Keynote Speakers
Joe Kelly, ROD, Ireland
With over two decades of international experience in civil engineering—specialising in bridge engineering—Joe is a recognised authority in non-destructive testing and the inspection of reinforced and prestressed concrete, masonry, and steel bridges. He leads structural assessment and bridge refurbishment projects and advises national road and rail authorities on infrastructure management and maintenance strategies.
Appointed as a Bridge Inspector Certification Assessor by the UK Bridges Board in 2015, Joe brings invaluable insight into the future of resilient and sustainable bridge infrastructure.
Veronika Valentová – R&D and Knowledge Transfer Director at Transport Research Centre CDV
Veronika Valentová has been working for CDV since 2011. She worked as Director of Traffic Engineering, Road Safety and Strategy Division between 2018 and 2022, she was responsible for dozens of Research projects among others for the Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 (in strong collaboration with the Ministry of Transport), Catalogue of public roads for testing of autonomous vehicles, National traffic census 2020. She is an experienced researcher, road safety auditor and road designer. She is member of the RISM working group at ETSC.
Currently she is responsible for the methodological leadership of the institution’s research, its professional direction, the acquisition of new opportunities and the transfer of research results into practice.
Her vision is to create safe and sustainable mobility for all.
José C. Matos, University of Minho, Portugal
Assistant Professor (with habilitation) at Department of Civil Engineering of the School of Engineering of University of Minho (UMinho). Since 2007, he has been teaching, supervising master’s and doctoral theses at UMinho. Member of ISISE- Institute of Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering. Graduated in civil engineering in 2002, he obtained a master’s degree in civil engineering structures in 2008 and a PhD in civil engineering in 2013, in the area of probabilistic safety assessment of existing structures. The habilitation in civil engineering was obtained in 2024. Research fields are asset management systems, life cycle costs (LCC), safety assessment, risk assessment and sustainability. Author or co-author of more than 250 publications in international conferences and journals. He participates in several international committees, coordinating several international working groups. It also coordinates research projects such as SIRMA – Strengthening Infrastructure Risk Management in the Atlantic Area (Interreg), InfraCrit – Development of a Management System for Critical Infrastructures (Portugal 2020), SustIMS – Sustainable Infrastructure Management System (Portugal 2020) , SAFEWAY – GIS_Based Infrastructure Management System for Optimization of Response to Extreme Events in Land Transport Networks (Horizon 2020), Action COST TU 1406 – Quality specifications for road bridges, European-wide standardization (BridgeSpec), among others. Past-President of the European Association on Quality Control of Bridges and Structures (EuroStruct), VicePresident of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) and Chairman of Commission 8 of fib – federation internationale du beton.
