Plenary & Keynote Speakers

Dr. Jinsong Huang
The University of Newcastle, Australia
Plenary Speaker

Jinsong Huang is a professor at the Discipline of Civil, Surveying and Environmental Engineering, the University of Newcastle. His research interests include risk assessment in geotechnical engineering and computational geomechanics. He has published over 200 journal papers on the risk assessment of slope stability and landslides, the modelling of spatial variability, stress integration techniques for elastoplastic models, the contact dynamics of granular media, the analysis of hydraulic fracturing and the predictive maintenance of railway tracks. He has an H-index of 50 in Scopus attracting over 1800 citations per year. His contributions in risk assessment, particularly in slope stability and landslides, has earned him the prestigious title of ‘Field Leader’ in Environmental & Geological Engineering by The Australian’s Research 2020 magazine. He received a Regional Contribution Award from the International Association of Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics at its international conference in Kyoto in 2014 and the GEOSNet Award from the Geotechnical Safety Network in 2017. He is an editorial board member for Georisk, Geodata and AI, Canadian Geotechnical Journal and Computers and Geotechnics. He is a committee member on the ASCE Geo‐Institute’s Technical Committee on Risk Assessment and Management (RAM) and the ISSMGE Technical Committee (TC304) on Engineering Practice of Risk Assessment & Management. He is the chair of the Executive Board of the Geotechnical Safety Network. He served as the conference chair of the 8th International Symposium on Geotechnical Safety and Risk held at the University of Newcastle in December 2022.

Topic of Keynote: Slope Stability Analyses: From Factor of Safety to Quantitative Risk Assessment
Keynote Abstract

Dr. Dov Leshchinsky
University of Delaware, USA
Plenary Speaker

Professor Dov Leshchinsky has retired from the University of Delaware after 32 years of service. Prior to joining the faculty in Delaware, he worked as a geotechnical engineer with the Association of American Railroads in Chicago. At the University of Delaware, he had conducted research on slope stability, soil reinforcing, geosynthetics and dredged materials. The National Science Foundation, US Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Highway Administration and private industries have sponsored various research projects he had conducted. Much of his work has focused on comprehensive design methods for geosynthetic reinforced steep slopes and walls as well as geotextile tubes. He has published numerous referred papers in leading geotechnical journals. He has co-developed well-known design-oriented computer programs partially sponsored by FHWA and USCOE: FoSSA, ReSSA, MSEW, ReSlope, GeoCoPS. These design tools are being used worldwide.

Dov Leshchinsky is a consultant in ADAMA Engineering, Inc. He has been involved with advanced geotechnical consulting for over 40 years. Governmental agencies, geotechnical outfits, geosynthetic manufacturers, and law firms had retained him as an expert. He has been involved in large projects dealing construction over soft soil. He co-developed an NHI short course on Slopes and Embankments, once in 2001 and second in 2023. He has been co-teaching short courses on MSE Walls Reinforced Soil Slopes, Shallow Foundations, Slopes and Embankments, and Geosynthetic Reinforcement. The conference “Design and Practice of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Structures,” held in Bologna, Italy, 2013, was labeled “Honoring Research Achievement of Professor Dov Leshchinsky” — http://www.columbia.edu/cu/civileng/bologna2013/ ). He received the ASCE Martin S. Kapp Award in 2010 which states: “For his innovative contribution to the unified method of design and analysis of earth retaining structures and slopes as well as implementation of such technology through computer software and continuing education”.

Topic of Keynote: Limit-State Design Framework for Geosynthetic Reinforced Structures
Keynote Abstract

Dr. Mohamed Shahin
Curtin University, Australia
Plenary Speaker

Professor Mohamed Shahin is the Geomechanics and Pavements Lead at Curtin University, Australia. He received his BSc and MSc from Cairo University (Egypt) and his PhD from the University of Adelaide (Australia). He has over 25 years of academic and industrial experience with research interests spanning Computational Geomechanics, Ground Improvement and Railway Track Geo-technology. Professor Shahin currently serves as Editor and Associate Editor for a few international Journals and Board Member of several international societies. He is also an Elected Fellow Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and Engineers Australia. Professor Shahin is listed in the top 1% of Highly Cited Researchers in Engineering by Web of Science, the top 2% of World Scientists by Stanford University Ranking, the top 0.5% of the Worldwide Scholars by ScholarGPS and Oceania’s top 100 Civil Engineering Scientists by AD Scientific Index. He received several international prestigious research awards, including the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) Scientist Medal, Sweden (2023), Fredlund Most Highly Cited Paper Award, Canadian Science Publishing (2018), Editor’s Choice Paper Award, Canadian Geotechnical Journal (2016) and R. M. Quigley Best Paper Award, Canadian Geotechnical Society (2013).

Topic of Keynote: Innovative Ground Improvement for Civil Infrastructure Development
Keynote Abstract