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Keynote Speakers
Michael Kaliske
TU Dresden, Germany
Dr. Michael Kaliske was born in Hamburg, Germany. He studied and graduated from the University of Hannover and worked as research fellow at the Institute for Structural Analysis (University of Hannover) from 1991 to 1999. He got his Ph.D. in 1995 and the Habilitation in 1999. Subsequently, he joined Continental and was Head of the Mechanics and Simulation Development Department until 2002. By then, he was awarded the Chair of Structural Mechanics at University of Leipzig (2002 to 2008). Since 2006, he has been Director of the Institute for Structural Analysis at Technische Universität Dresden. Further responsibilities have been Secretary of the "International Association of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics" since 2009, Editor of "Tire Science and Technology" since 2010, and he has been Vice-President of the "International Association for Computational Mechanics" since 2022, among others. Dr. Michael Kaliske is interested in modelling and simulation of structural behavior at different length scales as well as its multi-physical aspects.
Katerina Varveri
TU Delft, The Netherlands
Dr. Aikaterini (Katerina) Varveri is an Associate Professor of Chemomechanics of Infrastructure Materials at the Engineering Structures department in Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Delft University of Technology.
Her research focuses on the interactions among environment, infrastructure materials and structures. By investigating the intricate relationships between the chemo-rheological properties and mechanical performance of paving materials, and exploring how these relationships evolve under complex and interacting environmental conditions, she aims to improve the long-term performance of road infrastructure. Her team integrates advanced physicochemical characterization and modelling tools, multivariate statistics, and chemometrics to predict and enhance the durability of pavements. In 2020, she was awarded with an NWO Talent Programme VENI grant from NWO-AES (NL) on this topic.
Dr. Varveri’s research extends to exploring the potential of biobased materials as substitutes for traditional bitumen in pavement construction, using a chemomechanics-based material design approach. Her research into bio-based materials and innovative binder designs not only aims to meet industry standards but also intends to reduce the environmental impact of road building. This includes integrating recycled materials and low-temperature asphalt production methods.
Dr. Varveri actively contributes to the pavement research and engineering community, serving as the Secretary of the Academy of Pavement and Science and Engineering (APSE) and as Deputy Chair of the RILEM Technical Committee 295-FBB, where she contributes to develop recommendations and standards for fingerprinting paving binders.
Plenary Lectures
Dallas Little
Texas A&M University, USA
Dallas N. Little, Ph.D., P.E. holds the titles of University Distinguished Professor, Regents Professor, and E.B. Snead Endowed Chair Professor of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University-College Station, Texas. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, where he was the first researcher to hold that position.
He is a distinguished member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) - one of less than two hundred to hold that rank out of over 150,000 members. Professor Little was honored by ASCE to present Francis C. Turner and Carl L. Monismith Lectures in 2016 for his outstanding contributions to research and practice. He is a member of the ASCE Foundation's Board of Directors and Chair of its Council of Trustees.
During his academic career, Professor Little has served as principal investigator on projects with a total budget of over 37 million dollars. He has chaired the doctoral committees of many nationally prominent academic leaders. He has published over three hundred refereed journal articles and over eighty-five refereed proceedings, contributed to seven books, and given over 450 invited lectures, including numerous keynote lectures.
He has been a consultant on major projects to over 135 companies, served on many advisory and executive committees, and remains a widely sought-after consultant and expert witness on projects related to infrastructure performance and forensic studies.
Professor Little and his colleagues developed a pavement analysis and forensic investigation system that treats the asphalt as non-linear viscoelastic and viscoplastic, the granular layer as stress-sensitive, and accounts for the effect of moisture degradation in all layers and oxidation in the asphalt-bound layer. The model has been developed as a standalone analysis tool now being evaluated by the Federal Aviation Administration for forensic and analysis of pavement performance for commercial aviation airfield pavement structures.
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