Ove Arup Foundation Workshop 2014

From Constraint to Innovation

On 5-7 November 2014, six international experts convened to debate social and technological incentives and barriers that lead to the repression of innovation and the introduction of constraints into the development of infrastructure.

It was followed by a keynote address by Professor Luke Bisby titled: "How Integrating Constraints begets Innovation in Design - The Special Case of Fire Safety Engineering".

The panel

The international experts listed below were joined by junior academics, Angus Law, Joe Gattas, and Kevin Sevilla, and graduate students Richard Emberley and Danielle Lester.

Luke Bisby

Luke Bisby
University of Edinburgh

Luke Bisby is the Arup Professor of Fire and Structures at Edinburgh University and has extensive experience in experimental methods for structural fire safety engineering. He is interested various aspects of structural fire engineering, with particular emphasis on uses of fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) in civil engineering applications, unbonded post-tensioned concrete structures, and the effects of fire and thermal cycling on structures and materials. 

Paolo Tombesi

Paolo Tombesi
University of Melbourne

Trained as an architect in Italy, Paolo joined the University of Melbourne in 1997 and was appointed to the Chair in Construction in 2009. He is an international authority on the industrial organisation of architectural practice and the analysis of the building procurement process and employs industrial economics, labour theory and regional development models to examine the relationship between design, technological innovation, knowledge production and building markets.

Janet L. Ellzey

Janet L. Ellzey
University of Texas at Austin

Janet is a Faculty member Thermal/Fluid Systems area of the Mechanical Engineering Department since 1990. Her research interests include environmental technologies such as low-emissions combustors and fuel reformers and she has won numerous awards for Women in Engineering advocacy and research excellence. Since 2009, Janet has served as the Vice Provost for International Programs.

Greg Bankoff

Greg Bankoff
University of Hull

Greg is a Professor of Non-Western History with interests in the role of disasters in human societies, resources and risk management, the environmental consequences of modern conflict, human-animal relations, and the development of colonial science.

Andrew Maher

Andrew Maher, Arup
Melbourne

Andrew is a qualified architect and Arup’s Digital Innovation Leader (across Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Singapore), Andrew Maher’s is a broad-ranging role that supports the company’s mission for research and innovation (R&I).

Jose L. Torero

Jose L. Torero
The University of Queensland

Jose is the Head of the School of Civil Engineering and a leader in the field of Fire Safety Engineering. He specialises in the behaviour of fire in complex environments such as forests, tall buildings, novel architectures, tunnels, aircraft and spacecraft.

Photos and videos from the event

Click here to view images from the event, on the UQ Fire blog.

The videos below summarise the activities of the workshop.