Dr. Zhen Leng 

Keynote lecture title: Modelling of Pavement Performance Evolution Considering Uncertainty and

Interpretability: A Machine Learning Based Framework

Dr. Zhen Leng is a Full Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he also serves as the Director of Road Research Laboratory. He received his PhD degree in Civil Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011.His research interests mainly include sustainable infrastructure materials and technologies, eco-efficiency analysis and life cycle assessment, and nondestrutive evaluation of transportation infrastructure. His research projects have been funded by various sources such as the Research Grant Council, Construction Industry Council, Environmental Conservation Fund, Innovation and Technology Fund, Highways Department, and Environmental Protection Department in Hong Kong, and Federal Aviation Administration, Association of American Railroad, and Illinois Department of Transportation in the US. He has published over 60 SCI journal papers, and has received various research awards, such as the 2018 Hong Kong Green Innovation Award, first runner-up of the HKIE Environment Paper Award in 2017, the AASHTO Sweet 16 High Value Research in 2013, the Illinois Center for Transportation High Impact Project Award in 2013, and the Innovative Research Award at the 52nd Annual Illinois Bituminous Paving Conference in 2012. He is the vice president of the ASCE Greater China Section, executive board member and the honorary deputy treasurer of the Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies, director of the International Association of Chinese Infrastructure Professionals, and the co-opted member of the Hong Kong Institution of Highways and Transportation. He also serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Cleaner Production, ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, and ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part B: Pavement, and an Editorial Board member of Transportation Research, Part D: Transport and Environment, International Journal of Road Materials and Pavement Design, and International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology.