Judges

Mr. Zaw Zaw Aye is currently working as an Executive Vice President in SEAFCO PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED, Bangkok, Thailand. Mr. Zaw Zaw Aye is also a Managing Director of Seafco (Myanmar) Co., Ltd. in Myanmar.

He has over 30 years of extensive experience in technical and management role in design, supervision and construction of deep excavations, deep foundations and tunneling projects. He is an active member of American Society of Civil Engineers and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. Mr. Zaw Zaw Aye is well-recognized alumnus of Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) where he obtained his Master’s Degree from Geotechnical and Transportation Engineering in 1991. Mr. Zaw Zaw Aye authored over 60 international publications.

His papers are well-cited by various researchers including those of researchers of world-class universities. He is a Vice Chairman of Tunnelling and Underground Space Committee (MTUSC) of Federation of Myanmar Engineering Societies. He is also an Advisor in Thailand Underground Space and Tunelling Group of Engineering Institute of Thailand.
Mr. Zaw Zaw Aye was a Secretary General in organizing ITA-AITES World Tunnel Congress 2012 (WTC2012) in Bangkok. He was a speaker in ITA endorsed seminars and training courses organized by ITACET Foundation.

Jens Classen is an experienced Senior Project Manager and TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) Consultant with a strong background in civil engineering and tunneling projects. He has an impressive track record of working on various tunneling projects worldwide and has held key roles in major construction companies.

He is currently employed as a Senior Project Manager at Implenia Construction GmbH, focusing on the Consorzio Dolomiti Brenner Base Tunnel Southern Access Route in Bolzano, Italy.

Jens Classen has extensive experience as an Independent TBM Consultant, providing worldwide consulting services for TBM drives in both tunneling and mining projects. He has been involved in several high-profile projects, offering expertise in TBM suitability, safety, and optimization.

In addition to his project management roles, Jens Classen has provided external consulting services for various projects, including serving as an expert witness for legal cases and offering consultancy on TBM drives and tunneling optimization.

He is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Swiss Tunnelling Society, Italian Tunnelling Society, Canadian Tunnelling Society, and International Tunnelling Organization (ITA), where he holds a Vice-Chair position in the ITAtech Steering Board and is a member of Working Group No.17 "Long Tunnels at Great Depths."

Experienced Professional with over a decade of experience in planning, investigating design and construction of underground projects. Three years of experience within nuclear decommissioning including on the UK’s geological disposal facility programme as tunnelling and underground space specialist.

Professional working in Strategy development and implementation of major capital government projects, responsible for technical development of strategy implementation in areas defined as Critical Enablers. These are areas outlined by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority as critical to the success of the decommissioning mission for the United Kingdom and the wider UK industrial Strategy.
Recognized global specialist serving on the British Tunnelling Society (BTS) Committee and representing the UK in the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES) as well as serving in several expert working groups producing guidance and best practice recommendations.

Brad Grothen, P.E. has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Material Science Engineering.  
Grothen is based in Robbins’ Kent, Washington office and has specialized in custom industrial and construction equipment for over 25 years in a variety of roles, including mechanical and electrical design and project management.
In his time at Robbins he has worked in a variety of roles within the company and is currently Robbins VP of Engineering.
This role includes leading overall product design and working directly with clients to present current technologies and develop new solutions for projects.

He is active in both international and domestic tunnelling organizations, contributing and leading working groups focused in Mechanized Tunnelling, Long and Deep Tunnels, and consumables.

Siamak Hashemi is an experienced geotechnical engineer with expertise in soil mechanics, rock mechanics, and tunnelling. He has a proven track record of providing geotechnical engineering consulting services on contractual or project basis. His work involves various civil engineering and mining projects, including planning, technical reports, tender documents, and procurement.

Hashemi held the position of Technical Deputy of Mines and Industries Department and Head of Knowledge Management Division at Sabir Dam and Water Works Construction Company. During his tenure, he negotiated terms of cooperation, prepared contracts with local and international clients, and oversaw the systematic collection and storage of project documentations.

As Project Manager and Head of Soil Mechanics Division at Moshanir Power Engineering Consultants, Hashemi led teams in designing and assessing the stability of foundations, slopes, and tunnels in diverse geological conditions. He was also part of a multinational team involved in the preliminary design of Tehran's Metro Line 3 and contributed to the preparation of tender documents.

Previously, Hashemi served as the Head of Technical Department at Khak & Sang Co., a geotechnical consultancy in Tehran. There, he managed and supervised site investigation projects for dam and tunnel construction, conducted in-situ rock mechanics tests, and oversaw the installation of monitoring instruments for dam construction projects.

ISAGO, Nobuharu is a Professor at the Faculty of Urban Environmental Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University.

As professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, Isago proceeds several research activities regarding tunnel structure, maintenance methodology and regulation of emergency facilities of road tunnels.  Isago is designated as many technical committees such as Japan Society of Civil Engineers, Japan Road Association, Japan Tunneling Association and so on.  Up to 2018, Isago was a director of tunnel research team of PWRI, engaging in the research and development, technical adviser of ministry, as government official.

Major Research Subject:
Tunnel engineering, especially design method of support and lining, maintenance and inspection of road tunnel, countermeasure of deformation in existing tunnel, emergency facilities in road tunnel.

A civil engineer since 1989, Catherine LARIVE obtained a doctorate in mechanics from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC) in 1997 on the modelling of structures affected by the alkali-silica reaction and won the ‘Thesis of the year’ prize awarded by the Foundation of the ENPC.

Specialising in concrete and concrete structure pathology, she joined CETU, the French centre for tunnel studies, in 2000 and soon took the head of the Materials, Structures and Durability Department. For 20 years, she participated in several tunnel rehabilitation projects. She has also been and still is involved in many research programmes. For example, she was selected in 2016 for an ITA Award, in the category 'Renovation/Improvement Project of the Year' with an innovative waterproofing system. She also received an award from the French association of civil engineering, AFGC, in 2019.

Her main technical fields are tunnel surveillance, inspection and diagnosis; concrete - especially sprayed concrete; and waterproofing methods. She is now extending her scope of activity from civil engineering to tunnel equipment, safety and operation, as head of research and partnerships, leading the CETU research and professional guidelines programme.
Catherine is the French representative within ITA’s WG 12 on Sprayed Concrete Use and is active in several other national and international committees, working on topics such as standardisation.

Barry Sum has over 26 years of engineering experience in Hong Kong and Asia.

He has spent significant of his time in HK and other major South-east Asia countries in the last 10 years. He has been stationed in Bangkok for nearly one year for a metro project in 2009. He is familiar with the infrastructure market in Hong, Kong, China, and other South-east Asia countries (e.g. Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippine, and Singapore). He obtained the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Civil & Structural Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 1995 and 1999 respectively.
He acquired the professional chartered engineer status for more than 20 years and he is now a fellow member of HKIE. He is now in progress to acquire the Fellow status of ICE, UK.

Barry is now working in MTR taking up the position of General Manager–New Projects. He is responsible to kick start the implementation of the 4 new railway extension projects from detailed planning and design to construction. He is also responsible for the transformation programme to uplift the projects delivery capability of MTR projects team. He is tasked to take forward all the initiatives for all new MTR projects. He is also responsible the execution of MTR new railway extension projects. He is also responsible to communicate with local industry stakeholders and overseas counterparts.

Thomas Wu is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in the field of tunnel construction and management. He currently serves as the Managing Director of China Railway Equipment (CREG) Germany GmbH, where he has been involved in various high-profile projects worldwide. Some notable projects include the Great Beirut Water Supply Project, Deep Tunnel Storm Water Project, Musaimeer Sewer Outfall, Metro Algiers, Metro Copenhagen, Snowy 2.0, Lisbon Drainage Tunnel, and Istanbul Railway Tunnel, among others.

Before his role at CREG Germany, Thomas Wu held the position of Vice President at Wirth Group Holding in Germany, where he served as the General Area Manager for China at NFM Technologies in France from 2004 to 2013. During this time, he contributed to significant projects such as Dahuofang Water Transfer Tunnel, Qinghai Water Transfer Tunnel, Metro Shenzhen L2, Metro Guangzhou, and Beijing Railway Link Tunnel, among others.

His earlier experience includes working in the sales department for Singapore and China projects at Herrenknecht in Germany from 2002 to 2004, and as a Senior Project Engineer and Cost Estimator at Wayss & Freytag AG in Germany from 1994 to 2002.

Thomas Wu holds a Master of Engineering in Tunnel Construction and Construction Management from the University of Stuttgart in Germany and a Master of Science in Tunnel Engineering from the University of Mining and Technology in Beijing. He also earned a Bachelor of Science in Tunnel Engineering from Xi'an Mining University.