Dr. Marco Casini
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Central Apennine River Basin District Authority (AUBAC), Italy – RTESE 2027 Keynote Speaker
Marco Casini is an environmental engineer, PhD and Associate Professor at Sapienza University of Rome, where he founded and directed the advanced postgraduate Master’s programme in Construction Digital Twin and Artificial Intelligence. He serves as Secretary General of the Central Apennine River Basin District Authority (AUBAC), Italy, with responsibilities spanning river basin planning, flood and landslide risk management, water resources and climate adaptation. His research addresses sustainable and smart buildings, energy efficiency, and digital twins and artificial intelligence for the built environment and for river basin governance. He is the author of about one hundred scientific publications, including the Elsevier monographs Smart Buildings and Construction 4.0, and has edited five volumes in Springer’s Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering. His recent articles in Sustainability discuss the AUBAC geospatial digital twin and a digital twin architecture for the Tiber river corridor in Rome.
Dr. Qin Xin
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), CanmetENERGY Devon, Canada – RTESE 2027 Keynote Speaker
Dr. Qin Xin, P.Eng., is a Senior Research Scientist at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), CanmetENERGY Devon, and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. Dr. Xin received her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from East China University of Science and Technology in 2011. Since joining NRCan in 2013, she has led and contributed to research supporting the responsible and environmentally sustainable development of Canada’s energy resources. Her work has spanned unconventional petroleum processing, including the upgrading and hydrotreating of bitumen-derived products, as well as bitumen-derived oil spill science, environmental fate and behaviour, spill response technologies, and environmental impact assessment. Dr. Xin currently leads NRCan’s research program on Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS), addressing critical scientific and technological challenges related to the fate, behavior, environmental impacts, response, and remediation of HNS and emerging fuels in freshwater, marine, and Arctic environments. Her research advances science-based knowledge, tools, and response strategies that strengthen environmental protection, spill preparedness, and emergency response capabilities. Through extensive collaborations with academic, industry, Indigenous, and government partners in Canada and internationally, Dr. Xin contributes to the development of evidence-based solutions for managing the environmental risks associated with conventional petroleum products, alternative fuels, and other emerging energy carriers. Her work supports informed decision-making and enhances Canada’s readiness to respond to oil and HNS spill incidents in a rapidly evolving energy landscape.