Reported by Jody Liao & Duo Huang
CSEA Group Photo
The Canadian Structural Engineers Association (CSEA) hosted its annual conference on December 14th, 2024, at the Milliken Mills Community Centre in Markham, Ontario. This marked CSEA’s 4th annual conference – a conference where professionals, public representatives, consultants, contractors, educators a
nd academics were brought together to share insights and connect with other fellow engineers in the industry. Topics for this year’s conference were mainly focused on sustainability and accelerated construction.
After the check-in at 11:00am, President Liao started the event with a welcoming opening speech, appreciating those who took time out of their day to participate in the CSEA Annual conference. He expressed gratitude to fellow committee members and volunteers for their hard work and acknowledged the support from our active members.
The opening speech was followed by 2 insightful Keynote presentations. The first presentation was titled “Energy Expansion and Energy Transition”, by Ron Cariglia, who explained Ontario’s current and further energy supply and demand, as well as the strategy to achieve sustainable, environmentally friendly energy solutions. The second presentation was titled “Proposed CHBDC Updates in 2025 Code” by Doug Dixon, who provided an in-depth overview of the upcoming changes in various sections of the 2025 version of the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code (CHBDC).
From 12:30 to 2:00pm, the attendees enjoyed a delicious lunch break and networking opportunities. This allowed professionals to be able to greet old friends, meet new friends, make connections, form new partnerships, and exchange insightful ideas. Subsequently, committee members Cancan Yang, Pengfei Zhao, Hangang Li, George Wang and Duo Huang delivered the CSEA annual reports, highlighting key achievements and initiatives for CSEA committees this year. Then the session concluded with group photos.
In the afternoon, a series of presentations took place which kicked off with George Wang’s presentation “Rapid Replacement or Rehabilitation of Railway Bridges”, which focuses on introducing various past projects involving the rapid construction of railway bridges in Ontario. Cancan Yang followed with a presentation on “Ultrahigh-Performance Concrete (UHPC) for Precast Bridges Piers,” discussing her research findings on UHPC with micro fibres in bridge pier socket shaft. Pengfei Zhang then presented “Revealing the Potential of Ontario Clays for Low-Carbon Cement Production”, discussed his research on using special clays found in Ontario as Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Portland cement production and address the increasing shortage of common SCMs like slag in Ontario. Next, Bart Fudala introduced “Robotic Hydrodemolition,” and provided a comprehensive explanation on its application, benefits and construction techniques. Lastly, the final presentation was presented by the president of the association, Haixue Liao, who spoke on “Sustainable Structural Preservation,” emphasizing the importance and technologies of cathodic protection and corrosion mitigation for reinforced concrete.
Speakers and Honourable Guests
The event concluded with a final chance to network with others from 4:30 to 5:00pm, providing the attendees with the final chance to connect and share thoughts on the presentations. A closing speech was delivered by President Liao, thanking the speakers, attendees, and volunteers for their participation and time, marking the end of CSEA’s 2024 annual conference.
In summary, the CSEA Annual Luncheon was a big success, with structural engineering pros coming together to share and learn. As people leave with new ideas and connections, the event has a lasting impact, pushing the industry towards more innovation, sustainability and shared knowledge. The CSEA is excited to keep this going, bringing structural engineers together and inspiring them in the coming years.
Our Sponsors
Special thanks go to all our sponsors of this event who helped make it possible:
Tabletop Sponsorship with three admissions at a Cost of 600$
1. Vector
2. VRod
3. Termarust coating
Sponsors with banner exhibit and two admissions at a cost of 300$
1. Coffee sponsor, $300, Hetao Ge, 亚宏幕墙
2. Frontop Enginering Limited $350
3. Arrow 300
If you are interested in sponsoring our future events, please contact info@csea.ca.
Our Volunteers
Many thanks go to all our volunteers of this event who helped organize this event. Our Volunteers list in the order of signup:
1. Liao Haixue
2. Raymond Su
3. Hangang Li
4. Duo Huang
5. Zihang Wang
6. Su Bin
7. Pengfei Zhao
8. Tony Yu
9. Sheng Wang
10. Yin Li
11 Cancan Yang
12 George Wang
13 Sarah Sha
14 Rachel Zhang
15 Sherry Li
16. Josephine Yun
High school volunteers:
1 Jody Liao
2 Jocelyn Liao
3 Grant Hui
4 YiMing Lu
If you are interested in helping CSEA organizing events, and if your high school children are interested in getting volunteering hours from CSEA events, please reach us at info@csea.ca
Registration
Presentation
Lunch
Every Speaker was awarded with a gift as thanks
CSEA Volunteers
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