João Dourado is a Master of Science student in Geotechnical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of Alberta. João has over 10 years of experience as a civil engineering consultant in Brazil. He also holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and an MSc in Science and Engineering of Materials. Currently, his research interests are focused on the design of deep foundations and the study of permafrost.

Dr. Lijun Deng is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering—Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Alberta. He obtained a Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of California and an MSc in Geotechnical Engineering at Tsinghua University. He is persistently interested in the research and education of geotechnical earthquake engineering covering the fields of dynamic soil-structure interaction, pile foundations, soil dynamics, and permafrost engineering.

Dr. Yuxiang Chen is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering—Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Alberta. He earned a Ph.D. in Building Engineering at Concordia University. His research interests include high-performance buildings, such as net-zero energy (ready), focusing on performance modeling, modular design and prefabrication, utilization of renewable energy, and integrated intelligent design and operation.

Dr. Ying-Hei Chui is currently a Professor and Director of the Nasseri School of Building Science and Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta. Prior to joining the University of Alberta, he was New Brunswick Innovation Research Chair in Advanced Wood Products and Director of the Wood Science and Technology Centre at the University of New Brunswick. Dr. Chui is one of Canada’s leading experts in the field of timber engineering, specializing in engineered wood products, timber connections, and timber construction. He has over 30 years of research experience and has published over 300 articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings in these disciplines.