Keynote Speakers

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Topic: Strengthening Canada's Buildings in a Changing Climate: A Journey from Research to Resilience  

Marianne Armstrong is Director of the National Research Council’s Climate Resilient Built Environment Initiative, where she plays a pivotal role in shaping and implementing a national research program aimed at enhancing the resilience of Canada's infrastructure and buildings against climate change and extreme events. Over the past decade, she has directed and inspired multi-disciplinary resources at the NRC and collaborators from over 170 different organizations to work together to affect change to national guidance, codes and standards, and achieve critical progress towards a sustainable and resilient future for Canada's built environment.

Topic: Collaborating Towards a Sustainable Built Environment: An International Outlook   

Keith Hampson is recognised globally for his award-winning collaborations translating research into practice in the construction industry. He serves as CEO at Australia’s Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) and is a Past President of the CIB (International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction). He has recently been appointed as John Curtin Distinguished Professor at Curtin University in recognition of exceptional and sustained contribution to the University, including his distinguished national and international academic reputation; as well as Affiliate Professor in Architecture and Civil Engineering at Chalmers University. Keith has also been elected as an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia (HonFIEAust), Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD), Fellow of The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (FATSE), and International Fellow of The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA).

Topic: Use of Artificial Intelligence in service life prediction and maintenance planning  

Ana Silva is a researcher & innovation strategist focused on activating and nourishing innovation ecosystems towards a more sustainable and resilient society. Ana’s experience ranges from coordination of high-level multistakeholder and interdisciplinary collaboration projects, to developing AI-driven tools for smarter decision-making in asset intensive sectors that are critical for the functioning of society. Her activities cover the construction, defense, energy, transportation and water sectors. She is currently the Head of Research and Innovation at Porvalor, with a focus on identifying market trends and emerging technologies to develop innovation opportunities within the built environment. Ana Silva authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications and two scientific books, holds a PhD in Civil Engineering and is currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science. 

Topic: Climate change and Energy shift – expectations on building and construction sector and industry 

 Christer Sjöström is an R&D engineer and senior Professor of KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. He has a long background in working with R&D and standardisation within areas such as performance over time of materials, products and technical systems and has contributed to most of the DBMC-events since the start of the series of conferences. One of his major interests is the important interrelation of academic research and industrial and societal development. He was President of CIB during 1995 – 1998, a period that was concluded with a Congress focussing “Construction and the Environment”. With his backstory of research work in industry, at research institutes and academy he has also over the years advised start-up companies and founded new companies. He is today counsellor and Board Member of a start-up with a patented accelerator technology to support production of green hydrogen gas.