Understanding the origins of human errors

Dr. Marija Bertovic
BAM, Federal Institute for Materials Research, Berlin, Germany

Wednesday February 15 at 9.15

Dr. Marija Bertovic, born 1981, obtained her diploma degree in psychology (Dipl. psych) at the University of Rijeka, Croatia, and her doctoral degree at the Technical University in Berlin, Germany. Since 2006 she has been working on topics related to human factors in non-destructive testing at BAM and at the German Society for Non-Destructive Testing (DGZfP) - Education and Training Ltd. The focus of her research has been on identifying and studying risks arising from the interaction of people with technical systems and organisation, as well as on developing strategies to address those risks. The domains in which she has conducted her research include nuclear power plants, final disposal of spent nuclear fuel, and railway.

Natural hazards in South America. Application methodology of local risk disaster management on Chilean Patagonia

Dr. Matias Valenzuela
Ministry of Public Works in Chile, Chile

Thursday February 16 at 9.00

Matias has got P.E. Civil Engineering from the University of Chile. He graduated M.Sc. of Structural and Construction Engineering and got Ph.D. in Construction Engineering from Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain. Matias is Fiscal Inspector at Ministry of Public Works in Chile and Head of Design and Engineering of the Chacao Multi-Span Suspension bridge. He works actively in international engineering associations including PIARC, IABSE and IABMAS. His research areas include cable-supported bridges, heuristic optimization methods, management of structures, and maintenance of large structures.

Review of bridge collapses worldwide 1966 - 2017

Dr. Anton Syrkov
PLC Transmost, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Wednesday February 15 at 9.45

Anton is a bridge engineer and Honorary Road Builder of the Russian Federation. His fields of expertise are the design, assessment of structural condition, life cycle problems, risk analysis and management. He participated in the design of 14 major bridges and dozens of ordinary bridges for roads and railways of Russia. Over the last 16 years he has in particular expertise in assessment of bridges condition, elaborating of routine and heavy maintenance plans, structural health monitoring systems, risk analysis and life cycle optimization of bridge structures. Since 2004, he has taken the initiative to collect and analyse data on failures and collapses of bridges in order to improve technical solutions and risk management. Anton acts as a head of Life Cycle Department in PLC Transmost and an associate professor of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering in Russia.

Strength properties of existing timber structures – uncertainty of the estimation

Prof., Dr. Gerhard Fink
Aalto University, Finland

Thursday February 16 at 10.30

Gerhard (born 1982, Austria) is Professor for Wooden Structures at the Department of Civil Engineering at Aalto University. He studied civil engineering at the Technical University of Graz in Austria. From 2009 to 2014 he worked at ETH Zurich in Switzerland where he performed his PhD study and worked as a Postdoc. Before he starts at Aalto University he worked, as a scientific employee and project leader, at the Structural Engineering Research Laboratory at Empa in Switzerland. His research activities cover several areas in timber engineering and in structural reliability, including innovative solutions for development of more reliable and efficient engineered wood products.

Pitfalls in numerical analysis of structures

Prof., Dr. Reijo Kouhia
Tampere University of Technology, Finland

Wednesday February 15 at 14.30

Reijo (born 1960, Hämeenlinna, Finland) received his doctoral degree from Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. Currently he is Professor of Solid Mechanics at Tampere University of Technology. His research interests lie in non-linear continuum mechanics - especially stability analysis, constitutive modelling, multi-physical problems and numerical solution techniques related to them.

Strength defects of new concrete structures in Finland (invited lecture)

Professor of Practice, D.Sc. (Tech.) Jouni Punkki
Aalto University, Finland

Wednesday February 15 at 10.30

Jouni (born 1963, Finland) received his doctoral degrees from Norwegian University of Technology and from Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. Currently he is Professor of Practice in Concrete technology at Aalto University. During his career, he has been working as researcher in universities, development and management positions in pre-cast concrete industry and as entrepreneur in his own consulting company. His research activities cover concrete material research, concrete durability and production technology.

The sudden and acute phenomenon in the Finnish construction industry elaborated by Professor in Concrete Technology. 
See news article on the topic: Transport agency to probe for concrete defects in bridges (2 January 2017)