Lee Fook Hou is Emeritus Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he established Southeast Asia’s only geotechnical centrifuge. He is also a fellow of the Singapore Academy of Engineering. He has published about 240 papers with an H-index of 42. He has supervised 40+ PhD and master’s students, and 20 postdocs, many now in senior academic roles worldwide. He has led about $11 million in funded research. He served as visiting professor in China and India and is a member of WFEO-CEE’s DRM Task Group. A registered Professional Engineer, he has consulted on 70+ geotechnical projects.

Marc Ballouz graduated from the American University of Beirut in 1987 and earned his MS and PhD in geotechnical engineering from Texas A&M University in 1994. He founded the Institute for Geotechnics & Materials (IGM) in 1997, which now operates internationally with over 200 employees. Renowned for his expertise in deep foundations, he has worked on major projects involving bridges and high-rises. Dr. Ballouz has published extensively on deep foundations and landslides and teaches soil mechanics. An ISSMGE board member, he received the ISSMGE Outstanding Public Relations Award for advancing global awareness of geotechnical engineering.

Anand Puppala serves as A.P. Wiley and Florence Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University and Director of the Center for Infrastructure Renewal. With over 30 years of academic experience, he researches on stabilization of expansive soil, recycled materials, site characterization, and infrastructure resilience. He’s director of NSF’s IUCRC on Composites in Civil Infrastructure and led multiple U.S. DOT-funded centers. He is treasurer and Board member of ASCE Geo-Institute, chairs ISSMGE TC307, and serves on key TRB committees. Author of 500+ publications, he is on editorial boards of top journals and has earned major honors, including ASCE's 2020 Peck Award.

Buddhima Indraratna is a Distinguished Professor and Director of the Transport Research Centre (TRC) at University of Technology Sydney. He graduated from Imperial College and PhD (1987) from University of Alberta.  He has received the Sir M. Visveswaraya Prize (UK, 2023), Order of Australia (2024), Jose E. Ibarra Award (Spain, 2024), and Sir John Holland Award (2024). He delivered ISSMGE’s Proctor (2016) and Menard (2017) Lectures, supervised 100 PhDs, authored 1000+ works, and holds 31,000+ citations (H-index 90). He is a Fellow of FTSE, FASCE, FGS, and a Chartered Engineer of Australia and the UK.

Keh Jian (Albert) Shou is VP Asia of ISSMGE (2022–2026), Chairman of ISTT (2022–2025), Honorary Chairman of CTSTT, and Distinguished Professor at National Chung-Hsing University, Taiwan. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota (1993). His research focuses on rock mechanics, engineering geology, and trenchless technologies, with 200+ published papers. He is Editor of Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, and Associate Editor of ASCE’s Pipeline Systems and Underground Space. He serves as ISSMGE VP for Asia and ISTT Chairman (since 2022), former CTGS and CTSTT President, and editor or board member for multiple SCI journals including TUST, Underground Space, Engineering Geology, and ASCE’s Pipeline-Systems.

Kenichi Soga holds the Donald H. McLaughlin Chair and is a Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley. He directs the Berkeley Center for Smart Infrastructure and is also a faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research spans infrastructure sensing, energy geotechnics, and geomechanics. Before joining UC Berkeley in 2016, he was a professor at the University of Cambridge. A member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is also a fellow of several prestigious engineering institutions and has received major awards, including the UC Bakar Prize, George Stephenson Medal, and Huber Research Prize.

Lyesse Laloui is a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne. His pioneering work in geomaterials and geo-energy supports global sustainability and renewable energy efforts. He is European VP of ISSMGE, a member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences and Academia Europaea, and Director for Europe of the International Associated Research Centers for Urban Underground Space. He holds two honorary doctorates and founded Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment. He is the recipient of Interpore Kimberly-Clark Distinguished Lectureship Award (2026), ASCE Kersten Lecture (2020), Vienna Terzaghi Lecture (2022), the DFI John Mitchell Lecture (2025).

Askar Zhussupbekov is a Professor at Eurasian National University (Kazakhstan), Director of its Geotechnical Institute (2012–2025), and adjunct professor at SPBGASU and MGSU (Russia). He earned his bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. in civil engineering from SPBGASU. Formerly Vice-Rector at Karaganda State Industrial University, he is President of the Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society, Chair of TC 305 of ISSMGE, and chaired the 17ARC (2023). He has published 400+ papers, 6 books, and supervised 55+ Ph.D./Engineering dissertations. He is a chair of TC 305 of ISSMGE. His research covers piling, deep foundations, geomonitoring, disaster reduction, and preservation of historical sites.

Cazzuffi Daniele Antonio leads the “Geosynthetics and Environmental Geotechnics” group at CESI SpA, Milano, Italy. A graduate of Politecnico di Milano (1979) and the University of Padova (1984), he has advanced geosynthetics research since the 1980s. He has held academic roles, including Visiting Professor in Italy, and served as president of International Geosynthetics Soceity, IGS (2002–2006), chaired major technical committees, and held academic posts. Author of 300+ papers, he received the IGS Award (2000), Scolari Award (2011), and IGS Honorary Membership (2014). He chaired 12th ICG (2023), and delivered keynotes at 9ICG (2010), EuroGeo6 (2016), and 18th African Regional Conference (2024).

Eun Chul Shin, Immediate Past Vice President of ISSMGE for Asia (2017–2022), is now a Professor Emeritus at Incheon National University. He earned degrees from Chungbuk National University, University of Colorado (M.S., 1987), and Southern Illinois University (Ph.D., 1994). He became full professor in 2005 and served as Dean until 2016. He’s adjunct professor at ENU (Kazakhstan), and advisor to KGS. He hosted 3 major conferences, delivered numerous keynotes worldwide, published 5 books, 180+ journal papers, and received the Gersevanov Medal and an Honorary Doctorate from St. Petersburg Slate University of Architecture and Civil Engineering in 2021.
 

Grace Abou Jawdeh is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at the Lebanese American University. She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from Purdue University and B.Eng. with distinction from the American University of Beirut. Her research in geotechnical engineering includes liquefaction mitigation, mat and deep foundations, and landslide hazard mapping. She has led several funded projects, including by USAID and NSF, and published widely in top journals. Her work has made significant contributions to the field, and she is deeply committed to mentoring future engineers through her teaching, research, and academic leadership.
 

Dr. Leong graduated with Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honour) from University of Malaya and obtained his PhD from the National University of Singapore. He is active in the design and execution of Ground Improvement projects in South East Asia for Keller. He is currently heading the Business Development for Keller in ASEAN.He is a member of the Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS) and served as committee member since 2012 and Vice President (2014-15). He was the President of GeoSS for 2016-17 and accorded the Outstanding Geotechnical Engineer award by GeoSS for his contributions to the society and industry.

Madhavi Latha is a Professor and Chair of the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at IISc. A fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, she holds a B.Tech. from JNTU Kakinada, M.Tech. from NIT Warangal, and Ph.D. from IIT Madras. With 24 years of experience, her research focuses on geomechanics, sustainable soil reinforcement, earthquake geotechnical engineering, and rock engineering. She is the primary consultant for the world’s highest railway bridge across the Chenab River. She was Editor-in-chief of the Indian Geotechnical Journal (2016-2022), has received multiple awards, and is listed in India’s top 75 women in STEAM.
 

N.K Samadhiya, Professor and Head of Civil Engineering at IIT Roorkee. He is a recipient of the IGS Kueckelmann Award (2024), IGS-Prof. Leonard Biennial Prize (1999-2000), seven IGS Best Paper Awards, and seven ISRMTT Best Research Awards. With over 200 research papers, he also participated in Leadership programs at IIT Kharagpur, Cambridge University, and chairs BIS’s Rock Mechanics Sectional Committee since 2019.  He is an active member of TC-205 and TC-207 of International society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) and International Society for Rock Mechanics, ISRM. He served as President of Indian Geotechnical Society for the term 2021-2022.
 

R. G. Robinson, Professor in the Geotechnical Division and Dean Administration at IIT Madras, earned his BE (Hons) from Madurai Kamaraj University and MS, Ph.D. from IISc Bangalore. He was a postdoctoral and research fellow at the National University of Singapore. His interests include soft clay engineering, expansive soils, physical modeling, and ground improvement. He has guided many PhD/Master's scholars and published extensively. Awards: IGS-ONGC (2012), H.C. Verma (2013–14, 2015–16), IGS-AIMIL, IGS-Warangal (2014–15), EBM of the Year (2017), and Best Teacher Award (2023). He is Chairman of Indian Geotechnical Society, Chennai Chapter.

Tomoyoshi Nishimura is a faculty member in the Department of Civil Engineering at Ashikaga University, Japan, and a member of ISSMGE’s TC106 Committee on Unsaturated Soils. He earned his doctorate from Nagaoka University of Technology in 1991, focusing on shear properties of unsaturated cohesive soils under freeze-thaw cycles. From 1997 to 1998, he conducted research on unsaturated soils under Prof. D.G. Fredlund at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. His research includes soil-water characteristic curves, shear strength, creep behavior, yield surfaces, and dynamic properties of unsaturated soils, as well as thermal, hydraulic, and gas migration behavior of compacted bentonite.