Kent Around the World: One continent at a time

COVID-19 was not going to stop this crowd from continued learning!

In fact, this go around is the first time the Kent Seminar Series took place over the summer semester. And that’s all thanks to Javier García Mainieri and Izak Said, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering master’s and doctoral students, respectively.

Kent Around the World featured nine global transportation leaders who presented on a variety of topics, including the following (listed in chronological order):

• Steyn Wynand, University of Pretoria (South Africa) professor and head, “7.8 billion customers: Who benefits from my research?”
• Thiago Aragão, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) associate professor, “Constituent-based mechanical characterization of asphalt binders and mixtures.”
• Krishnan Murali, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (Chennai, India) professor, “Insight into bitumen rheology using the Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear.”
• Masad Eyad, professor at Texas A&M University and the university’s Mechanical Engineering Program in Qatar, “Nano-characterization for analysis and design of sustainable asphaltic materials.”
• Ghassan Chehab, American University of Beirut associate professor, “Investigating asphalt rutting failures in airfield pavements using advanced mechanistic material models.”
• Sandra Erkens, Delft University of Technology (Delft, Netherlands) professor and chair, “Porous Asphalt Concrete for Highways: Experiences and challenges in the Netherlands.”
• Ronald Blab, TU Wien (Vienna, Austria) full professor and dean, “Hot-mix-asphalt modeling by means of a multiscale approach.”
• C.S. Poon, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University chair professor and head, “Enhancement of properties of recycled aggregate concrete by accelerated CO₂ curing.”
• Zejiao Dong, Harbin Institute of Technology (Harbin, China) professor and vice dean, “Dynamic response of asphalt pavement from theoretical to monitoring.”

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We would like to take this moment to thank our Kent Around the World presenters for their willingness to share their research and knowledge!
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