This presentation benefits from the wealth of knowledge and experience of Professor Geoff Boughton and Honorary Fellow Peter Airey from Darwin’s Tropical Cyclone Tracy in 1974 through to TC Seroja which affected WA’s Midwest in April 2021.

Key lessons from previous wind events will be provided, highlighting recent examples from TC Seroja. The presentation will give useful insights on how to approach engineering for new buildings to make them safe and resilient.

It highlights that design standards must be clearly understood and followed and that construction details must be diligently installed in order to protect our communities.

Speakers

Geoff Boughton AM PhD MEngSci FIEAust CPEng RPEQ

Geoff Boughton was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2020 for significant service to engineering and to professional bodies. He has been a member of the Australasian Wind Engineering Society since 1985 and is a research fellow and Adjunct Associate Professor at James Cook University’s Cyclone Testing Station. Geoff’s investigation of wind damage and research work has helped to improve building standards in Australia as well as South Pacific countries.

Peter Airey HonFIEAust CPEng APEC Engineer IntPE (Aust) RPEQ

Peter Airey has been a Fellow of Engineers Australia for over 45 years, and an Honorary Fellow since 2018. He is founder and Managing Director of Airey Taylor Consulting that has completed over 17,000 Structural, Civil and Scientific commissions. Airey Taylor Consulting has over 40 Award Winning projects in the last two decades alone. In 2018 he also founded Advanced Substructures Limited bringing cutting edge design knowledge to the national construction industry.

Prior to 1974, Peter insisted upon designing his structures in the NT for cyclonic wind loads. His completed buildings were used as refuges by survivors of TC Tracy.