Conference Keynote Speakers

Professor R. Kerry Rowe was educated at Fort Street High School and the University of Sydney in Australia. He was awarded a BSc (Computer Science) in 1973, B.E. (Hons I, Civil Engineering) and the University Medal in 1975, a PhD in 1979, and D.Eng in 1993. He was awarded a DSc(hc) by Western University in 2016 to recognize his contribution to both the advancement of science and the engineering practice in environmental protection. In 1971 -1974 he was a cadet engineer and in 1975-1978 a geotechnical engineer with the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Construction. Dr. Rowe then spent 22 years as a professor, including 8 years as Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at the University of Western Ontario, Canada (1979-2000). From 2000-2010 he served as Vice-Principal (Research) at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. He is presently the Distinguished University Professor (2019-) and the Canada Research Chair in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (2010-) in the Department of Civil Engineering at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada.

Professor Rowe’s research and consulting have been in contaminant migration through soil and rock, landfill design, containment of contaminated sites, geosynthetics (including geotextiles, geomembranes, geogrids, geonets, etc.), tailings storage facilities, heap leach pads, dams, reinforced embankments and walls, tunnels in soft ground, and failure of slopes and excavations. Rowe is a pioneer of the relatively young yet broad field of geoenvironmental engineering, and he has transformed the state of knowledge of landfill barriers worldwide. He has consulted on the design and operation of over 85 landfill or containment sites worldwide and provided innovative solutions to cleaning up the environment with geographic locations ranging from the Arctic to the Antarctic. He has served on an International Dam Construction and/or Remediation Panel for 13 hydro dams and senior advisor for 5 other dams. He has been an expert witness in numerous legal cases involving forensic analysis as well as in environmental hearings.

Education and Affiliations: Buddhima is a Civil Engineering graduate from Imperial College, London, with a MSc in Soil Mechanics also from Imperial College. He obtained his PhD from University of Alberta in Canada in 1987. Currently, Buddhima Indraratna is a Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering, and Director of Transport Research Centre, at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Formerly, he was a Distinguished Professor and the Founding Director of Australian Research Council’s Training Centre for Rail Infrastructure (ARC ITTC-Rail) at the University of Wollongong. He is also an Honorary Professor at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India, Shanghai University of Science & Technology and Beijing Jiaotong University, China.

Recognitions and Honours: Buddhima’s contributions to geotechnical and railway engineering have been acknowledged through many national and international awards. In recognition of his outstanding and selfless services, the Australian Geomechanics Society bestowed its highest honour of Life Membership in 2023. On Australia Day (26th January 2024), Buddhima received the most prestigious honour of being inducted as Member of Order of Australia for his contributions to infrastructure development, Ground Improvement and Transportation Geotechnics.

In 2023 October, Buddhima received the prestigious Sir Visveswaraya Prize from the Institution of Civil Engineers, London for the most outstanding contribution to Civil Engineering outside the United Kingdom. This was followed by the 2024 International Civil Engineer Award received in Madrid, Spain and then a couple of weeks ago, Sir John Holland Civil Engineer of the Year 2024 awarded by Engineers Australia. These are remarkable recognitions, honouring his eminent contributions to the field of Civil Engineering with global impact, especially in advancing transportation infrastructure through geotechnical expertise.

The other significant awards include the 1st Ralph Proctor and 4th Louis Menard lecture Awards from the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) in 2016 and 2017, respectively. He also delivered the 2009 EH Davis Memorial Lecture of the Australian Geomechanics Society for contributions to Theory and Practice of Geomechanics and the 2022 Stephen Marich lecture on Advances in Railroad Engineering. He also received the pinnacle recognition from the International Association of Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG), the Medal of Excellence for life-time contributions.

For his pioneering contributions, he was also honoured with the 2009 Business and Higher Education award by the Australian Commonwealth government, Institution of Engineers Australia Transport Medal in 2011 and the Australia-New Zealand Railway Technical Society’s Outstanding Individual Award in 2015. Other numerous international awards include Thomas Telford Premium by the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK) and thrice the recipient of Robert Quigley commendation awards by the Canadian Geotechnical Society.

Research Leadership, Publications and Supervision: Buddhima currently leads numerous projects worth over $ 1.5 million per year. In the past 3 decades he had earned a research income over $40 million. He has been a consultant to various infrastructure organisations worldwide, and a former United Nations expert representing Australia. He has published over 1000 papers including 14 books, about 500 journal papers, and over 90 invited Keynote papers in all continents. He has successfully supervised over 80 PhD students, >30 MSc/MEng students, and > 50 Postdoctoral Fellows. Buddhima was the past Chair of the Ground Improvement Advisory Board of Inst. of Civil Engineers (UK), and the Chief Editor of the ICE (UK) Journal of Ground Improvement, and an Associate Editor of Canadian Geotechnical Journal and ASCE J. of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, and an EBM of 7 other journals.

Professional Fellowships: Buddhima is a Fellow of the prestigious Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE), Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia (FIEAust), Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (FASCE), Fellow of Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (FAusIMM), and a Fellow of the Geological Society of UK (FGS). He is a Chartered Professional Engineer of Australia, United Kingdom, and Sri Lanka.

Dr. Miyata is Prof. and Head of Civil Eng Dept at the National Defense Academy of Japan. He was received his D.Eng from Kyushu Univ. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 journal papers and 120 conference papers. He is vice chairman of Japan chapter of International Geosynthetics Society. He is also a board member of Geosynthetics International, Geosynthetics and Ground Eng, and secretary/member of tech committee in ISSMGE and IGS. He has received the best paper awards of ICE Geotech Eng (2017), Geosynthetic International (2015), Soils and Foundations (2013), Can Geotech Journal (2008), Geosynthetics Eng Journal (2008), plus JGS Service Award (2018), JGS Achieve. Award (2016) and IGS Gold Medal (2010).

Professor Chungsik Yoo is currently Professor of Civil, Architectural Engineering and Landscape Architecture at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) in Korea.  He is the  current President of Federation of International GeoEngineering Societies (FedIGS) and Immediate Past President of Geosynthetics Society (IGS).  Professor Yoo is also active in international tunneling community and has served as an Executive Council member of International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA). Professor Yoo obtained his MSc and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 1989 and 1993, respectively.  After briefly working at Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers in USA as a Geotechnical Engineer, he returned to Korea and joined SKKU as Assistant Professor in 1994.  Since then, Professor Yoo is continuing to serve as a professor at SKKU, and has served as Chair Professor of School of Civil and Architectural Engineering from 2014 to 2016 and as Vice Dean of College of Engineering from 2017 to 2018. Professor Yoo has co-authored over 500 technical papers, including SCI journal papers and conference papers, in geotechnical engineering and tunneling based on laboratory testing, numerical modeling, and field testing. He was a recipient of 2010 IGS Award from the International Geosynthetic Society (IGS).  Professor Yoo is a member of Korea National Academy Engineering and also received many awards from the Korean Civil Engineering Society, Korean Geotechnical Society, Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, and Korean Geosynthetics Society including Best Scientific and Engineering Paper Award from the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies in 2014.  Currently, he is Editor in Chief of Geotextiles and Geomembranes and an Associate Editor of Underground Space Technology and Frontiers in Built Environment. He is also an Editorial Board Member of Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, Geosynthetics International, Computers and Geotechnics and International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering.

Dr. Bagdat Teltayev is currently working as President of Kazakhstan Highway Research Institute, Kazakhstan. He has completed his Ph.D. in Technical Sciences from same Institute. His main area of interest related to Road Engineering, Mechanics of Materials, Soil Mechanics, and Finite Element Methods. His area of expertise includes Bitumen, Pavement Design, Multilayer Elastic Media, Asphalt Concrete, Multilayer Viscoelastic Media, and Road Materials, Water Distribution in Soil Structures, Pavement, and Modeling of Temperature Distribution in Structures. He has published 20 research articles in journals contributed as author/co-author.

Professor Chew Soon Hoe is a distinguished expert in geotechnical engineering with a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He brings extensive academic, research, and consulting experience across a broad spectrum of geotechnical disciplines, with a strong emphasis on practical, industry-oriented applications.

As a dedicated educator, Professor Chew is actively involved in conducting short courses and seminars for practicing engineers through the Professional Activities Centre (PAC) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Institution of Engineers Singapore Academy (IESA). His teaching spans topics such as geotechnical software applications, erosion and sediment control, soil improvement techniques, and the design of ABC water features.

His research interests include soil improvement for soft ground using methods such as jet grouting, deep cement mixing, and stone columns; the application of geosynthetics in reinforcement, filtration, and erosion control; geotechnical seismic studies; and the numerical modelling of geotechnical problems.

Professor Chew has played a key role in applied research and consultancy projects throughout Singapore and the surrounding region. He served as Principal Investigator for a Singapore Government-funded industrial research project on jet grouting for ground improvement and tunnelling, and has acted as consultant for numerous grouting projects in Singapore and Malaysia involving basement excavations and tunnelling. His expertise has also been integral to major consultancy efforts related to port extension works at Pasir Panjang, Singapore, and the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Johor, Malaysia.

An authority in erosion control and coastal slope protection, Professor Chew is currently leading research on the characterisation of seabed sediments, particularly in the Tekong area and Johor River mouth.

In his consulting practice, Professor Chew provides expert guidance across a wide range of geotechnical engineering areas, including land reclamation, slope stability, seepage analysis, pile foundations, soil improvement, and excavation-related challenges. He is also highly experienced in advanced numerical modelling using tools such as PLAXIS, SLOPE/W, SEEP/W, SIGMA/W, and SAFE. He has conducted numerous training programs on these tools for both public agencies and private engineering firms, including the Housing Development Board (HDB) and Surbana International Pte Ltd.

Dr A (Malek) Bouazza is a Professor of Civil Engineering.  He has held a number of visiting scholar positions at Zhejiang University, China, Cardiff University, U.K., University of Missouri-Columbia, USA, Arizona State University, USA, University of Malaysia-Pahang, Malaysia and Queen’s University, Canada. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (FIEAust) and a Registered Engineer. He has an international reputation for research in Geosynthetics and Environmental Geotechnics. His research has been recognised by several awards, including the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Award and Gold Medal (twice) for outstanding contribution to advances in the scientific and engineering developments of geosynthetics, the Telford Premium Prize (twice) from the Institution of Civil Engineers, U.K., the R.M. Quigley Award (twice) from the Canadian Geotechnical Society, the E.H. Davis Memorial Lecture Award from the Australian Geomechanics Society, the Zeng Guoxi Lecture Award from Zhejiang University, China, and the IGS Plaque for significant contributions to the International Geosynthetics Society and outstanding technical contributions to the geosynthetics discipline. He has recently delivered the 3rd ISSMGE honour lecture on Environmental Geotechnics (the 3^rd Kerry Rowe Lecture). He was named in 2021 as an Honorary Life Member of the Australasian Chapter of IGS in recognition of the significant contribution he has made in supporting the geosynthetics profession, in 2022 he was presented with the IGS chapter service award in recognition of his exceptional service and achievement at the chapter level as well as internationally, and in 2023 the Australasian Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society created the Malek Bouazza Lecture to honour his achievements and contributions to the technical advancement of geosynthetics in Australasia and beyond. The lecture is to be presented at all GeoANZ conferences on Geosynthetics.

Professor Bouazza is very prominent in technical and professional society activities and serves on a number of international technical committees. Currently, he is the immediate past Chair of the International Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) Technical Committee TC 215 on Environmental Geotechnics  He served as council member of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) from 2004 to 2012 and was one the founding chairs of the IGS TC on barrier systems established in 2010. He also was the President of the Australasian Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (ACIGS) from 2003 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2015.  He is an editorial board member of several Journals. and the past Secretary of ISSMGE TC308 on Energy Geotechnics. His skills and experience in the area geosynthetics and environmental geotechnics are well recognized in Australia and abroad.

Fady B. Abdelaal, Ph.D., P.Eng., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada and a Research Director at the GeoEngineering Centre at Queen’s-RMC. His research expertise involves polymeric and bituminous geosynthetic barrier systems for geoenvironmental applications, with a focus on understanding their long-term degradation behaviour. His work spans the use of geomembranes in solid waste landfills, low-level radioactive waste containment, potable water reservoirs, and mining operations. Additionally, he investigates the long-term interface shear strength of geosynthetic barrier systems, contaminant diffusion through geomembranes, and the performance of geosynthetic liners in cold regions. His research is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Mitacs. This research involves collaboration with various geosynthetic manufacturers and installers, consulting firms, private sector companies, and mining companies. To date, his publications have won three Best Papers awards and two were selected as the Editor’s Choice in the top journals in the field.
Dr. Abdelaal currently serves as a Council member and Educational Committee Chair of the IGS, Vice President – University Outreach for IGS-North America, and the Academic support for the delivery of projects, IGS Technical Committee barriers (IGS-TC B). He was the immediate past Chair of the Geosynthetic Division of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS). He also serves on the editorial boards of Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Geosynthetics International, and Frontiers for Built Environment Journals as well as an Associate Editor for the  Environmental Geotechnics Journal. Dr. Abdelaal was the Educational co-chair of the GeoAmericas 2024 conference and currently serves as the Technical co-chair of the 13^th International Conference on Geosynthetics (13ICG, Montreal, 2026).