Int’l conference on civil engineering starts today

A virtual two-day international conference on civil engineering organised by Southern University of Bangladesh will begin today.

The conference, titled "Research and Innovation in Civil Engineering (ICRICE)" and organised by the civil engineering department of the university, will be held on Friday and Saturday, said chairman of the conference Prof Dr Mohammad Abul Mansur Chowdhury at a press conference held at Chattogram Press Club on Thursday.

Deputy Minister of Education Mahibul Hasan Chowdhury Nawfel will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the conference, he added.

M Mohiuddin Chowdhury and Dr Mozammel Haque discussed various aspects of the international conference at the press briefing, also attended by the conference secretary and chief engineer of civil engineering department Fatematuz Jahara.

They said 35 research articles on a wide range of themes including structural, earthquake, geotechnical and foundation, traffic and transportation, water resources, flood control and mitigation, materials engineering, construction and management, urbanisation and build environment, and advances in civil engineering education will be presented and discussed at the international conference.

Civil engineers and researchers working in different parts of the world submitted their research articles on the occasion of this conference. After much scrutiny, 35 research papers were finally selected to be presented at the conference. The articles will be published also in the conference proceedings book.

The two-day conference will have three key-note sessions where renowned academics and engineers from home and abroad will present essays as guests.

Prof Dr Abul Mansur Chowdhury, dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering and chairman of the conference, will preside over the inaugural function while University Grants Commission member Dr Sajjad Hossain will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony on Saturday.

On the first day of the conference, University of Science and Technology Chattogram Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Jahangir Alam will present an essay on earthquake risk in Bangladesh as a keynote speaker.

US Water and Climate Researcher Dr Md Rashed Chowdhury will present an article on the potential application of climate forecast in civil engineering in the 2nd keynote session of the day.

Dr Moinul Islam, former Head of civil engineering department of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, will speak on engineering as a guest. On the first day, two sessions on environmental and construction engineering will be held simultaneously.

On the second day of the conference, the former head of the civil engineering department of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology Prof Dr NHM Kamruzzaman Sarkar will present an essay on structural health monitoring in a keynote session. Sessions on environmental, geotechnical and transportation engineering will also be held on that day.

Vice chancellor of Southern University Professor Engineer Mozammel Haque, Pro Vice Chancellor M Mohiuddin Chowdhury and Treasurer Professor Sarwar Jahan will be present at the occasion as special guests.

Bangladesh Steel Rerolling Mills Limited (BSRM) is the platinum sponsor of the conference.