Dr. Mohammad Najafi, Director of the Center for Underground Infrastructure Research and Education (CUIRE) and the Construction Engineering and Management started 2011 with a busy schedule with making several keynote and invited presentations. The first international conference was INFRAASSETS 2011, the World Congress and Exhibition Infrastructure Asset Management, held February 22-24, at Putra World Trade Centre, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. More than 500 people attended this unique event with several presentations by Malaysian prime minister and other government officials. Dr. Najafi made a keynote presentation on the topic of "Evaluation of GASB-34: Application for Municipal Water Infrastructure Asset," and participated in a panel discussion on key challenges facing the infrastructure asset management profession and practice, and views on the future. Additionally, he chaired a session on "Infrastructure Asset Management for Power Industries, Utilities, and Innovative Approaches to Decision Making requirements."

The second international conference Dr. Najafi attended was on Utility Management and Safety (ICUMAS), held March 6-9, 2011, in Honk Kong, China. The ICUMAS was jointly organized by the Hong Kong Utility Research Centre (HKURC) and co-organized by the Faculty of Engineering, the University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Engineering, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Construction and Land Use, Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and other local organizations. The topic of his keynote presentation was "Applicability of Internally Restrained PVC Pipe Joint for Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) Practice."

In addition to above conferences, Dr. Najafi was invited speaker for the ASCE Forth Worth Branch monthly meeting on December 13, 2010, on the topic of "Recent Developments in Underground Infrastructure Teaching, Research and Outreach Activities," and on February 16, 2011, invited presenter for the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE) on the topic of "Overview and Comparisons of Trenchless Technologies." Also on April 13th, Dr. Najafi was the invited speaker for the American Public Works Association (APWA) Texas Chapter � North Central Branch who made a presentation on trenchless technology.