Tropical cyclones regularly cause hundreds of millions of dollars damage to northern Australian communities. Engineers have a significant role in reducing this damage by learning from our experience and adapting the way we do things to implement those lessons.

In this presentation, a number of recent tropical cyclones will be used to show how we can learn more about the performance of buildings in tropical cyclones and what changes are needed to design and construction to reduce the cycle of damage and recovery that accompanies tropical cyclones.

Geoff Boughton has investigated the damage following extreme wind events for over 40 years and will share his experiences and show the link between learning and design standards.

 Who should attend

Members, graduates, and students with an interest in structural and/or civil engineering are encouraged to attend.

About the speakers

Dr Geoff Boughton AM 

Adjunct Associate Professor, James Cook University’s Cyclone Testing Centre

Geoff has a PhD in Structural Engineering for work on wind loads on housing. He is a member of both the Australasian Wind Engineering Society and the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society, and of a number of Australian Standards Committees including the committee for AS 1684, and the committees for the wind loadings standards, AS/NZS 1170.2 and AS 4055.

Geoff has been involved in teams that have investigated damage to housing following extreme wind events throughout Australia and on other projects to evaluate and improve resilience in buildings.  He has contributed to training in response to natural disasters at AEMI and to disaster resistant construction in the Pacific rim.  Geoff is currently part of the team working on the North Queensland Strata Title Inspection Program, and other projects within the Pacific region. Geoff was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2020 for significant service to engineering and to professional bodies.

MC 

Brian Haggerty 

WA President, Engineers Australia

As WA Division President of Engineers Australia, Brian is passionately interested in ensuring that current and future engineers have the capability and skills to adapt to a rapidly changing world. He graduated as a Structural Engineer in Perth, with a career in resources development. Previously VP Innovation Capability at Woodside, Brian has had responsibilities for Woodside’s technology programmes, and LNG developments. He has 10 years’ international experience with Royal Dutch Shell on LNG and gas to liquids developments and was based in UK, Europe and Middle East. Brian is an Adjunct Professor of Engineering at University of Western Australia. He is also the current Chair of Hydrogen Society of Australia.