*Subject to Change*
Thursday | March 19
Opening Plenary- AEI | IRD Conference
The AEI IRD Opening Plenary will encompass two vital topics that inspire meaningful discussion. Attendees will gain valuable insights from industry experts during the Flood Recovery panel presentation and discover the NIST perspective on community and infrastructure resilience.
Part 1: The Shifting Paradigm of Flood Protection
Industry experts illuminate the path of how strategic flood protection and mitigation can safeguard our critical infrastructure and foster long-term resilience. By comprehending flood risks and implementing tailored design solutions, we empower cities and property owners to navigate and rise above the challenges of rising water.
Introductions by: Andrew D. Sorensen, Ph.D., M.B.A., P.E., AEI Program Chair, Associate Professor | Architectural Engineering, Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering | College of Engineering | Texas A&M University
Panelists: Lisa Osborne, CEO, Founding Partner, Collaborative Engineering Group; Charles M. Penland, PE, LEED AP, Managing Principal, Walter P Moore; Jared Wood, AIA, Partner, Studio RED Architects; Kevin Schmidt. P.E., LEED AP, Vice President, Collaborative Engineering Group; Ray Drexler, PE, Principal & Senior Project Manager, Diagnostics, Walter P Moore; Tony Mansoorian, EVP & Chief Operating Officer, Bellows Construction
Part 2: Community and Infrastructure Resilience: A Perspective on Where We Have Been and Where We Are Going
Community and regional resilience provide a path to reduce the societal consequences that are occurring too frequently by addressing the intersection of engineering, social science, economics, and other disciplines to improve how communities prepare for, resist, respond to, and recover from hazard events. Buildings and infrastructure systems play a critical role in assuring the resilience of communities through their performance and impacts on societal and economic functions. While the adoption and enforcement of codes and standards are necessary, they may not be sufficient to achieve resilience goals. Community level modeling brings important design and lifecycle management perspectives to individual infrastructure projects. Understanding motivations and challenges for community and project resilience planning and execution is needed to address ongoing challenges.
Additionally, current building and infrastructure standards are based on historical, stationary hazard events. Looking forward, design methods need to address future nonstationary variations in temperatures, sea level, precipitation, floods, and wind events. Future hazard events and conditions can lead to a greater likelihood of damage to the built environment, increased social and economic losses, and reduced public safety.
Motivations, progress, and challenges for resilience planning and execution will be considered, including approaches for assessments (frameworks, analysis tools, field studies) and decision making. Looking forward, in addition to better communicating the value of resilience planning and the adoption and enforcement of codes and standards, there are two topics that need to be addressed in the near future:
- Data standardization for planning, monitoring, post-event assessment, and recovery.
- Characterization of future hazards and conditions for design and assessment of the built environment.
Introductions by: John W. van de Lindt, Ph.D., F. ASCE, IRD Program Chair,
Harold H. Short Chaired Professor, Co-Director, NIST Center of Excellence for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University
Speaker: Terri P. McAllister, Ph.D., P.E., F.SEI, Dist.M.ASCE
*Friday Afternoon Plenary Lunch and Friday Afternoon Industry Plenary Sessions are designed for both AEI/IRD and CI/CRC audiences.
Attendees of the AEI | IRD 2026 Conference are invited to participate in the CI & CRC 2026 Joint Conference program through a unique co-location arrangement in San Antonio, Texas, from March 18–21, 2026. This collaboration allows architectural engineering professionals to engage with leading voices across construction research and industry practice.
Friday | March 20
Plenary Lunch - From Lab to Jobsite: Moving Research to Practice through Commercialization
Join us for an engaging moderated plenary lunch presentation, showcasing inspiring faculty founders, innovative startup leaders, and executives from dynamic construction firms. They’ll share their firsthand experiences with research-based innovations.
We’ll explore crucial topics like identifying significant challenges, forging robust university-industry partnerships, and navigating IP and funding opportunities—all while managing the complexities of embracing cutting-edge technologies. Join us in discovering how the academic construction research community can team up with practitioners, contractors, and business owners to create meaningful change
Moderator: Steven Ayer, Associate Professor, Faculty Director for Civil Engineering Construction Engineering and Management, University of Colorado Boulder
Speakers: Ali Mostafavi, Zachry Endowed Professor of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University; Logan Farrell, Co-Founder and CTO, Rugged Robotics; Todd Sutton, Director of Construction Technology, Zachry Construction Corporation, Fernanda Leite, P.E., Ph.D., F.ASCE, King Professor in Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Interim Vice President for Research, The University of Texas at Austin
Afternoon Plenary Session- Perspectives from Innovation Leaders: The Future of Engineering and Construction
As the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry accelerates into an era defined by artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, digital twins, immersive visualization, and automation, innovation is transforming every stage of project delivery. This session brings together three visionary leaders; Charles Hixon (Former Chief Digital Officer, Mott MacDonald), Siavash Mohseni (Innovation, Corporate Venture Capital, Strategic Partnership ,Strategic Innovation Planning, Hensel Phelps), and Stephen Phillips (Solution Architect, Epic Games); for a candid discussion about how emerging technologies are reshaping design, construction, collaboration, and the workforce across the built environment.
Each panelist brings a distinct lens on innovation: Strategic digital transformation in global engineering, organizational innovation in construction delivery, and the power of real-time visualization and immersive tools to reimagine design and project engagement. Through a dynamic dialogue, they will share real-world examples, organizational strategies for fostering innovation, insights into deploying cutting-edge technologies from digital twins and AI to real-time engines like Unreal and Twinmotion in AEC workflows; and highlight what it takes to lead change in an industry balancing tradition with rapid technological evolution.
The session will also explore how academia and industry can collaborate to prepare the next generation of professionals for this rapidly evolving landscape. Conducted in a moderated format, the discussion will promote an interactive Q&A and exchange of ideas among the leaders and the audience.
Moderator: Melissa Rohland, MBA, PE, PMP, Director of Strategic Programs, Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc.
Speakers: Charles Hixon, Former Chief Digital Officer at Mott MacDonald; Stephen Phillips, Solution Architect for Epic Games; Siavash Mohseni, Innovation, Corporate Venture Capital, Strategic Partnership ,Strategic Innovation Planning, Hensel Phelps