Dr Karol S. Sikora FICE holds BSc and MSc degrees in civil engineering from the Warsaw University of Technology, Poland (master project at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium) and MA in management from the Warsaw School of Economics, Poland. PhD degree from the Glasgow Caledonian University, UK in collaboration with L’École Spéciale des Travaux Publics (Paris), France for the study entitled: ‘The effect of superabsorbent polymers on the properties of cementitious mortars containing fly ash’. Dr. Karol Sikora worked as Postdoctoral Researcher and Adjunct Lecturer at National University of Ireland, Galway on the project: ‘Innovation in Irish Timber Usage’, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine. Later Dr. Sikora was a Lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), located in Suzhou, China until 2018, when he joined University of Wollongong in Dubai (UWOD) where he leads Civil Engineering Program. Dr. Sikora’s was keynote speaker on dozen occasion, co-chair and technical committee at various international conferences. He is a Scientific Editorial board member of Materiały Budowlane. He was also a member of 3 COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Actions related to the timber engineering field. Moreover, he was a Member of the Timber Standards Consultative Committee in Ireland. In 2019 Dr Karol Sikora was awarded Fellowship in Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).