Mamdouh Nasr is a Professional Geotechnical Engineer. His Masters was on offshore structures’ foundations and his Ph.D. was on performance of high pressure grouted piles. He is currently the General Manager, UAE, of Implenia Global Solutions. Mamdouh was previously Operation Manager at Alrajhi Foundation (Pilex) (a design–build contractor for soil improvement, seismic mitigation and deep foundations). He has over 20 years of work experience in design, construction and management of geotechnical projects including diaphragm walls, concrete piles, driven piles, micro piles and screw piles.

His most critical projects include the Car Park Medina - diaphragm wall in KSA, high pressure grouted driven piles at the port of Rabigh in KSA, Dubai dry dock, different transmission towers’ foundations in Canada, the Constitution Bridge in Barbados, the foundation of wind turbines in warm perma-frost in Kasigluk, Alaska, and the Long View Grain Port Terminal in WA (liquefaction and lateral spreading mitigation). He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Canadian Geotechnical Society, Society of Trenchless Technology and member of the steering committee of the Deep Foundation Institute. Mamdouh was also a member of the committee of the international building code 2009 in USA.

Federico Pagliacci graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Bologna University. In 1981, he entered the Trevi Group as job-site Manager and later upgraded to Project Manager for the management of foundation contracts both in Italy and abroad. In 1988 he was appointed as the Trevi Group Technologic Department Manager, with the responsibility of the research and development of new technologies and products. He was appointed as Soilmec Sales Director in 2000 and has been Soilmec General Manager since 2003.

Imraan Motara is a qualified civil engineer with over fifteen years experience and specialises in deep foundation and basement design and construction. Imraan also has extensive experience across site investigation and reporting, retaining structures, slope stability, earthworks, land reclamation and ground improvement. Imraan joined WSP Environment & Energy, Middle East in 2007 as a trained geotechnical engineer after spending 13 years with WSP in the UK. Imraan currently manages the Soil and Groundwater team across the Middle East. Imraan has experience in a number of middle east projects including; Palm Jebel Ali Water Homes - 500 residential ‘Water Homes’ and walkways, writing Geotechnical Interpretative Reports, providing specifications for foundations, undertaking the design of foundations and reviewing pile test data. Yas Island Southern Tunnel - an approximate 1km tunnel crossing the channel between Yas Island and the mainland of Abu Dhabi at Al Raha Beach where he has provided support with respect to preparing the Geotechnical Interpretative Report, preliminary design and analysis of the foundations, groundwater assessments and formation inspections during construction. Of the thirteen years experience in geotechnical and environmental engineering in the UK the majority of experience gained has been with a major UK consultant (WSP), with some experience working for a major UK contractor (John Mowlem) and a major railway infrastructure provider (Infraco JNP/Tube Lines). Whilst in the UK he worked on the Shard at London Bridge which when complete will be Europe’s tallest building, New Providence Wharf, 1 Millharbour a 50-storey tower making it the tallest residential tower in the UK support was provided including foundations and basement design and construction, Crossharbour, Arrowhead Quay, Merchant Square, West India Quay a 33 story tower with a 2 level basement including foundation and basement design and construction, Leybourne Lakes comprising residential homes constructed within a reclaimed lake which was specified, managed and supervised by Imraan, and other major highway and railway projects.

Marina Li is a Chartered Civil Engineer specialising in geotechnical engineering with extensive experience in ground modelling, deep foundation design, soil retention design, earthworks and ground improvement design. Her recent experiences include piled foundations and earthworks design coupled with construction support for major projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Marina joined WSP Environment & Energy, Middle East as Principal Geotechnical Consultant in 2008 and has been responsible for the geotechnical design and construction support of various projects in the Middle East region. She has advised on piled foundations for large commercial projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, ground improvement schemes for infrastructure projects in Abu Dhabi and basement design and support systems for various smaller projects in United Arab Emirates. Marina graduated from Imperial College, London with a Civil and Environmental Engineering Masters degree in 2003. Prior to joining WSP, Marina was employed as a Geotechnical Engineer with UK consultants (Tony Gee & Partners and Buro Happold) and has been responsible for the geotechnical delivery of various commercial, residential and infrastructure projects in UK, Hong Kong, Jamaica and United Arab Emirates. Marina is passionate about collaboration and delivery of good practice and practical engineering solutions, particularly in difficult ground conditions. Her depth of experience as a Geotechnical Resident Engineer for various projects in different parts of the world has enabled her to provide greater perspective on design and construction issues and offer strategic advice outside the traditional scope, effectively and efficiently.

Mr. Muhammad Ali joined Keller Turki Co. Ltd in 2000. He holds a Masters degree in Civil Engineering with specialty in Geotechnical Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Mineral Dhahran. Since 2004, he has worked as General Manager of the company.

Professor Rolf Katzenbach is a civil engineer educated at Technical University Darmstadt (Germany) where he got his Diploma (M.Sc.) and his Ph.D in Geotechnical engineering. Professor Katzenbach is a member of the chamber of engineers and a sworn expert who contributes to international courts of justice, arbitration committees, insurance companies, state ministries, and national and international banks, firms and investors. He has more than 30 years practical experience in geotechnical engineering. For the last 15 years and in addition to his role as senior partner in his consulting firm, Ingenieursozietät, Professor Katzenbach has been Director and Chairman of the Institute and Laboratory of Geotechnics at Technical University Darmstadt (TUD). He was responsible for developing the cost efficient foundation technique known as the Combined Pile Raft Foundation (CPRF). Professor Katzenbach is Chairman of the International Technical Committee, TC 18 “Deep Foundations”, of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), London, UK, and he is also president of the European Network of Excellence ELGIP (European Large Geotechnical Institutes Platform).

Marco Vogel holds an M.Sc. from Fachhochschule Karlsruhe and is currently a Senior Project Manager at Zueblin Ground and Civil Engineering. He was previously a Project Engineer at Walter Dywidag Engineering. Marco has overseen a number of landmark projects, including the Khalifa Bin Zayed National Stadium, Abu Dhabi, Aquarius Gate, Dubai, Four Seasons Hotel, Dubai, and currently the Saadiyat Bridge Project in Abu Dhabi.

Raymond Debrauwer received a Masters degree in civil engineering from the Technical University of Delft, Netherlands. He started his career in 2002 with Holland Railconsult as a geotechnical engineer before working for the Dutch office of Arcelor, ARBED Damwand Nederland B.V., as technical sales manager looking after steel foundation solutions. Raymond then moved to the Dubai office of ArcelorMittal and is now responsible for the Foundation Solutions department for India and the Middle East.

Dr. Abdul Karim El-Rousstom was born in Hama, Syria in June, 1943. In 1963, Dr. El-Rousstom joined the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona at which he got his Bachelor Degree, Master Degree and Ph.D. – all are in Civil Engineering. He was the first Ph.D. candidate to get a Ph.D. degree in the field of Soil Mechanics (Geotechnical Engineering) in the Civil Engineering Department with a Geotechnical Specialties Degree. All his Graduate Degrees were obtained through Scholarships and assistanceships for which he was a scholarship honor student, a Lecturer and a Researcher. Dr. El-Rousstom started Akramer Organization in Damascus – Syria, a firm that is still serving the country in Geotechnical Engineering & Construction. After that Soil & Foundation Co. Ltd. (SAFCO) was started by Dr. Abdul Karim El-Rousstom in Jeddah, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1977, a firm that is specialized in Geotechnical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Construction Materials Quality Control Services and Shoring & Dewatering works. By the end of 2007, SAFCO was the largest Engineering firm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in these areas of expertise, having completed over 70,000 projects. Dr. El-Rousstom presently is the Owner and Chairman of the Board of Soil & Foundation Co. Ltd. (SAFCO), Chairman of the Board and Partner of HARCO – a newly established firm specialized in Cut and Fill, Earth Moving and Compaction, and General Manager and Partner in the Specialized Italian Foundation Co. Ltd. (SIFCO) – a Piling Firm located in Jeddah, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dr. El-Rousstom was awarded the Engineering Medal in 1981 for his Civil Engineering Geotechnical achievements in King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah and was awarded the distinction of being a Proud Fellow of the ASCE in June, 2005. Dr. Abdul Karim El-Rousstom is the Author of Settlement Characteristics of Compacted Clays after Soaking and Rain Erodibility of Compacted Soils. Dr. El-Rousstom has issued over thirty thousand Soil Investigation reports.

Dr. Abdulhafiz Alshenawy is currently the General Manager at Shibh Aljazira for Deep Foundations Company. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota, U.S.A., and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from King Saud Univeristy. His fields of specialisation include soil mechanics and foundations, constitutitve modeling for soils and rocks, failure modes in the thick-wall hollow cylinder test and other laboratory tests. Dr. Alshenawy is also an Associate Professor in the Civil Engineering Department of King Saud University. He has held a number of positions in the Saudi Council of Engineers and has worked as a consultant for both the Saudi Council of Engineers and the Ministry of Public Works.

Manfred Schöpf is the Marketing Director of Bauer Maschinen GmbH. After graduating from the University of Innsbruck (Austria) as a Civil Engineer, he joined Bauer Spezialtiefbau 1978 where he worked as a Design Engineer. In 1980, he moved to the overseas construction department of Bauer where he worked in the project planning and estimating department for international projects. It included projects for piling and retaining walls for steel plants in Libya and Saudi Arabia. From 1984 to 1989, he was responsible for planning foundation projects in Iraq including the Kirkuk - Haditha Railway. From 1990 onwards, Manfred was transferred to the newly established overseas equipment division (GBM) as assistant to the Managing Director. His position was Senior Consulting Engineer with the focus on transferring civil engineering know-how to the clients of the Equipment Sales Department and Bauer Maschinen after 2001. His work included the project management of complex projects such as the first secant pile wall in Australia (Adelaide), the installation of the first cut-off wall in India (Dhauliganga Hydro Power Plant) and process engineering for new products. Presently he is Marketing Director of Bauer Maschinen with the responsibility for all technical publications including the organization and preparation of technical brochures for all equipment.

Dr. Walid Jaber completed his BSc in civil engineering from Oklahoma State University, USA and did his MS in structural mechanics and PhD in geotechnical engineering from North Carolina State University in 1988. The topic of his PhD was “Probabilistic Analysis of Wave Induced Instability of Offshore Sediments”. He wrote several papers which were published. After graduation, he joined the University of Technology of Malaysia and worked as a lecturer. Later Walid worked with some consultancy firms in Kuala Lumpur and was involved in the design of foundations for high rise buildings, marinas, reinforced earth and slope stability projects. He was involved in the construction of the underground section of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) of Kuala Lumpur which consists of five underground stations and the connecting tunnels. Walid joined NSCC in early 1999 and is currently a senior director for foundation engineering and has been involved in the design of all types of piling, marine and shoring works.

Parvez Naushahi is a Pakistani National who has worked in Saudi Arabia since 1984. He received his B.Sc. (Civil Engineering) in 1981 from UET Lahore and his M.S. (Engineering) in 1992 was from A.I.T. Bangkok. Parvez has considerable experience in Geotechnics, particularly focusing on piles and dams. He is currently General Manager of Ground Engineering Contractors (GEC).

Eng. Hussein Al-Anany graduated from Al-Azhar University in Egypt with a degree in civil engineering. He is currently a Project manager at PFFCO. Previously, Hussein worked as an Executive Manager at Vebro, a Project Manager at ATCC and a Project manager at Al-Khaseb.

Alp Gökalp is currently the technical office manager of Kasktas Co. Inc., Istanbul, a leading specialized geotechnical contractor in Turkey. He was graduated and received his B.S. degree in civil engineering from the Istanbul Technical University. Then he received his MS degree in geotechnical engineering from Middle East Technical University; where he worked as a research assistant for 3 years. Alp Gökalp has over 19 years practical experience in geotechnical engineering and construction with a primary emphasis in ground improvement and deep foundations. During his career he managed numerous projects in Midde East, Kazakhstan and Turkey. He is author and co-author over 25 papers published in national and international conference proceedings and a member of TC 17 “Ground Improvement”, of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE).