Dr. González-Velázquez is a Professor of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering at the Instituto Politecnico Nacional (IPN) in Mexico and Founder and Director of the Pipeline Integrity Assessment Group, with more than 27 years of continued experience on fracture mechanics and integrity assessment of pipelines and oil processing facilities. He has published over 160 papers and authored 3 books on fracture and mechanical behavior of engineering materials. He received the IPN Lazaro Cardenas Award as outstanding professor in 2007 and the Academy of Distinguished Engineers and Hall of Fame award of The University of Connecticut in 2008.