Can you quake-proof a building?

Earthquakes are a force to be reckoned with in Australia even though they tend to fly under the radar, according to civil engineering academic John Wilson.

Making future buildings safer

The capacity to more realistically test the integrity of new materials and structures such as buildings, bridges and even airframes has been boosted with the recently commissioned Smart Structures Laboratory at Swinburne University of Technology.

Understanding freak waves

Rogue waves, once considered nothing more than a sailors myth, are more predictable than ever thanks to new research from the oceanography team at Swinburne University of Technology

Wind and Waves - ABC Catalyst

A new study of satellite data covering a twenty-year period - the most comprehensive research of its kind ever undertaken - suggests that, in extreme weather conditions, wind speeds have increased by 10% and wave heights have grown by nearly 7%

Freak wave probability higher than thought

Devastating freak waves the size of a 10-storey building can be more common than previously thought. The findings by Dr Alessandro Toffoli of Swinburne, and colleagues, have been accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters

Recycled roads to deliver waste savings

The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) is calling on local councils to join an Australian-first project that will lead to an increase in the use of recycled content in our roads, footpaths and shared pathways.

C-minus card means we must try harder

Failure to invest in infrastructure hurts society, economy and environment as infrastructure underpins the society of a developed nation

Wind and waves growing across the globe

Oceanic wind speeds and wave heights have increased significantly over the last quarter of a century according to a major new study undertaken by Australian researchers.

Quake 'pretty much a bullseye': building expert

Prof John Wilson, chair of the Australian earthquake loading standard and deputy dean of engineering at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, said the quake struck right at the heart of Christchurch.

Swinburne awarded $1.48M for research

Swinburne University has been awarded $1.48 million by the federal government to fund three research infrastructure projects.

Swinburne PhD Student wins Royal Society of Victoria Postgraduate award

Mahdi Miri Disfani a student from CSI as won the prestigious Royal Society of Victoria Postgraduate award ( Physical Sciences ) for his research in "Sustainable applications of Recycled Glass-Biosolids mixtures in roadwork applications".

Future travels down a glass highway

Australians have become great recyclers of glass, although not all glass is actually reusable. Research at Swinburne's Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure is looking at ways to make this glass suitable for use in road construction

Web tool to get us tanked up

Dr Monzur Imteaz is a glass-half-empty kind of chap. He's not being unduly negative, he just sees wasted opportunity in not being able to fill to the top. In particular he recoils at the thought of half-empty rainwater tanks

New research reduces footpath footprint

Melbourneâ's newly laid footpaths will leave much smaller carbon footprints than their predecessors, thanks to new research from Swinburne University's Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure.

Profit forecast to fire up landfill gas

Accurately predicting how much gas a landfill site is likely to deliver over its lifespan is a challenge one civil engineer is working to address

Researchers engineer Australia for earthquakes

For two of Australia's leading seismic engineers, the demolition of part of an inner-Melbourne housing estate provided a rare chance to do what engineers dream about: push a building sideways until it collapses.

The road to using biosolids

Melbourne's growing stockpile of biosolids could be significantly reduced, thanks to new research from Swinburne University of Technology.

Of winds and waves

As Category 4 Tropical Cyclone Olivia tracked across Australia's North West Shelf in April 1996, a wave-measuring buoy recorded a 22-metre monster passing Woodside Energy's North Rankin A gas platform.