UC academic to be awarded for earthquake research

UC academic to be awarded for earthquake research at international conference

University of Canterbury Associate Professor in Earthquake Engineering Brendon Bradley will receive the TC203 Young Researcher Award at the premier conference in his discipline, which is being held in New Zealand for the first time next month.

The Young Researcher Award will be presented at the 6th International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering (6ICEGE), to be held in Christchurch from 1 - 4 November.

The award, presented biennially by the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, recognises early-career scientists and engineers (under the age of 40) who have shown exceptional promise of excellence in research and made significant contributions in the field of Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering.

UC Professor Misko Cubrinovski, Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, who is the chairman of the 6ICEGE, says the award is richly deserved.

“Dr Bradley has made excellent research contributions in fundamental and applied aspects of earthquake engineering, from seismic hazard analysis and ground motion prediction to fragility analysis of structures.

“Despite his very young age, he has established himself as a leading researcher and scientist in his field of expertise. His rise to the ranks of leading researchers in this field is refreshing, stimulating and based on an unprecedented talent. Dr Bradley is a fine example of the high calibre of expertise we have in this discipline at UC. Working with him on a daily basis I know that an even more promising career is ahead of him.”

Prof Cubrinovski is especially pleased Dr Bradley will receive the award at the upcoming 6ICEGE, “which is the premier conference in this discipline, being held for the first time in Christchurch, and provides an exceptional context for his work and research related to earthquake geotechnical engineering”.

Dr Bradley, who earned his BE(Hons) and PhD at the University of Canterbury, says, “It’s very gratifying to be acknowledged by the international society for the original research that my collaborators and I have completed, its impact on the profession, and general relevance to society in our earthquake-prone country.

A Rutherford Discovery Fellow and Deputy Director of QuakeCoRE: The Centre for Earthquake Resilience, Dr Bradley has also received the 2015 UC Teaching Award, New Zealand Young Engineer of the Year Award and the Shamsher Prakash Foundation Research Award, among other awards and recognition for his work.

New Zealand’s bid to host the Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering conference was accepted in January 2011, just a month before the devastating February 2011 earthquakes. The Christchurch conference will be the sixth after the first was held in Tokyo in 1995, followed by Lisbon (1999), Berkeley, USA (2004), Thessaloniki (2007) and Santiago (2011).

More than 500 delegates will attend the conference from North America, Japan, and Europe, including 200 from around New Zealand. The technical programme includes over 30 prominent invited speakers from around the globe.

The Mayor of Christchurch, Lianne Dalziel, will open the conference, and the Earthquake Recovery Minister MP Hon Gerry Brownlee will address the audience in the first general session on Christchurch (from 1pm - 3pm Sunday, 1 November).

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