Youngsoo “Richard” Kim Ph.D., P.E. Professor of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA Topic: Challenges and Opportunities in Developing Sustainable Asphalt Pavement

Dr. Y. Richard Kim obtained his Ph.D. degree from Texas A&M University. He has served as principal or co-principal investigator for over 11 million dollars in numerous research projects and has published over 150 papers in national and international technical journals and proceedings. He is the editor of the ASCE book entitled “Modeling of Asphalt Concrete” and an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Pavement Engineering. He is also a member of the Federal Highway Administration Asphalt Mixture and Construction Expert Task Group. Among numerous awards, he is a recipient of the Walter J. Emmons Best Paper Award by the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists in 1997, 2006, and 2009 and the recipient of The ALCOA Foundation Engineering Research Achievement Award in 1998. Professor Kim’s specialty areas include: characterization and performance modeling of asphaltic materials and asphalt pavements; condition assessment of pavements; and pavement design and rehabilitation.

Akira Kawamura Doctor of Engineering Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Kitami Institute of Technology (KIT) Director of the Cooperative Research Center, KIT Chair, Subcommittee of Road Surface Characteristics/Pavement-Committee, Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) Japan Topic: Using Road User-Oriented Approach in Pavement Evaluation: Critical Data and Potential Tools

Dr. Kawamura graduated from Hokkaido University in the Department of Civil Engineering (BCE) in 1978. Since 1997 he has been teaching highway and traffic engineering in the Graduate School of Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering, Kitami Institute of Technology.

His professional interests have included road surface characteristics, vehicle/road interaction and pavement management system. He has published and reviewed a lot of academic papers especially for the road surface characteristics and he is a chair of Pavement Committee for Road Surface Characteristics, Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE). He has been charged with the PIARC International Experiment (EVEN) in Japan in 1998. Afterwards, in order to monitor and evaluate road conditions, he has collected numerous road profiles in many countries using a new -type road profiler developed by himself and evaluated them by a sophisticated driving simulator. As a project manager, currently Dr. Kawamura has been engaged in the research work on “Road surface evaluation regarding performance-based inspection” awarded by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

Gilbert Baladi Ph.D., P.E. Professor of Civil Engineering Michigan State University, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Michigan, USA Topic: Theoretical and Actual Trends of the Pavement Remaining Service Life and Their Impacts on the Cost-Effectiveness of the Pavement Management Decisions

Dr. Baladi is a professor in Civil Engineering at Michigan State University. He pursued his interest in the areas of pavement material characterization, mix design, pavement management, pavement design and rehabilitation, nondestructive testing, pavement maintenance, pavement performance modeling, shallow and pile foundations and other geotechnical engineering aspects.  Dr. Baladi is a consultant to more than twenty Departments of Transportation and fifty private companies.  He has been the principal investigator of numerous research studies sponsored by States & Federal Governments, National Academies, and the private sector. Dr. Baladi serves as professional witness and works with more than 40 law firms on highway related litigations.

Omar Smadi, PhD Director, Roadway Infrastructure Management and Operation Systems (RIMOS) Research Scientist, Center for Transportation Research and Education Adjunct Professor, Iowa State University Topic: Decision Making in an Asset Management Environment: Data and Tools

Dr. Smadi has over 20 years of experience in the area of infrastructure and asset management ranging from pavements, bridges, safety, pavement marking, signs and other infrastructure assets.  Dr. Smadi also is an adjunct professor with the department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State University.  He is currently serving as PI for several research projects for the Iowa Department of Transportation, the Iowa Highway Research Board, Minnesota DOT, the federally funded Midwest Transportation Consortium (MTC), NCHRP, SHRP 2, and FHWA.  He chairs the TRB Committee on Pavement Monitoring and Evaluation and a member of the Pavement Management and AssetManagement committees.  Dr. Smadi teaches the FHWA Data Integration workshop and NHI’s Asset Management class.  Dr. Smadi manages an annual data collection contract for pavement distress and video log for over 13,000 miles for the state of Iowa and cities and counties in the state.