Dr. Hassan Baaj is a Professor and Director of the Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology at the University of Waterloo, where he also serves as Associate Dean of Research and External Partnerships for the Faculty of Engineering. He holds the Norman McLeod Chair in Sustainable Pavement Engineering.
Dr. Baaj earned a Master&s from the École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l&État (1998) and a Ph.D. from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées in Lyon, France. In 2020, he completed a Master&s in Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technology (MBET) at the University of Waterloo. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Research Council of Canada, he joined Colas Canada in 2003, leading innovative road projects in collaboration with government and academic institutions. In 2008, he moved to Lafarge in France, where he managed R&D in infrastructure engineering materials.
Dr. Baaj chaired the Soils and Materials Standing Committee of the Transportation Association of Canada and the Rilem TC-278 (CHA - Crack healing of Asphalt Materials). He was elected a RILEM Expert in 2020 and a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering in 2025. Dr. Baaj holds three patents in sustainable pavement materials and recycling. His current research focuses on smart pavements, sustainable and innovative pavement materials, self-healing asphalt materials, and 3D printing of concrete.
Dr. Orazio Baglieri is Professor at the Politecnico di Torino, Italy. Graduated in civil engineering, he got his PhD at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy. 
He has been Principal Investigator of many research projects, with international experiences at University of Wisconsin, at Lyles School of Civil Engineering of Purdue University, at TTPU University of Tashkent (Uzbekistan). 
He is member of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the Journal Materials and Structures, member of RILEM, past president of Italian Society of Transportation Infrastructure (SIIV). He serves as president of the Task Force 4.5 on decarbonization of road construction and maintenance of PIARC Italy.
His main research area deals with road pavement design and materials, with particular emphasis placed on i) fatigue and healing characterization of bituminous materials, ii) advanced testing of polymer modified binders, iii) reinforcement of asphalt pavements with nano-sized components, iv) recycling and sustainable technologies. 
He is also consultant of major road agencies and construction companies in the broad field of transportation infrastructures.