Professor Brahim Benmokrane is an internationally renowned expert and world leader in the field of structural concrete internally reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement. Professor Benmokrane has made outstanding contributions to research, teaching, innovation, and leadership targeting the development of FRP reinforcement for concrete structures and their durability, structural performance, field applications, development of design codes and standards and the unflagging pursuit of knowledge transfer to industry. His pioneering research has significantly influenced the development of concrete structures reinforced with FRP rebars, building codes, and design specifications as well as FRP’s practical use in North America and beyond. His research and sustained leadership in technical societies and technology transfer have contributed to widespread use of FRP rebars around the world. His expertise is sought after for professional seminars, international conferences, and academic courses worldwide. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Academy of Science), Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, American Concrete Institute, Canadian Academy of Engineers, International Institute for FRP in Construction, Engineering Institute of Canada, and Bridge Engineering Institute, he has received many awards, including the NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation; the Technology Partnership and Innovation Award from ADRIQ; the Order of Professional Engineers of Quebec Award for Outstanding Achievements in Research in recognition of research results’ wide use in practice; the CSA Medal of Merit in recognition of outstanding leadership, exceptional expertise, and tireless effort in advancing standards related to construction materials and structures; Conmat’15 Lifetime Achievements Award in recognition of exemplary research in the field of structural materials; CSCS’s P.L. Pratley Award; the Grand Prix d’Excellence of the Order of Professional Engineers of Quebec—the Order’s highest award—in recognition of excellence in an engineer’s professional practice and for being a model for the entire profession; the Julian C. Smith Medal of the Engineering Institute of Canada for Achievement in the Development of Canada; and the IIFC Medal of the International Institute in FRP for Construction for making distinguished contributions to the field of FRP composites for construction through research or practical applications, or both.

Junxian Zhao is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the South China University of Technology. He is now assistant dean of the School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, and head of the Civil Engineering Department. He is awarded the title of national high-level young talent, leader of the excellent young team in Guangdong Province, Guangdong Province Outstanding Young Scholar, member of the Chinese Society for Vibration Engineering, as well as an editorial board member of the Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His main research areas include passive damping and resilience of structures. He has hosted more than 10 national and provincial projects, ranking first in winning the first prize of scientific and technological progress in Hebei Province. He has published more than 80 papers, including more than 40 high-level papers in JCR Q1/Q2 journals and first-level journals (12 papers published in Engineering Structures as the first or corresponding author), and one paper was selected as the top 10 hot papers of the authoritative journal EESD in earthquake engineering. He is ranked first in authorizing 2 US patents and 17 Chinese patent for invention. He has hosted 1 provincial standard and participated in 4 provincial/association standards. His research findings have been applied in more than 100 engineering applications, such as Beijing New Airport.

Bo Zhang, Professor of Shandong University, Doctoral supervisor, National registered structural engineer. He is mainly engaged in high-pressure water jet, laser and other high efficiency rock-breaking method, mechanism and equipment; rock and soil damage mechanism, anchor bolt(cable) and grouting reinforcement; building structure and foundation reinforcement. He has published more than 40 papers as the first or corresponding author in Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, International Journal of Geomechanics (ASCE), Construction and Building Materials, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Journal of China Coal Society, Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering, Rock and Soil Mechanics and other famous journals. Of which more than 30 papers are SCI/EI indexed, and 12 national invention patents are authorized. He is presiding over two General Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, with a total of five projects under research, and nine other provincial and ministerial level projects. He was awarded the "National Xu Zhilun Mechanics Outstanding Teacher Award" by the Chinese Mechanics Society in 2021, the first prize of Shandong Province Technological Invention Award, and the second prize of Scientific and Technological Progress by the Chinese Society of Rock Mechanics and Engineering. He is the member of the Pit Engineering Committee of Shandong Civil Engineering Society, the director of the Underground Engineering Branch of China Rock Mechanics and Engineering Society, and the secretary-general of Shandong Mechanics Society.

Prof. Cha’s essential interest includes the development of advanced deep learning methods for smart sustainable structural systems using advanced structural health monitoring systems and control technologies. Dr. Cha is a tenured full Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba. He received his Ph.D. in structural engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas in 2008, and served as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T). His key scientific contribution is deep learning-based automated SHM with autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). He brought this topic to light with paper publications in top-ranking journals. Researchers, professors, scientists, students, and industry professionals from many countries have shown a strong interest in this innovative topic since 2016 and have conducted numerous follow-up studies. His journal article (Cha et al., 2017) published in CACAIE which is a top 1-2 ranked journal in the entire civil engineering field was reported as the lifetime topmost highly cited paper, and he was also reported as the lifetime second topmost highly cited author in this same journal. In 2023, Elsevier Data Repository identified him as one of the most cited scientists in the field of civil engineering, ranking in the top 0.29%, and in the broader engineering field, where he ranked in the top 0.34% for single-year impact worldwide. He has been reported several hundred times as the most read author, with the most read research items and citations in the Civil Engineering Department at U of M, with more than 111,000 readings since his account on www.researchgate.net was opened (retrieved on September 6, 2023).