Organized by the College of Engineering, American University of Sharjah (AUS) held an engineering conference entitled International Conference on Infrastructural Management, Assessment and Rehabilitation Techniques (ICIMART'14). The event, which was held March 4-6, was attended by academics, experts and industry leaders, and discussed a variety of engineering topics including Infrastructure Management, Non-Destructive Techniques, Artificial Intelligence, and Signal and Image Processing for Infrastructure Assessment.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr. Thomas Hochstettler, AUS Acting Chancellor, welcomed the participants to the event. "This conference is significant because it brings together scientists and academics from around the world who are engaged in research in the fields of infrastructure management, assessment and rehabilitation techniques," he said. "This forum provides them with an opportunity to present and share their work with their colleagues," he added.

"We, at AUS, are very pleased to have you here," he said, addressing the audience. "Gatherings such as these are integral to who we are as an institution of higher education. We have always placed great emphasis on issues that have the potential of impacting our industry, commerce and the environment and today's conference is a reflection of that strategic mission," Dr. Hochstettler added.

The conference provided a forum for scientists and engineers engaged in research and development to convene and present their latest work on infrastructure management, assessment and rehabilitation techniques. It also included distinguished keynote lectures and technical sessions covering the state-of-the-art advances on the topics and themes of the conference.

Seven internationally renowned engineering experts were designated as keynote speakers at the conference. These were: Paul D. Thompson, International expert in management systems and engineering economics; Sami Rzkalla, Professor at North Carolina State University; Gordon Clark, President of International Federation for Structural Concrete; Wagdy Wassef, Senior Associate with Modjeski and Masters; David Sanders, Professor at University of Nevada; David Corbett, Product Manager for Concrete NDT Products at Proceq; and Sherif Yehia, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at AUS.