Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering

Prof. Sara Moridpour holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and received her master’s and PhD degrees in Traffic and Transportation Engineering. She has more than 20 years of work and research experience in traffic and transportation. She has been working at RMIT University since 2010 and is currently a professor of transport engineering. Sara is highly engaged in various research and professional activities within and beyond RMIT. She has worked on different projects, published numerous journal papers, and presented at prestigious conferences in transport modelling, traffic simulation, road safety, and sustainable transport. She has served as a technical and organising committee member of conferences and as an editorial board member of engineering journals.

Dr. Simeng Li is an Associate Professor in Civil Engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). He earned both his Ph.D. and M.Eng. degrees in Civil Engineering from Florida State University and is a licensed civil engineer (P.E.) in the State of California. His research interests focus on water system resilience, waste-to-resource technologies, and the remediation of environmental contaminants. His current research projects include the development and field evaluation of biopolymer-based water conservation technologies for sustainable agriculture. These include hydrogel-enhanced soil amendments derived from food and green waste to improve soil moisture retention, reduce irrigation frequency, and minimize nutrient leaching in arid and semi-arid environments. He also investigates the environmental applications of engineered biochar for nutrient recovery and contaminant removal, as well as resource recovery from municipal sludge and solid waste. In recognition of his research innovation, he was named an E. Kika de La Garza Science Fellow by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Additionally, Dr. Li is deeply committed to student success and actively promotes experiential learning by offering research-intensive and project-based opportunities for students at Cal Poly Pomona. He has mentored numerous students through research projects, theses, design competitions, and national conference presentations, fostering both academic excellence and professional readiness.

Dr. Levent Kara is an Associate Professor at the University of South Florida and teaches design studios and theory courses. He is a registered architect in Turkiye and has many awards for his design projects from the American Institute of Architects. Supporting his architectural practice and teaching, Kara's theoretical research concentrates on the epistemology of design thinking, from the fundamental modalities of structural design in terms of the relation between thinking form and structural expression to the more contemporary discussions on the conceptual and practical aspects of structural design processes. In addition to his architectural designs, Kara designed over 20 concrete and steel bridges and overpasses in various parts of Turkiye, Iraq, and Turkmenistan with special emphasis on structural expression and formal and material integrity.

Kara’s writings range from formal philosophical subjects in epistemology, aesthetics, and culture theory, to architectural design, theory and criticism, and architectural pedagogy.

Prof. Dr. Jihyun Hwang holds a PhD in offshore cryogenic liquefaction process optimization from graduate school of Seoul National University, South Korea. He is an experienced Hydrogen, LNG, Oil & Gas process professional who brings 20 years of relevant experience to specific projects and technology development. He is a Professor, Head of Hydrogen Energy at KENTECH ( https://www.kentech.ac.kr ), a managing director for FIP (Fraunhofer Innovation Platform)-
H2Energy@KENTECH ( FIP-H2ENERGY@KENTECH ) as well as Head of the HYLOT R&D lab ( https://hylot.kentech.ac.kr ), specialized in Hydrogen & LNG processes and project engineering. Before joining KENTECH, Prof. Dr. Jihyun Hwang worked as an expert in different international companies in South Korea, the United States, the Netherlands, and Germany. He is an esteemed technology development leader for (floating and onshore) hydrogen production & storage projects with in-depth knowledge and technical expertise in process engineering for cryogenic processes (LNG, hydrogen) and liquefaction engineering, blue hydrogen, green and blue ammonia, and methanol production.