Keynote Speakers

Murat Saatçioğlu

Keynote Lecturer

Use of Transverse Grid Reinforcement in Earthquake Resistant Structural Elements

Biography

Helen Crowley

Keynote Lecturer

Engineering the future: how seismic risk models can build more resilient societies

Biography

Kutay Orakçal

Keynote Lecturer

Reinforced concrete walls: How well do we consider their behavior in analysis and design?

Biography

Kemal Önder Çetin

Keynote Lecturer

Lessons offered by the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake Sequence and Recent Advances in Seismic Soil Liquefaction Engineering

Biography

Sinan Akkar

Keynote Lecturer

Earthquake Loss Models for Turkish Insurance Portfolios

Biography

Sergio Alcocer

Keynote Lecturer

Challenges for Strengthening Seismic Resilience in Large Urban Areas: The Case of Mexico City

Biography

Murat Saatçioğlu

Keynote Lecturer

Use of Transverse Grid Reinforcement in Earthquake Resistant Structural Elements

Dr. Murat Saatcioglu is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineers, Engineering Institute of Canada, American Concrete Institute (ACI), and the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE). Professor Saatcioglu is the recipient of numerous national and international research and teaching awards and medals, including the 2015 A.B. Sanderson Award of CSCE for outstanding contributions to the development and practice of structural engineering in Canada; the 2014 Whitman Wright Award of CSCE for significant contributions to the advancement of innovation and information technology in civil engineering; the 2001, 2004 and 2015 Casimir Gzowski Medals for best papers in the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering; the 2004 Wason Medal of ACI, the 2000 Raymond C. Reese Research Prize of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for outstanding contributions to the application of structural engineering research, and the 1989 Charles Whitney Medal of ACI.

Helen Crowley

Keynote Lecturer

Engineering the future: how seismic risk models can build more resilient societies

Helen Crowley is Secretary General of the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation, a nonprofit non-governmental organization that drives a global collaborative effort to develop open data, tools and software for state-of-the-art seismic hazard and risk assessment. She has an MEng in Civil Engineering, and both an MSc and PhD in Earthquake Engineering, and over 20 years of experience in seismic risk and earthquake loss modelling. She is the author/co-author of almost 200 publications, peer reviewer for over 20 international scientific journals and Editor of Earthquake Spectra. Her awards include the 2009 European Geosciences Union Plinius Medal, the EERI’s 2012 Shah Family Innovation Prize and the 2024 SSA/EERI Joyner Memorial Lecture.

Kutay Orakçal

Keynote Lecturer

Reinforced concrete walls: How well do we consider their behavior in analysis and design?

Kutay Orakçal is a professor of Structural Engineering at Boğaziçi University. He graduated from Middle East Technical University and received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California Los Angeles. His research focuses on seismic behavior, computational modeling, laboratory/field testing, and design of reinforced concrete structures, with particularemphasis on structural walls. Dr. Orakçal is an editorial board member for the International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials and the Turkish Journal of Civil Engineering. He has served as a design consultant for numerous tall building construction projects. He also servesin national seismic code commitees.

Kemal Önder Çetin

Keynote Lecturer

Lessons offered by the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake Sequence and Recent Advances in Seismic Soil Liquefaction Engineering

Dr. Kemal Onder Cetin is professor of Geotechnics and Earthquake Engineering at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkiye. He earned his M.S. and Ph. D. studies at University of California at Berkeley, U.S.A. In addition to his involvement in research projects in the areas of experimental and theoretical soil mechanics, foundation and earthquake engineering, Prof. Cetin has served as a geotechnical and earthquake engineering consultant in a number of national and international mega projects including Istanbul Marmaray Submerged Tunnel, Istanbul Canal, Gebze-İzmir Motorway Project, Ankara-Istanbul Rapid Rail Project, Istanbul-Ankara-Izmir Metro Lines, Warsaw-Poland Metro Line, Efeler Geo-thermal Power Plant, Yemen-Sayut Nishtun Highway Tunnel, Kazan Soda Facility, Alpaslan II HEPP, Oman-Duqm Port, Turkmenbashi International Seaport, Akkuyu and Sinop Nuclear Power Plants. He is the author of over 500 technical publications including technical manuscripts, book chapters, and reports. The manuscript, which presents his proposed liquefaction triggering relationship, received the “Thomas A. Middlebrooks Outstanding Professional Accomplishment Award” offered by ASCE Geo-Institute in year 2006.

Sinan Akkar

Keynote Lecturer

Earthquake Loss Models for Turkish Insurance Portfolios

Sinan Akkar is currently the principal modeler of earthquake catastrophe at T Rupt Technology Inc., the research, development, and technology company of Turk Reasurans Inc. He served as a full-time professor at the Middle East Technical University and Boğaziçi University between 2003-2021. Sinan Akkar has performed several studies in ground-motion modeling, probabilistic earthquake hazard and risk analyses during his professional career. He served as the team member and technical integrator of ground-motion characterization of SSHAC Level 2 and 3 nuclear power plant seismic hazard projects in the US, Europe Türkiye, and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Prof. Akkar was also the principal investigator of National Seismic Hazard Map and Revision of the Earthquake Premiums for Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool (TCIP) and Insurance Association of Türkiye. He published more than two hundred technical papers in the international peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings at international and national levels. Sinan Akkar is the co-author of an international earthquake engineering book published by Springer. This book is recently translated into Chinese. He is a member of the board of directors in International Earthquake Engineering Association, Turkish Earthquake Foundation, and the editorial board member of Journal of Earthquake Engineering.

Sergio Alcocer

Keynote Lecturer

Challenges for Strengthening Seismic Resilience in Large Urban Areas: The Case of Mexico City

Sergio M. Alcocer is a Professor in the Institute of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and Professor in the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). He is member of the Advisory Committee on Structural Safety of the Mexico City Government. Alcocer is member of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) technical committee 318 Structural Concrete Building Code, chairs the technical subcommittee 318H on earthquake-resistant structures, and chairs the ACI-ASCE 352 committee on Joints and Connections in Monolithic Concrete Structures. Dr. Alcocer is Foreign Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. In 2023, Alcocer was awarded Mexico’s National Prize of Civil Engineering. He received his BSc in Civil Engineering with honors from UNAM, and a PhD in Structures from the University of Texas at Austin.