Lieyun Ding, PhD, is a professor, director of the BIM Research Laboratory and rector/president of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan (Hubei), China. He has previously served as rector/president of Northeastern University in Shenyang (Liaoning), China. His research interests focus on applying information and automation technologies to construction engineering and management, and on safety and risk management for large-scale built infrastructure, including metro systems, bridges and tunnels. Professor Ding is the editor-in-chief of the Chinese Journal of Civil Engineering and Management. He also serves as deputy director of the Management Division of Science and Technology Committee of China’s Ministry of Education, chairman of the Architectural Society of China Construction Management Research Division, deputy chairman of the Chinese Society of Metals, and director of China’s National Accreditation Board for Construction Management.
Dr. Salman Azhar is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Chair in the McWhorter School of Building Science at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama. He has more than 15 years of research, teaching and construction industry experience by working in USA, Hong Kong, Thailand and Pakistan. Dr. Azhar has conducted research on Building Information Modeling, Construction safety, Decision support systems and Construction education. His research projects have been funded by the US Department of State, Construction Industry Institute (CII), National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), the Alabama State Licensing Board for General Contractors, and several construction firms in the Southeast USA. He has written a book entitled “Data Warehousing in Construction Organizations: Concepts, Architecture and Implementation”, co-edited seven conference proceedings and published more than 90 papers in refereed journals and conferences. He twice received the Best Conference Award at the Annual Conference of the Associated Schools of Construction, USA. Dr. Azhar is the Associate Editor of the International Journal of Construction Education and Research, USA and Editorial Board Member of ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering. Dr. Azhar received the Auburn University’s Outstanding Faculty award in 2012 and the Building Science Outstanding Researcher Award in 2011 and 2009.
Petr Hajek is Professor of Civil Engineering at Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering. Currently he is Vice Dean for Research, Head of Department of Building Structures and Head of the research programme Architecture and Environment at University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings. He is an expert in sustainable construction of buildings, complex assessment and rating of building performance quality, LCA, optimization of concrete structures and use of recycled materials.
P. Hajek is a member of the CEN TC 350 committee and head of team responsible for implementation and translation of CEN 350 Standards into Czech Republic. He is a deputy head of fib (International Federation for Structural Concrete) Commission 3 – Environmental Aspects in Design and Construction of Concrete Structures and a convener of fib C3 TG C3.7 – Integrated life cycle assessment of concrete structures. Since 2005 he is a board member of iiSBE – International Initiative for Sustainable Built Environment and chairman of CSBS iiSBE Czech – Czech Sustainable Building Society. He is an Editor-in-Chief of journal Beton TKS (Concrete – Technology, Construction, Reconstruction) and board member of Czech Concrete Society.
P. Hajek has been a head of 11 research projects and co-researcher of 16 other research projects. He has been a member of international research teams in European projects SUREURO – Sustainable Refurbishment of Europe (FP5), LEnSE – Methodology Development towards a Label for Environmental Social and Economic Buildings (FP6), PERFECTION – Performance Indicators for Health, Comfort and Safety of the Indoor Environment (FP7), SuPerBuildings – Sustainability and performance assessment and benchmarking of buildings (FP7) and currently EURL3A – European Real Life Learning Lab and many other national research projects. P. Hajek has published more than 130 research-based publications.
Eduard Hromada has been the deputy head of Department of Economics and Management in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague. He has been responsible academic coordinator and co-coordinator of 10 research and teaching projects. He is author and co-author of more than 40 publications and articles in professional journals. He is evaluator of the projects co-financed from operational and regional programs of the European Union. His research areas include project management, transport infrastructure, real estate and facility management.
Milík Tichý is a Professor of Civil Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering. His domain of interest is structural concrete, structural loads, reliability of structures, risk engineering, and project management. He was attached for about four decades to the Klokner Construction Research Institute as a Senior Scientist. In recent years, his interest has been aimed at theoretical and practical aspects of risk analysis and on problems of experts and expertise. He is a registered arbitrator, listed at the Standing Arbitration Court in Prague; he also is active as Expert Witness, and has a wide experience in legal issues of construction projects. He is the author or co-author of seven monographs and numerous research papers stemming in his domains of activities.
