Now in its third year, Smart Skyscrapers Summit will be held on 16-17 May 2016 at Sofitel, The Palm Resort & Spa, Dubai. With the mission to encourage cross-sector learning among real estate developers, technologists, researchers, engineers, experts from architectural and design institutes and the local government, the summit will attract over 400 delegates from across the GCC.

The rapid development of high-rise buildings in the Middle East is noteworthy. Industry report indicates that Dubai boasts of 149 buildings over 150 metres and the cities that will contain the most skyscrapers in the Middle East by 2015 are Abu Dhabi and Doha with 32 and 28 buildings respectively. Against this backdrop, the two-day summit agenda will cover topics under the themes of project design, green building, facade design and engineering.

Announcing the dates of the summit, Mr. Brad Hariharan, Regional Director, Expotrade Middle East, said, “We are excited to be back with the third annual Smart Skyscrapers Summit. Our 2015 edition of the summit garnered a phenomenal response from our sponsors and partners. Our 2016 edition of the summit will be bigger and better than the previous edition, promising two full days of keynote sessions, case study presentations, interactive panel discussions and a significant number of networking opportunities.”

The summit will focus on pertinent topics including, emerging tall technologies of the future, vertical transportation, building information modelling technology, geotechnical and foundation engineering and Importance of Monitoring, Controls in Building Sustainability amongst others. To examine these subjects in more depth, the summit will bring together sector specialists and industry experts from across the globe.

Last year’s edition of the summit saw a robust panel of speakers and experts from internationally renowned organizations such Schindler Middle East, Samsung C & T, AECOM, Emerson Climate Technologies and GE Construction Sealants, to name a few.

The 2015 edition of the summit received a favourable response from attendees and sponsors alike. Matthew Neidlinger, Director - Marketing MEA, Emerson Climate Technologies said, “We’re glad to be part of this event. Previously, we’ve seen an increase in demand for technologies that have elevated efficiency, comfort, reliability and affordability. Therefore, through our keynote, we’ve addressed capacity and energy efficiency needs that will make smart buildings and skyscrapers the future of this city.”

Gaurish Wagle, Team Leader – Urban Planning, MASDAR, mentioned, “Smart Skyscrapers – is a challenging subject in itself because skyscrapers themselves are considered to be smart in terms of how they are built. In spite of this challenge the summit has managed to put together a number of facets which makes skyscrapers even smarter. It was a great event due to the exposure to the different components and intelligence systems, structural steel-sustainable materials like glass, paint, etc. And more so, all the list of parts which makes skyscraper sustainable and smart. It was a great event to attend. Kudos to the Expotrade team for putting this together and thanks for your invitation to attend.”