Haluk Sucuoğlu is full professor of Civil Engineering at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, where he also manages the Building and Earthquake Engineering Laboratory. In addition, he is a member of teaching staff on the earthquake engineering program at Pavia University, Rose School, Italy. Professor Sucuoğlu is the current chairman of the Turkish Earthquake Engineering Association and he represents Turkey in the International Association of Earthquake Engineers (IAEE). He is a member of the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals.

Sinan Akkar is professor of Civil Engineering at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey and also a member of teaching staff on the earthquake engineering program at Pavia University, Rose School, Italy. His main research interests are displacement-based seismic assessment and prediction of strong ground-motion parameters for seismic design. Professor Akkar is currently the Principal Investigator of the Turkish National Strong Motion Project and the NATO Project Director of the Harmonization of Seismic Hazard Maps for the Western Balkan Countries. He is involved in the Seismic Harmonization in Europe project (SHARE, EC-FP7) as a research member.