Programme

dr.sc. Zlatko Šavor, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Lecture Title: Development of the Melan Method from first applications to record span arch bridges

Zlatko Šavor was born in Zagreb. After completing his primary and secondary education in Zagreb, he studied at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Zagreb, where he graduated. He earned his master's degree with the thesis "A New Finite Element Method for the Navier-Stokes Equation" at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Later, he received his doctoral degree from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Zagreb with the dissertation "New Contributions to the Development of Arch Bridges".

Following graduation, he was employed at the Engineering Design Bureau in Zagreb. He was subsequently appointed as a research assistant at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Zagreb, where he also participated in teaching as an external associate. He later obtained a permanent position at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, serving as a faculty member until his retirement. During his academic career, he was appointed Assistant Professor and subsequently Associate Professor. Following his retirement, he continued working on professional engineering projects at the Faculty of Civil Engineering as a Senior Professional Advisor.

His primary areas of scientific research include the design, stability, and aesthetics of bridges, reliability assessments of existing bridges, and structural actions. As an author and co-author, he has published numerous papers and book chapters, earning multiple awards and recognitions for his contributions. He has left a significant mark on Croatian bridge engineering as the designer of some of the country's major bridges (such as the Maslenica and Krka Concrete Arch Bridges and the bridge over the Rijeka Dubrovačka).

János Magyar,  A-HÍD Ltd., Hungary

Lecture Title: Extradosed Bridge History in Hungary – Twenty Years of Construction Experience

János Magyar is a Hungarian civil engineer and Technical Director of A-Híd Zrt. He has more than 30 years of experience in bridge construction, with a particular focus on construction technologies, prestressed concrete structures, balanced cantilever construction, bridge launching, stay-cable systems and complex technological works.

During his career, he has been involved in the construction of many major bridges in Hungary and abroad, including the Köröshegy Viaduct, the Megyeri Bridge, the Móra Ferenc Bridge, the Berkó Bridge and he was also responsible for the construction technology of the Korongi Bridge, Hungary’s first extradosed bridge.

He is an active member of the Hungarian Chamber of Engineers, where he also serves on the governing body of the Construction Division. He is a Board Member of the Hungarian National Group of fib and Secretary General of the Hungarian Bridge Builders Association. His professional interests include innovative bridge construction methods, BIM, Lean Construction and the application of artificial intelligence in construction engineering.

Dr. Jan Červenka, Červenka Consulting s.r.o.; Czech Republic

Lecture Title: Beyond the Safety Factor: Confronting Uncertainty in Nonlinear Reinforced Concrete Analysis

Dr. Jan Červenka is a director of Červenka Consulting and one of the key developers of modelling and simulation software ATENA. Received his PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA. Member of ACI, fib, and European CEN committees for the development of new Eurocodes, where he is involved in the definition of new safety formats for the structural design and assessment based on nonlinear simulation. Jan has a strong research as well as praxis-oriented experience in the application of computational mechanics and advanced information technology in engineering problems such as advanced mathematical and numerical modelling of brittle and heterogeneous materials, simulation of engineering structures, grid/cloud/parallel computing of engineering problems, modelling of smart/intelligent structures/buildings. His professional goal is to strive for new development in these methods and bring them closer to practising engineers and to extend the applicability of these modern methods in engineering practice. During his career he was involved in the application of advanced modelling methods in the assessment of various engineering structures such as nuclear power plants, high-rise buildings, concrete bridges, off-shore structures, wind towers, and others. Jan has more than 95 publications in journals or conference proceedings, WoS h-index 16 (1108 citations).

Rainer Hausenberger, ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG; Austria

Lecture Title: Performance-Based Concrete Standards BS1 and BS2 as a Pathway to CO₂-Reduced and Durable Construction

Rainer Hausenberger is a civil engineer and Technical Expert in Bridge Construction and Structural Engineering at ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, where he also serves as Leading Expert in the “Concrete Structures & Bridges”. 

He graduated with distinction in Civil Engineering from the Vienna University of Technology. Since joining ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG in 2009, he has worked in project coordination, construction management and structural engineering. From 2014 to 2016, he worked as a project manager in structural analysis and building physics, before returning to ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG as a project manager in structural engineering. 

Since 2017, he has been listed in the register of railway engineering specialisms pursuant to Section 40 of the Austrian Railways Act 1957, in the field of railway construction engineering, structural engineering and building construction. Since 2018, he has also served as an expert on several specialist committees and bodies, including ASI, ÖBV and FSV.