More than ever, we depend on critical infrastructure systems to provide essential energy, water, transport and communications services, as well as our food, healthcare and education.
With exposure to an ever-increasing range of hazards, risks, and threats - from cyber and physical attacks to the impacts of climate change - the ability of infrastructure systems to absorb disturbance and retain basic function and structural capacity is vital.
Improving infrastructure resilience can reduce the risk and impact of a disaster and assist the recovery process, dramatically reducing physical, social and economic losses.
Natural disasters, extreme weather events, the changing climate and man-made hazards have destructive and devastating consequences on human society and the natural environment. Critical infrastructure often sustains a high amount of damage as a result of these events.
Our research supports adaptation to ensure critical building and transport infrastructure projects can withstand significant and unexpected changes in the social and physical environment within which they’re designed, built and operated, beyond the normal day-to-day demands of their strengths and capacities. Our main research topics are:
Resilient Infrastructure research at UNSW Canberra focuses on the design, operation, maintenance and protection of infrastructure to mitigate disaster risks that arise from a variety of hazards.
Our team of experts have developed significant research capability in vulnerability modelling and assessing the effects of man-made, cyberspace and natural hazards on buildings and critical infrastructure.
We aim to ensure infrastructure systems can withstand, adapt to and recover quickly from anticipated or unexpected shocks and stresses - now and in the future.
Our team of experts also apply their research outcomes for solving practical infrastructure resilient problems. Some recent successful applications are:
Resilient Infrastructure research at UNSW Canberra focuses on the design, operation, maintenance and protection of infrastructure to mitigate disaster risks that arise from a variety of hazards.
Our team of experts have developed significant research capability in vulnerability modelling and assessing the effects of man-made, cyberspace and natural hazards on buildings and critical infrastructure.
We aim to ensure infrastructure systems can withstand, adapt to and recover quickly from anticipated or unexpected shocks and stresses - now and in the future.
Our team of experts also apply their research outcomes for solving practical infrastructure resilient problems. Some recent successful applications are:
"Most of our research efforts are aimed at keeping people safe and protecting them from both natural and human-caused disasters. As a team, we want to see structures withstand severe loading, whether they’re induced by human-caused events or natural disasters. The team is passionate about developing better design techniques for structures to survive under such extreme loading.”
Damith Mohotti, Chartered Structural Engineer (EA) and Senior Lecturer