Abdullah Al-Shamsi’s career in engineering, Infrastructure and service development spanned many years before he joined the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City during which he managed to make a series of achievements in engineering fields, and effective contribution towards ensuring an advanced infrastructure in Abu Dhabi Emirate. Al-Shamsi gained excellent experience from various positions held that enriched his current post in the Municipality and placed him in a position to upgrade the level of services, operations and responsibilities held by the Municipal Infrastructure & Assets Sector, carry out projects & initiatives, and set out engineering standards aligned with the best global standards & practices. Examples of such projects include Al Salam Street Upgrading Project, Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Al Mafraq Bridge, developing the infrastructure of new towns (Khalifa City, Mohammed bin Zayed City, … etc); featuring best-in-class engineering standards & specifications compatible with the local environment and well-suited to meet the challenges of nature and potential seismic risks.

To enhance his academic qualifications, Al Shamsi went further beyond his in B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering/ Project Management to obtain the Master degree in International Business from the reputed Australian Wollongong University. Besides his current position, Al-Shamsi held earlier key posts including:

• Manager of several mega projects, Abu Dhabi City
• Manager, Technical Services, Municipality of Abu Dhabi City
• Director of Roads, Municipality of Abu Dhabi City
• Chairman of Tenders Committee, Municipality of Abu Dhabi City
• Chairman of the Executive Committees of International Projects, Municipality of Abu Dhabi City
• Chairman of Projects Committee, Department of Municipal Affairs
• Director of Materials & Subcontractors Endorsement Committees, Department of Works
• Deputy Chief, Construction Section, Department of Works
• Chief of Maintenance Section, Department of Works

Eng. Mohannad Al Khayat holds a Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from the Kuwait University. He started his career at the Ministry of Public Works in 1995 as Civil Engineer in the Design Department for Road Affairs Sector and became the Department’s Director in 2008.

For the last 15 years Robert Uthwatt has worked for COWI where he has specialised on all the technical and supervision aspects required in the construction of Causeways and Stay Cable Bridges and has been involved in the manufacture, testing and control of the stay cables. He has worked as Project Manager in Kuwait where work has just completed on the Prequalification and Tender Documents for two Causeways across the Kuwait Bay – one being 36km long and the other 13km long. Previously he worked as Resident Engineer in India on the Naini Stay Cable Bridge across the River Yamuna, and in South Korea on the construction of the Seo Hae Grand Bridge, as well as the reconstruction of Luangwa Bridge, a 30 year old stay cable bridge in Zambia.

Prior to this he spent 9 years working in the UK as well as 10 years working in South Africa, both as a Contractor. In UK he worked on the Second Severn Crossing Stay Cable Bridge and in South Africa, on projects ranging from the very sophisticated construction of Headgears for Gold Mines to the construction of basic bridges in Homelands many miles off the beaten track. At present he is the Project Manager in Kuwait where he is working on the two Kuwait Causeways.

Osama Freija holds a Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering from University of South Florida, USA, with emphasis in Transportation Engineering and Transportation Planning. He has over 15 years of traffic engineering and transportation planning experiences in Qatar, United States of America and Kuwait. He has managed several studies specifically related to master transportation, traffic impact, parking and public transport studies in the United States of America and currently in Qatar.

Mr. Freija joined the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning in December 2007 as a Senior Traffic Engineer. Prior to that, he was the Manager of Traffic Engineering and Transportation Planning with the City of Sarasota, Florida, USA.

Mr. Freija contributed to a wide range of transportation and parking planning as well as designs in Qatar/Doha and the City of Sarasota, Florida, USA, which included managing several transportation and parking studies. Some of his strategic projects are the Sarasota Downtown Mobility study in the United States of America and the Sarasota Downtown Parking Master Plan. In Qatar he was the co-coordinator for the Transportation Master Plan for Qatar (TMPQ) and the Project Coordinator for Qatar National Bicycle Master Plan.

Saad Mohamad Khodr holds a Bachelor degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Washington State University of Pullman, Washington, USA. He also holds an MBA from City University of Bellevue, Washington, USA.

Mr. Khodr has over 20 years of experience in Transportation Engineering ranging from Planning, Design, and Construction experiences in Qatar and the United States of America. He has managed several projects and studies specifically related to transportation in the United States of America and Qatar.

Mr. Khodr joined the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning in May 2006. Prior to that, he worked for the Department of Planning for the City of Seattle and the Department of Transportation (WSDOT) in the State of Washington, USA.

In Qatar, Mr. Khodr was the Project Coordinator for the Transportation Master Plan for Qatar (TMPQ) and a technical team member in several other studies like the Qatar National Bicycle Master Plan, the Doha Bay Crossing, and the Redevelopment of Al Rayaan Street, and other current studies.

Hamed I. Zaghw is Senior Vice President and Division Director, responsible for Parsons Transportation operations in the Middle East, North Africa and Mediterranean. His experience includes business development, risk and financial management, joint venture & consortium setup, claims avoidance and dispute resolution, management systems, negotiation, project controls and contract administration. He has over 29 years of project management experience in Transportation, Structural and Highway projects, with a proven track record of successfully completing complicated and demanding programs on time and within budget. His experience covers the entire gamut of engineering services including transportation planning, detailed design, program management and construction management. His portfolio of major projects includes multi-billion dollar programs such as Dubai Metro, Ras Al Khor / Business Bay Crossing corridor, Parallel Roads in Dubai, several bridge and parking structure projects in Abu Dhabi, major infrastructure projects for various new developments in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar, Rehabilitation of I-40 in Tennessee and various projects in Indiana, Emirates Road, Sheikh Zayed Road Interchanges and landside of Dubai International Airport Expansion program. His work experience includes working in the USA, Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe.

Jesper S. Damgaard is the Managing Director for COWI in UAE. He has more than 15 years experience in marine engineering and has spent the last six years in the Gulf as a manager. Jesper started his career doing hydraulic research but has since branched into general engineering and management, and has been involved in a number of large marine infrastructure projects in the region.

COWI is an international engineering company with 4,800 staff in offices around the world. Marine & coastal engineering is one of COWI's core capabilities and presently the company is executing projects from its seven Marine hubs around the world. Recent coastal projects include Pearl of the Gulf (Qatar), Lusail (Qatar), The Lagoons (UAE), Al Reem Island (UAE), Al Zorah (UAE) and Al Dana (UAE).

David Ball is the Chairman of David Ball Group PLC. He has spent over 35 years in designing and manufacturing materials for the construction industry. He is President of the Concrete Society, Chairman of the Concrete Bridge Development Group and a Fellow of the RSA. David is on several committees for local charities including the Chaplaincy to People at Work in Cambridge.

David is a main Board member of the Greater Cambridgeshire Partnership and a member of the Local Strategic Partnership Board of South Cambridgeshire District Council. He is Patron of Wintercomfort for the homeless in Cambridge and is a Trustee of the Pye Foundation.

Chris Hendy has a Master of Arts Engineering from Cambridge University and is a Fellow of The Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE). He is the Head of Bridge Design and Technology for Atkins, providing technical leadership to 700 bridge engineers worldwide. Chris is a UK national expert in the use of the Structural Eurocodes and has been heavily involved in their development. He has written three books on bridge design to the Eurocodes and numerous UK National Annexes and BSI documents to implement the Eurocodes.

Chris is Chairman of the UK’s Steel Bridge Group, comprising senior industry figures from contractors, fabricators and designers. He is also a member of BSI bridge committee B525/10 and the European Convention for Construction Steelwork, specializing in plate buckling. Chris has been responsible for the design of many complex box girder and cable-stayed bridges in both concrete and steel. Recent projects include the design of Dubai Metro, the bearing replacement scheme for the Forth Road Bridge, the New Medway Bridge in Kent, refurbishment of the cable-stayed Penang Bridge in Malaysia, design of the Al Sowa Island Bridges in Abu Dhabi and the review of design standards for new EPR nuclear reactor containments.

Gianni Moor is Deputy General Manager of Mageba SA since 2001. He holds a masters degree in Civil Engineering from the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH). During his studies he worked in Osaka, Japan and in the Dominican Republic. After having completed his studies with the Culmann Prize for the best thesis, he started at Mageba in 1992 as a Project Manager and was then promoted to Sales Director in 1995. In 1996 he left the company to get his MBA degree at IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. During the two year MBA programme he worked in Lagos, Nigeria and studied one semester in Mexico City at IPADE Business School. In 1998 he joined the management consultancy Europraxis as a Senior Consultant. His assignments focused mainly on turnaround cases throughout Europe. In 2001, he acquired together with Thomas Spuler, today's CEO of Mageba SA, all the shares of Mageba SA.

Niculin Meng received his civil engineering degree from the Swiss Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland (ETHZ) after studying at Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands before. He is currently Area Manager for the Middle East and Eastern Europe at Mageba SA.

Tim Risbridger is a Partner with EC Harris and has been based in Abu Dhabi for more than 3 years. Tim has been involved in a large variety of infrastructure projects with specific emphasis in highways, bridges, marine and aviation. Between August 2007 and January 2010 he was EC Harris’ Commercial Director on the Al Raha Beach programme in Abu Dhabi which includes AED18 billion of infrastructure works and incorporates 37 bridges. He is now head of EC Harris’ Transportation sector in the Middle East. Prior to moving to the Middle East he was working on the £4.3 Billion Heathrow Airport, Terminal 5 project. Initial project role was Head of Cost & Commercial Management for Infrastructure and subsequently he became Head of Cost Management for the whole programme. He also sat on the T5 Project Board and served on various T5 Steering Committees.

Before joining the BBR group in 2002, Marcel Poser worked for over 10 years in the field of steel construction and construction engineering machinery for tunnels and bridges in Switzerland, the European Union, Eastern Europe, Asia/Pacific and Africa. He is a registered engineer and a graduate of Zurich University, Switzerland and post-graduate of the University of Texas, Austin in the United States. After joining the BBR Group, Marcel initiated and successfully negotiated a variety of construction projects and advised BBR Network members around the world on technical restructuring and improvements, as well as project acquisition - with a strong emphasis on high-end and high-prestige construction projects. He also led technical development as Chief Technical Officer of the BBR Group. In 2006, he was appointed CEO by the Board of Directors of BBR VT International Ltd.

Naeem Hussain is an Arup Fellow and Director and worldwide bridge leader with over 40 years experience of civil and bridge engineering works in Hong Kong, China, Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Nigeria, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, UK and USA. Education in both engineering and architecture has enabled him to combine the best of both engineering and architectural disciplines in winning international bridge design competitions and designing award winning bridges for both road and rail. Since 1986 Mr Hussain has complemented his technical and design flair with project managing large multidisciplinary infrastructure projects through design and construction.

Currently, he is currently the Main Bridge Design Discipline Leader for the Forth Replacement Crossing in Scotland and the lead Arup designer on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Link.

Vardaman (Vardy) Jones is a senior chartered structural engineer with more than 20 years’ experience. Having joined Rendel Palmer & Tritton (now High-Point Rendel) as a Graduate Engineer, Vardaman has rapidly risen through the ranks. Previously Director of Structural Engineering, he is now Director of Project Delivery, Infrastructure. He has particular experience in respect of the design and construction of long span cable supported bridges, and other major crossings throughout the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Important bridge projects he has worked on include the Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Abu Dhabi, the Aswan Cable Stayed Bridge, Egypt and the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge, Bangladesh.

Engineer Mohamed Ahmed Al-Amri currently acts as Manager, Transport Services, Infrastructure Coordination and Services Division, Municipality of Abu Dhabi City since 2008.Through this position, he contributed to huge achievements that enhanced the importance of the business and projects undertaken by the Division. Al Amri oversees a host of projects currently undertaken by the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City; which include Sheikh Zayed Bridge and Al Mafraq Bridge; two of the key and most vital road projects in Abu Dhabi Emirate that are poised to bring about a quality shift in the traffic movement map. Through his current position, Engineer Al Amri is also an active participant in the drive to enhance the appearance of Abu Dhabi city.

The role of engineer Al Amri is not restricted to the projects carried out by the Municipality across the UAE but also extends to cover projects overseas. For instance he is a member of the committee supervising the construction of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan City in Gaza, Palestine, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan City in Cairo, Egypt and several other projects undertaken by the Municipality abroad.

Joe Barr has led major bridge design and procurement teams, from feasibility through detailed design to implementation. He also has considerable experience in the management and durability of structures, including rehabilitation and strengthening. He has provided due diligence services for infrastructure works, support for dispute resolution through forensic investigation of bridges and buildings, and expert opinion on problems with concrete structures and seismic engineering. He is author or co-author of papers and guidance publications on design, construction, inspection and maintenance, post-earthquake field investigations and seismic engineering.Most recently he has worked as Chief Bridge Engineer for Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi, overseeing the contractor’s implementation of HPR’s design.

Brian West is a native of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Following graduation, he entered the construction industry and focused his career on management of heavy civil bridge projects. Having been involved in various levels of construction management for the last 32 years, he has acquired a wide variety of bridge experience including precast segmental, cast-in-place segmental, long span steel trusses, orthotropic steel box girders and conventional girder works. Over the last 25 years, his focus has been the construction management of cable stayed bridges located in Canada, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. He currently serves as Project Director for the AST-VSL Joint Venture on the Hodariyat Bridge Project in Abu Dhabi.

Dyab Khazem is a technical director and an engineering manager at Parsons Transportation Group with 26 years of experience in long span bridge design, and construction. He joined Parson in 1984 to be the project engineer for the rehabilitation of America’s most famous iconic bridge and landmark “The Brooklyn Bridge” and since then he has been instrumental in the design and construction of many Parsons new iconic bridges in the United States and abroad including the most recent “Messina Bridge” in Italy.

Dr. Ghassan Ziadat is the Director of Infrastructure for Atkins in the UAE and the Regional Head of Bridges for Atkins Middle East and India. Dr. Ziadat is a graduate in Civil Engineering from the University of Bristol, UK, where he also attained a PhD in Bridge Engineering. He has worked on a variety of infrastructure projects, particularly in design-and-build incorporating major bridges, tunnels, above and below ground infrastructure facilities in the UK, the Far East and the Middle East. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and Institution of Highways & Transportation, UK.

Bashar Alshawaf, B. Sc. is a Chief Road Engineer of Saudi Consulting Services (Saudconsult), he holds a B.Sc in civil engineering from Damascus University , Syria (1981). During his 30 years of professional experience he has been involved in about 150 projects in the fields of the Design, Supervision and Engineering Management including Roads, Highways, Bridges, Railways, and Tunnels, He has joined Saudconsult in 1981, working on many projects for distinguished clients such as Ministry Of Communication MOC, Aramco , Royal Commission, Ministry Of Municipalities and Rural Affairs MOMRA, and National Guard. He is a registered “Consultant Engineer” in Saudi Council of Engineers.

Yousef Alshawaf holds a B.Sc in civil engineering from Damascus University, Syria and an M.Sc. in Structural Engineering (with emphases on Structural Dynamics) from Worcester Polytechnic Institute WPI, USA. During his 20 years of professional experience he has been involved in more than hundred projects in the fields of design, supervision and engineering management including bridges, tunnels, and prestigious building projects in Saudi Arabia and abroad. He has joined Saudconsult in 1990, working on numerous projects for distinguished clients such as Saudi Aramco, Royal Commission, Arriyad development Authority, and Royal Saudi Airlines. He is a registered “Consultant Engineer” in Saudi Council of Engineers.

Eng. Mohamed Refaat has 19 experience years in Bridges Design Field. During this period he designed numerous normal/short span bridges of different types of structural systems as well as a few iconic bridges. He started his career as an Engineer at Moharram Bakhoum in Egypt, a renown Middle East office for Roads & Bridges consultancy. He moved to UAE and joined "Cansult" as a key person for the Bridge design Section and since 2007, he is working in RTA as a Chief Design Engineer. Among the projects he has designed and participated into, his mission included integrating new structures with existing, fitting proposed structures in very congested areas and managing the design to use modern method of construction such as Segmental Construction. The key projects in his career are "El-Ittihad Road between Dubai & Sharjah", "Segmental Construction of Burjuman Link in Dubai", "Creek 6th Crossing Bridge in Dubai" and" Bridge of Dubai Smile 7th Crossing".

* also Chief Bridge Engineer, Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)

Jean-François Blassel, senior partner of RFR, bridge group director, provides project leadership, green and greyscape integration, through sensitive structural geometries and tactile detailing, for large and small links in a variety of transportation networks. His bridge work ranges from major crossings for tracked transport, to the design of urban structures, such as the iconic bridges at Al Raha Beach in Abu Dhabi. His current projects include new lightbridges, three for Saadiyat Island, one in Calgary, and bridges in France. He is based in Paris, trained as architect and engineer, worked with Renzo Piano and Peter Rice and teaches in Paris.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Ummenhofer is full Professor at the University of Karlsruhe, now Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), holds a chair in steel structures and is head of the Research Center for Steel, Timber and Masonry, Section Steel and Light-Alloy-Structures. He is also validating engineer for structural design, specialized in metal and solid construction and partner in his own engineering office “Ingenieursozietät Peil, Ummenhofer and Partner” (IPU). As a member of the expert committee of “German Institute for Building Technology” (DIBt) for metal and composite construction he examines fire behavior of building components and fire resistant glazing as well as steel and composite structures of buildings and bridges.

Eng. Javad Akhtar is a graduate of Nottingham University, Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and Member of the Chartered Management Institute. He manages major developmental infrastructure projects in the Middle East region and has professional responsibility for the Bridges Design Function in Hyder Abu Dhabi. He has extensive knowledge of UK and international design codes, with particular expertise in the investigation of complex technical issues and design of advanced structures. His multidisciplinary experience encompasses a dozen countries, and includes highway/municipal engineering, institutional development, management and business development.

He has a broad professional background with 11 years of infrastructure experience with a UK Regional Authority, followed by 21 years experience in international consultancy. Recent projects have included Al Khaleej Al Arabi Road Diversion and Tunnel, Al Raha Interchanges 1 and 2A, Zallaq Bridge, Mafraq Interchange, Al Ain Dubai Road widening and the Shams Development on Reem Island.

Dr. Walid Damaj BSc, MSc, PhD, MIStructE, Ceng holds a MSc degree in Structural Engineering and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). Dr. Damaj has over 20 years experience in the design, maintenance, coordination and management of civil project acceptance. His civil engineering projects include an array of highways and bridges projects as well as municipal engineered projects, including roads and bridges maintenance. He wrote several papers in the use of non-destructive techniques to detect corrosion and voids in pre-stressed bridges, especially the use of ultrasonic techniques. He worked in the UK, Lebanon, Qatar and UAE. He is currently working in Al Ain Municipality as an Advisor on design and maintenance of highways bridges. He is a member of the Institution of Structural Engineers and a Chartered Engineer of the UK Engineering Council.

Nidal Odeh is a Chartered Structural Engineer by profession. He holds a BSc degree in Civil Engineering and an MSc degree in Structural Engineering. He has over 20 years experience in the design and management of bridge projects. He has worked on major international projects around the world conducting feasibility studies, preliminary and detailed design of bridges both in railway and highway environment. Example projects in the Middle East include: Sheik Jaber Al –Ahmad Al- Sabah Causeway in Kuwait, Reem Island (Shams Development for Sorouh, Najmat Abu Dhabi for Reem Investment and Tamouh for Tamouh Investment), Palm Islands for Nakheel and Lusail Development in Doha for Qatari Diar. Other major international projects include Channel Tunnel Rail Link in the UK, West Rail Project in Hong Kong and Taiwan High Speed Rail.

Nidal is the Head of Bridges and Civil Infrastructure for SMEC International in the Middle East and North Africa with responsibility for design management, business development and project delivery.