Texas A&M at Qatar conference focuses on new materials and technologies to improve roads
Published Apr 29, 2018About 175 local, regional and international experts and practitioners in the area of design and construction of sustainable pavement systems gathered in Doha for the Advances in Materials and Pavement Prediction (AM3P) conference.
The conference was organized by Texas A&M University at Qatar, The University of Texas at Austin (USA) and TUDelft (Netherlands). Platinum sponsors included the Public Works Authority “Ashghal,” QAPCO and Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF). Other sponsors and partners were Bin Omran Trading & Contracting, Gulf Laboratories Co., Midmac Colas, Seero Engineering Consulting, Fugro and Raetex.
The AM3P conference offered a unique international forum for exchanging ideas regarding various approaches to predict pavement performance.
The conference featured three keynote speakers, all renowned in their fields. Dr. Imad L. Al-Qadi from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA) presented on durable and sustainable pavements; Dr. Ronald Blab from TU Wien (Austria) presented his work on multiscale modeling for asphalt performance prediction; and Dr. Dallas N. Little from Texas A&M University (USA) gave a talk on what pavement and materials scientists have learned during the history of the field and challenged attendees to move forward with a balanced appreciation for empirical evidence and the fundamentals of science.
Dr. Abdul Sattar Al-Taie, executive director of QNRF, said AM3P exemplified the type of conference QNRF supports through its conference and workshop sponsorship program.
“The topic of the conference is of prime importance to the State of Qatar,” he said. “Key stakeholders from academic, research institutes and industry from Qatar and from the four corners of the world make this conference an ideal platform to exchange knowledge and disseminate results. I also take this opportunity to applaud the tremendous efforts by Ashghal in upgrading the built environment and infrastructure of immense importance to the daily lives of the citizens and residents of Qatar — not to mention the impact on the economic development of the State of Qatar.”
Organizers said that 115 papers were accepted for the conference and will be published in the conference proceedings. The presentations were grouped in themes related to rigid pavements, pavement geotechnics, flexible pavements, asphalt composites, and asphalt binders. The conference also included two workshops that were given by experts in the field of pavement engineering.
Dr. Eyad Masad, conference co-chair and Texas A&M at Qatar professor, said, “This conference highlighted the state-of-the-art technologies and methods in pavement engineering. The contributions are of high value to the construction of sustainable road infrastructure in Qatar.”