Ground Force Concrete

Dr Rajesh Dhakal is a Professor of Structural Earthquake Engineering at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. He received his Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Tribhuvan University (Nepal) in 1993, Master of Structural Engineering from the AIT (Thailand) in 1997 and a PhD from the University of Tokyo (Japan) in 2000. His current research interests are: (i) Seismic performance of non-structural elements, (ii) Modelling, analysis, testing and design of RC structures, and (iii) Seismic loss minimisation in buildings.

Prof Dhakal has supervised more than 50 postgraduate research students and authored more than 500 peer-reviewed technical papers in different facets of structural and earthquake engineering. Prof Dhakal has served in multiple panels; received more than a dozen awards for research excellence, served as an Editorial Board member for five international journals and delivered invited/keynote lectures in more than a dozen conferences. Prof Dhakal has been serving as the Chief Editor of the journal Bulletin of the NZ Society for Earthquake Engineering since 2014. In recognition of his contribution and leadership in earthquake engineering, Prof Dhakal was conferred a Fellowship of the Engineering New Zealand (since 2015) and the NZ Society for Earthquake Engineering (since 2017). Prof Dhakal was the elected President of the International Association of SPONSE (Seismic Performance of Non-Structural Elements) in 2021-2025.

Dr Arun Vathavooran is a Chartered Metallurgical Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM) with more than 25 years of international experience spanning research, engineering, consulting, and project development across the global mining and metals sector.

A recognised specialist in mineral processing, hydrometallurgy, and extractive metallurgy, Dr Vathavooran has successfully led and advised projects through all stages of development, from laboratory investigations and pilot-scale programmes to flowsheet design, process optimisation, feasibility studies, and commercial project delivery. His expertise encompasses a wide range of commodities and ore types, with extensive experience supporting resource development projects across multiple jurisdictions.

Throughout his career, Dr Vathavooran has played key technical and leadership roles as an Owner’s Representative, Qualified Person (QP), technical reviewer, and strategic advisor. He has contributed to NI 43-101 and JORC-compliant technical reporting, independent technical due diligence, project evaluations, and investment-related assessments, providing critical insights that support informed decision-making for project developers, financiers, and stakeholders.

His multidisciplinary experience enables him to bridge the gap between technical excellence and commercial outcomes, working effectively with geologists, mining engineers, metallurgists, environmental specialists, and project execution teams. He is particularly valued for his ability to assess project risks, develop practical processing solutions, and guide projects from concept through to implementation.

In addition to his professional career, Dr Vathavooran brings significant governance and leadership experience through his charitable and non-profit activities. He serves as Chair of Trustees of the UK-based charity Adding Value to Sri Lanka and as Chairperson and Director of the Mohanji ACT Foundation, Sri Lanka. These roles have provided extensive experience in organisational governance, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and oversight of complex programmes across diverse cultural and regulatory environments.

Combining deep technical expertise with strong governance credentials and international leadership experience, Dr Vathavooran provides valuable strategic guidance to organisations seeking to advance mining and metallurgical projects responsibly, efficiently, and sustainably.

Dr. Nikola Tošić is an associate professor of construction engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), where he has worked since 2022. He was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at UPC (2020–2022), a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana (2019), and an assistant professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Belgrade (2018–2019). He is a member of UPC’s C3S Research Group.

His research centers on sustainable construction, digitalization in construction, and sustainability assessment. Over more than a decade, his core focus has been improving the sustainability of concrete structures, particularly the structural use of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). This work spans experimental and modelling research, design code development, and contributions to the new Annex N of the 2nd generation of Eurocode 2 (EN1992-1-1:2023) within CEN/TC 250/SC 2 and its Working Group 1. He was the Convener of fib Task Group 4.7, “Structural Applications of Recycled Aggregate Concrete – Properties, Modelling, and Design” from 2021 to 2026.

He also works on the serviceability behaviour and time-dependent properties of concrete structures, contributing to deflection control models through fib Task Groups 2.1 (“Serviceability Models”) and 4.5 (“Time-dependent Behaviour of Concrete”). In fibre reinforced concrete (FRC), he serves as Co-Editor of fib‘s Open Database on the residual tensile strength of FRC. Across these areas, his work covers reinforced, prestressed and fibre reinforced concrete structures, structural analysis, standards development, reliability-based partial factor calibration, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and sustainability-based multi-criteria decision-making.

In digitalization, he has worked on the development of low-cost sensors for corrosion detection and temperature monitoring of concrete during hardening, and has explored the integration of sensor data into BIM models. In sustainability assessment, he has conducted LCA studies of various construction materials and products and worked on integrating LCA into BIM and multi-criteria decision-making frameworks.

He is also a partner in the UPC spin-off company Smart Engineering, leading its sustainability division.

Dr John Orr is based in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Dr Orr’s teaching and research are closely linked to sustainable construction and improving construction sector productivity. He works in concrete structures, creating new methods for analysis, optimisation, and automation in construction.

Dr Orr has secured research funding totalling £11.2M. He was the first EPSRC Early Career Fellow in Structural Engineering in the UK, and in 2022 he was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize in Engineering.

He has built a team around his vision for the design optimisation and lightweighting of existing and future infrastructure by learning from real performance.

Dr Orr graduated with a first-class MEng (Hons) degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Bath in 2009, winning three University Awards. He subsequently completed a PhD in flexible formwork, graduating in 2012. Before joining the University of Cambridge, Dr Orr was Director of Research and Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering at the University of Bath Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

Dr Orr provides expert consultancy to leading engineering and construction firms.

Gaurav Bhatiani is a senior leader, with three decades of experience in research, development, advisory and corporate roles in energy, infrastructure and environmental sustainability.

He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Ashoka Centre for a People Centric Energy Transition, Ashoka University and a Visiting Professor at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. He is also mentoring three clean energy companies as a Senior Advisor. His work enables and empowers organizations to succeed through strategic business transformation, innovative strategies and technical advisory.

Previously, he has worked at leading organizations, serving as the Director of Energy and Environment at the Research Triangle Institute and as Chief Operating Officer at IL&FS.

Dr. Bhatiani has an extensive track record of managing large and interdisciplinary teams across energy, infrastructure and environmental sectors. His expertise includes energy policy, reform, and regulation; clean energy transitions – renewables, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles; infrastructure financing, investment analysis and climate change issues.

His work includes a large number of research and technical assignments, advising governments, public utilities, and regulatory bodies on policy, regulation, and reform strategies. As a senior corporate executive in large private companies, he led economic and investment analysis, and financing of multi-billion-dollar energy and infrastructure projects.

He has contributed to over 100 articles, reports, papers, and books. He has also served various industry bodies and is a featured speaker at conferences and seminars.

Dr. Bhatiani holds a Ph.D. with a specialization in energy economics and regulation from the University of Delhi. He was awarded the Gold Medal for securing top rank in the master’s program in business and economics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Roorkee).

Dr Graham Wise leads the Global Engagement function at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, where he works to strengthen international partnerships across higher education, industry, and government. He holds a PhD in neuroscience from The University of Queensland and has published across a range of disciplines connected to his professional career, including higher education and innovation system development, project management, and international education.

Throughout his professional career, Graham has built international university-industry partnerships from Australia, Latin America, and New Zealand. He is strongly values-driven and brings extensive experience in institutional development, international collaboration, and innovation leadership. Previously, as the founding Vice President of Innovation and a Board Member of Ikiam University in Ecuador, he helped establish a new university and supported its engagement with businesses, universities, and public institutions both locally and internationally.

Graham is inspired by the ambition of India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision and its sustained commitment to inclusive, knowledge-driven national development. As a higher education leader, he sees particular value in its emphasis on developing human capability, strengthening innovation ecosystems, building world-class infrastructure, and fostering global partnerships. These priorities align closely with his own interests and the vision of Ground Force Concrete Consultancy LLP.

Graham first met Dr Sivakumar Kandasami at an Indian higher education summit, where Dr Kandasami spoke on Partnerships with Purpose. As an advisory board member of Ground Force Concrete Consulting, Graham looks forward to contributing to conversations that connect engineering excellence, critical thinking, and strategic international collaboration in support of India’s continued development.

Civil Engineer by profession, with an enviable 4 decades of multifaceted experience in construction, academics, R&D and building materials industry. Graduated from Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, Prayagraj in 1984, received doctoral degree in Concrete Rheology later in 2019.

Starting construction journey as a Site Engineer, quickly moved to academia and contributed for about 15 years to various reputed institutes/University of Punjab, Maharashtra and Gujarat as an expert in Construction Technology and Materials. Was involved in research and Industrial consultancy in the field of Engineering Survey and Diagnosis of distressed structures. Guided over 100 students for their research works, continues to connect with academia as Member of Board of Studies, INAE Distinguished Visiting Professor and Adjunct Professor at different universities.

A veteran with the leading building material organizations namely ACC and UltraTech Cement Ltd, has contributed immensely to the Research & Consultancy Directorate of The ACC Limited wherein worked on durability behaviors of Blended Cements; consultancy business of Diagnosis and Repair of RCC structures and Health assessments of nuclear power stations. Continued academic interest by guiding students at various institutes for the master’s dissertation. Also worked on new product developments and products for road constructions, industrial abrasion-resistant liners, ready to use plaster, manufactured aggregates etc. which were launched in the market as solutions to the relevant construction needs.

During over 18 years with UltraTech Cement, successfully donned several hats in cement marketing, R&D, and Competency Building and Technical collaboration. Has proven mettle in established markets and new markets equally, launching & establishing new brands. Created a strong, motivated team of Technical Services, first in North Zone and then in Central Zone, from scratch to support marketing team leading to increased in sales as well as Brand Equity of both zones. A firm believer of knowledge sharing, have created dozens of such platforms in association with premium educational and professional associations such as IIT, ICI, ACI, IEI etc.

Published and presented over 100 papers in various journals/Conference across the globe. Has been instrumental in founding several centres, activating the dormant centres; Is member of ICI, ACI, BIS and IRC technical committees and various panels.

Self-employed and currently a member of British and European Standards technical committees concerned with concrete. Work on standards includes the revision of British and European Standard for concrete, cement and additions, as well as durability, concrete testing and assessment of in-situ strength.

From 2010 to 2022 served as Director for the British Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, part of the Mineral Products Association (MPA). An important aspect was to represent the UK concrete industry interests on British and European Standard Technical Committees concerned with concrete, as well as input into all associated guidance as developed by The Concrete Centre (MPA), The Concrete Society and other industry partners including other MPA product Groups.

Experience includes six years with the British Cement Association from 2003. Part of this role was to help manage the BCA’s contribution to national and international research projects as well as represent cement manufacturers views concerning the use of cement in concrete in British and European Standards and technical guidance. Part of the cement work included developing an understanding of its environmental impacts, where the use of additions in cement and concrete, as well as the mechanism of carbonation, required detailed assessment.

From 1989, fourteen years were spent with Civil and Marine Slag Cement Limited. As Technical Manager both technical and marketing support was provided for the use of ground granulated blastfurnace slag (ggbs) to the UK ready-mixed concrete and wider construction industry.

Early research activities started in 1980 with the Cement and Concrete Association concentrating on concrete construction, including projects on early age strength development, concrete sawing, analysis of fresh concrete for cement content, concrete cover to reinforcement, cracking in highway pavements, leakage through cracks, and formwork pressures.

Pre-graduation experience included helping to construct a storm drainage system through a busy town and the construction of a flood water defence wall, part of Thames Tidal Defences.