015– ).



More speakers will be updated soon...