About

ICONHIC2022: THE STEP FORWARD

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” – Helen Keller, 1888

Ever–increasing Natural Disasters

ICONHIC’s motto sounds more timely than ever, as plenty of our infrastructure systems at their present state are at high risk of not sustaining the extreme loading conditions imposed by natural disasters. The situation is exacerbated by the apparent deficiency of resources for maintenance or upgrading. Our planet is experiencing the roughest ecological disruption in its history, from climate change to biodiversity loss. Acute hazards, such as heatwaves and floods, grow in frequency and severity, while chronic hazards, such as drought and rising sea levels, intensify.

Join forces towards a resilient and sustainable future

The idea that the solution does not lie in a single discipline has already found consensus amongst the scientific community. It is of utmost importance to try to understand each other: engineers have to understand what financial experts are putting forward, technology developers need to conceptualize how the insurance industry can benefit from their novel applications, researchers should be aware of the practical needs of contractors.

ICONHIC sets the stage for engineers, researchers, cat modelers, insurers, policymakers and NGO-representatives to join forces, exchange ideas and opinions, advance scientific and technical innovations targeted at natural disasters, and ultimately converge their specialty knowledge towards a unified approach to a more sustainable and resilient future.

ICONHIC Conferences

Founded in 2016, the conference emerged in response to the ever-growing need for a landmark event that will gather together a broad field of expertise, aiming to prevent and reduce the risk of extreme natural events and their aftermaths on infrastructure. Sponsored by international industrial partners and institutions, who worked hand-in-hand with the academia to deliver an event that fosters collaboration between different stakeholders, ICONHIC2016 and ICONHIC2019 attracted a large number of attendees from all over the world, coming from exceptionally diverse technical or business backgrounds, with one overarching goal: to prepare within the constantly changing and highly uncertain environmental conditions and develop future-ready societies, able to reduce risk & manage disruption.

Following its evolution philosophy, the ICONHIC2022 edition ventures the step forward: to build upon facilitative dialogue and strong synergies and propose an informed and realistic course of action against catastrophic natural events.

Join the discussion in Athens on 5-7 July 2022!

Prof. George
Gazetas

Conference Chairman
NTUA

Prof. Ioannis Anastasopoulos

Conference Co-Chairman
ETH Zurich

A Message from the Conference Chair

Conference Highlights

CREATING A MULTI-STAKEHOLDER MEETING POINT

In a time of augmented need for interdisciplinary effort, ICONHIC2022 aims to bring together actors from different fields (engineers, insurers, cat modellers, policymakers, NGOs) in order to facilitate dialogue and shape an informed course of action towards the ever-increasing extreme natural events.

LEVERAGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO MITIGATE NATURAL DISASTERS

In light of the rapid technological advances in the fields of Big Data, Machine Learning,
and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), ICONHIC2022 aims to highlight how this technology combined with engineering knowledge can become the decisive link in the action chain towards disaster relief, preparedness and reduction of economic losses due to natural hazards.

TACKLING THE PRESSING CHALLENGES OF CLIMATE CHANGE

As extreme climate-related phenomena are becoming the new normal, ICONHIC2022 encourages discussions on the needs and gaps associated with the ambitious climate mitigation & adaptation targets set for infrastructure worldwide, highlights the impacts of climate variability, and brings innovative solutions to the forefront.

SHAPING URBAN SUSTAINABILITY REQUIREMENTS

As countries across the globe become increasingly urbanized, ICONHIC2022 targets the appropriate synergies for an in-depth discussion on the pathways to be followed for encouraging investments and informing management decisions towards sustainable urban environments.

STRUCTURING AND FINANCING CLIMATE RESILIENCE

Accessing capital and financing for climate resilience projects and justifying the upfront costs to taxpayers or shareholders is challenging. In ICONHIC we will discuss how climate resilience may create value and impact project valuations, and the availability and forms of support of climate financing.

Steering Committee

Conference Chair
George Gazetas, National Technical University of Athens, GREECE

Conference Co-Chair
Ioannis Anastasopoulos, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Steering Committee
Tarek Abdoun, NYU Abu Dhabi, UAE
Eduardo Alonso, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, SPAIN
Kalliopi Anastassiadou, BAST, GERMANY
Guillermo Franco, Marsh and McLennan, USA
Roger Frank, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, FRANCE
Nicos Makris, Southern Methodist University, USA
Maria Mimikou, National Technical University of Athens, GREECE
Sissy Nikolaou, NIST, USA
Ton Peters, Deltares, NETHERLANDS
Kyriazis Pitilakis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GREECE
Alexander Puzrin, ETH Zurich, SWITZERLAND
Tizianna Rosetto, University College London, UK
Evangelos Sapountzakis, National Technical University of Athens, GREECE
David Wald, USGS, USA
Nigel Wright, Nottingham Trent University, UK
Dimitrios Zekkos, University of Berkeley, USA

Scientific Committee

Orestis Adamidis, University of Oxford, UK
Ioannis Antoniadis, NTUA, GREECE
Sotirios Argyroudis, Brunel University London, UK
Aysegul Askan, METU, TURKEY
Amin Askarinejad, Delft University of Technology, NETHERLANDS
Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos, UC Berkeley, USA
Ihsan Bal, Hanzehogeschool Groningen, NETHERLANDS
Mike Brown, University of Dundee, UK
Riccardo Castellanza, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, ITALY
Eleni Chatzi, ETH Zurich, SWITZERLAND
Feyza Cinicioglu, Özyeğin University, TURKEY
Ross Corotis, University of Colorado Boulder, USA
Panos Dakoulas, University of Thessaly, GREECE
Shideh Dashti, University of Colorado Boulder, USA
Dina D’Ayala, UCL, UK
Hermann Fritz, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Raul Fuentes, RWTH Aachen University, GERMANY
Evangelia Garini, NTUA, GREECE
Nikos Gerolymos, NTUA, GREECE
Boris Jeremic, UC Davis, USA
George Kampas, University of Greenwich, UK
Leon Kapetas, University of Cambridge, UK
Spyros Karamanos, University of Thessaly / University of Edinburgh, Greece / UK
Amir Kaynia, NGI, NORWAY
Anastasia Kiratzi, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GREECE
Jonathan Knappett, University of Dundee, UK
Stavroula Kontoe, Imperial College, UK
George Kouretzis, Newcastle University, AUSTRALIA
Sergio Lagomarsino, University of Genova, ITALY
Jan Laue, Lulea Univ. Technology, SWEDEN
Dimitris Lignos, EPFL, SWITZERLAND
Gopal Madabushi, Cambridge University, UK
Nisrine Makhoul, Notre Dame University – Louaize, LEBANON
Stergios Mitoulis, University of Surrey, UK
Ehsan Noroozinejad Farsangi, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, IRAN
Panikos Papadopoulos, Frederick University, CYPRUS
Costas Papazachos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GREECE
Dimitris Pitilakis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GREECE
Felix Schroeder, GCG, UK
Jürg Schweizer, WSL/SLF, SWITZERLAND
Francesco Silvestri, University of Naples, ITALY
Eleni Smyrou, Hanzehogeschool Groningen, NETHERLANDS
Andreas Stavridis, University at Buffalo, USA
Alexandros Taflanidis, University of Notre Dame, USA
Luc Thorel, Université Gustave Eiffel, FRANCE
Tetsuo Tobita, Kansai University, JAPAN
Mark Trigg, University of Leeds, UK
Michalis Vassiliou, ETH Zürich, SWITZERLAND
Giulia Viggiani, University of Cambridge, UK
Elissavet Vintzilaiou, NTUA, GREECE
Christos Vrettos, Technical University Kaiserslautern, GERMANY
Liam Wotherspoon, University of Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Nozomu Yoshida, Kanto Gakuin University, JAPAN
Lidija Zdravkovic, Imperial College, UK
Katerina Ziotopoulou, UC Davis, USA

BE A SPONSOR

Why should your Company sponsor the Conference or exhibit there ?

To target highly influential decision makers and key opinion leaders in the field of constructions and consulting, risk assessment, disaster protection and urban resilience
To introduce new materials, services or software to the relevant audience
To build visibility of your company in a competitive market place
To attract potential future associates from a pool of highly promising new researchers/engineers
To be a part of a multi-disciplinary society of academics and professionals who are committed to the protection of our valuable infrastructure from natural disasters

To discuss the promotion/sponsorship opportunities of your Company and receive the informative material, please email our sponsorships department at secretary@iconhic.com.