UC Civil and Environmental Engineering

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Congratulations to PhD Candidate Jinjiang Liu for successfully defending his PhD thesis titled, "Numerical reservoir modelling of underground hydrogen storage operation in the depleted Ahuroa gas field, New Zealand."

This thesis investigates the performance of underground hydrogen storage (UHS) through numerical simulations based on the Ahuroa gas storage site in New Zealand. It enhances understanding of UHS by examining how operational conditions influence water invasion and how geological parameters affect site assessment and storage performance. The study also evaluates the role of UHS in balancing electricity supply and demand under various renewable energy scenarios. The findings provide practical guidance for UHS site selection, system design, and integration with renewable energy systems.

Thank you to Jinjiang's supervisors: Prof. David Dempsey and Prof. Andy Nicol, Examiners: Dr. Sam Xie and Dr. Birger Hagemann and Exam Chair: Dr Hamish Mackey.

📢 University of Canterbury to Host World-Leading Earthquake Engineering Researcher Through Prestigious Fellowship

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Canterbury is pleased to announce that Professor Ellen M. Rathje of the University of Texas at Austin has been awarded a Catalyst: Leaders International Leaders Fellowship. The award will bring Professor Rathje to New Zealand for extended visits over the next three years, hosted by Professor Brendon Bradley.

Professor Rathje is one of the foremost international figures in geotechnical earthquake engineering. She holds the Janet S. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering at UT Austin and was elected to the United States National Academy of Engineering in 2025. She currently serves as President of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) and has led major global initiatives, including as Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded DesignSafe cyberinfrastructure and former co-chair of the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) Association.

During her time in New Zealand, Professor Rathje will collaborate with UC researchers and the wider earthquake engineering community, including through QuakeCoRE, to advance seismic hazard assessment and cyberinfrastructure capabilities. The work will draw on New Zealand’s world-class post-earthquake datasets and align with national priorities in artificial intelligence and earth observations.

This fellowship significantly strengthens the University of Canterbury’s international profile in earthquake engineering and creates lasting research linkages between New Zealand and leading US institutions. It will support high-impact research, capability building, and the translation of advanced methods into improved earthquake resilience for New Zealand.

🌱🌱🌱

PhD candidate Rodrigo Zamorano Morales is exploring how advanced numerical modelling can help transform geothermal energy into a long-term climate solution, developing new approaches for safely storing carbon dioxide underground while supporting sustainable energy generation.

Originally from Chile, Rodrigo built his career at the intersection of industry and academia. Over 11 years as a senior water resources consultant, he led complex engineering projects in hydrogeology, fluid dynamics, and numerical modelling for environmental and industrial applications. Alongside his industry work, he dedicated eight years to teaching advanced groundwater modelling and applied hydrogeology at the University of Chile.

While working on large-scale water management challenges, Rodrigo became deeply interested in how advanced numerical tools could be applied to broader climate solutions, specifically long-term carbon storage.

New Zealand’s Taupō Volcanic Zone provides a world-class natural laboratory for high-enthalpy geothermal energy and carbon management. This motivated Rodrigo to pursue his PhD at the University of Canterbury, bridging his practical consulting experience and academic background to help engineer sustainable, low-carbon energy systems.

Rodrigo’s PhD research is supervised by Professor David Dempsey, with co-supervision from Dr Leanne Morgan. His research explores an alternative approach by directing a portion of this carbonated water into cool, natural recharge zones located further away, where groundwater naturally sinks deep into the earth.

Using advanced three-dimensional computer models of New Zealand geothermal systems, Rodrigo simulates how this dissolved carbon moves through complex rock formations over thousands of years. His work investigates whether natural subsurface currents can keep the carbon safely locked away without interfering with power generation.

“As engineers, our challenge is no longer just extracting energy from the earth but returning what we borrow in a way that protects our climate for centuries to come,” Rodrigo says.

🔊 Wing Yiu Ma Uses VR Tech to Revamp How Wheelchair Users are Evacuated During a Fire

Wing Yiu Ma, a Master of Fire Engineering student, has enlisted 16 people in wheelchairs to take part in a series of practical experiments using Virtual Reality (VR).

The VR programme, which Ma helped develop, allows the participants to feel they are in a multi-storey building that’s being evacuated, complete with the sound of a siren in the background. Ma’s research is supervised by Amy Harpur at Fire Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and Professor Daniel Nilsson. Professor Nilsson says involving people who are in a wheelchair in the design of evacuation systems is critical.

Ma says it’s very important the research is co-creational, meaning the participants are actively involved and have input into the design of evacuation systems.

Many of the participants have commented on the usefulness of VR as a tool, she says. “Usually these kinds of studies to improve designs for people with mobility impairment are done through questionnaires or interviews. But in those scenarios, it's quite hard for them to visualise what is actually happening in a 3D environment.

“With VR, we can give them visual cues not only to the design features but also include sounds, such as the fire siren. The interactions and the experience are much more realistic and that means they can give a more realistic estimate of how they would behave.”

“The message that came out quite strongly is that people in wheelchairs want to have a person, whether that’s through an intercom or a fire warden, to give them information about what’s happening,” Ma says. “They want someone to know that they’re in the building and to know someone is going to help them.

Ma’s research has been funded by the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ), GHD consulting and Halliwell Group, with support from FENZ and the Building Innovation Partnership (BIP). It is part of a wider project, "Changing evacuation behaviour to meet densified housing needs for our current and future population" which runs until the end of August this year.

Read the full UC news here: https://bit.ly/4g8cIdg

👏👏👏

Congratulations to Baptiste Hamon on successfully defending his PhD thesis!

The title of Baptiste's thesis is, "Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Agricultural Land Suitability." This research advances Land Suitability Analysis (LSA) to assess climate impacts on agricultural land. This work proposes a novel LSA framework that addresses critical methodological gaps, assesses agricultural land suitability and uncertainty for a wide range of crops in New Zealand, and explores the sensitivity of land suitability to climate indicator thresholds, crop phenology, and climate data resolution. Practical contributions include LSAPy, an open-source Python library for LSA workflows, and the New Zealand Land Use Suitability Database (NZLUSDB), which provides actionable insights to stakeholders and policymakers to design adaptation strategies.

Many thanks to Baptiste's supervisors: Prof. Thomas Cochrane (UC), Dr. Clémence Vannier (Bioeconomy Science Institute), and Dr. Hervé Quénol (IRL CliMoA - CNRS/BSI). Examiners: Dr. Nicholas Cradock-Henry (Earth Sciences New Zealand) and Dr. Paul Petrie (South Australian Research and Development Institute), Chair: Prof. Derek Warner (UC) and Acknowledgements: Special thanks to UC and CEE IT teams, and to the INRAE Agroclim Unit (Avignon, France).

🚨Workshop: Supporting Safe Evacuation for Mixed Ability Occupants

How can we better support mobility-impaired occupants during emergency evacuations?

Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) and the University of Canterbury are sharing outcomes from a research project exploring how evacuation practices can adapt to New Zealand’s changing built environment.

Join us to explore:

Occupant evacuation lifts, refuge areas and improved communication
and Digital design tools for architects and engineers


📍 Auckland, 20 August, 📍 Wellington, 21 August, 📍 Christchurch, 24 August (online option available)

REGISTER HERE for free - https://lnkd.in/da_7a66p

PS: Spaces at each workshop venue are limited, so we encourage you to register early to secure an in-person seat.
If the workshops reach capacity, you can still participate online. The Christchurch workshop will be streamed live via Zoom - https://lnkd.in/dUfpBMaR

Speakers
Amy Harpur (FENZ & University of Canterbury),
Wing Yiu Ma (Yoyo), Peter Thompson, Daniel Nilsson (University of Canterbury)
Join us to share your insights and help shape the future of inclusive evacuation design in New Zealand.

Who should attend?
Engineers | Architects | Facility managers | Mobility-impaired community members | Researchers | Fire Safety Professionals | Evacuation Consultants
✅ Free workshop
✅ Choose the location that works best for you
Help shape safer and more inclusive buildings for New Zealand.

Project funded and supported by:
BRANZ | Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) | Building Innovation Partnership | Halliwell Fire Research | GHD | University of Canterbury of Canterbury

Congratulations to Dr Daniel van der Walt and the wider UC team on receiving a national Risk NZ Award of Excellence for Networking and Partnership in Risk Management! 👏👏👏

The national award recognises the outstanding collaboration and impact behind the development of the UC Enterprise Risk Management Master's courses, which combine academic excellence with industry expertise to prepare the next generation of risk professionals.

Developed in partnership with more than 20 industry subject matter experts, the programme has made a significant impact in just 18 months. More than 130 learners have completed the courses, with 96% being working risk management professionals who bring valuable real-world experience into the learning environment.

Daniel says, "This achievement reflects the work of a remarkable team, including Rodney Young, our industry SME lead, Helen Johnston, our learning designer, Stephen Roberts, and so many others. Thank you to everyone involved. "

"This achievement continues to show me that integrated teaching and lifelong learning are the foundation of capable professionals driving change in NZ."

💻👏👏👏

Congratulations to Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE Programme Area Leader Brendon Bradley and his earthquake ground-motion simulation project team at UC on their recent allocation of 20.8 million CPU priority hours of super-computing time at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) on MareNostrum5 - the 11th largest high-performance computer in the world.

The team will use this allocation to advance the CyberShake NZ framework, enabling next-generation earthquake simulations that incorporate multi-segment fault interactions and surface topography. The research will support improved seismic hazard analysis, infrastructure design and emergency preparedness in New Zealand.

Read the QuakeCoRE announcement on LinkedIn here: http://bit.ly/4fhGWu5

For Vishnu Murali, studying a Master of Civil Engineering with an endorsement in Transportation Engineering provided the technical foundation and practical experience needed to build a career in pavement engineering.

Originally from India, Vishnu joined UC after gaining around seven years of experience working on civil engineering projects across different countries. His experience working on a major highway project sparked his interest in pavement engineering and motivated him to deepen his knowledge in transportation and pavement design.

“Working closely on pavement related challenges, material behaviour, and construction issues made me realise how important technical knowledge and practical understanding are in this field,” Vishnu says.

Today, Vishnu works as a Civil Engineer with GHD Ltd, where he is involved in the assessment and design of pavement infrastructure for transport projects. His current project involves supporting the construction of the Brougham Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge over Brougham Street in Christchurch, a key infrastructure project aimed at improving safety and connectivity for people walking, cycling and scooting. His role includes analysing pavement conditions, carrying out engineering assessments, developing practical design solutions, and supporting construction and project delivery through site engineering and MSQA processes.

“One of the most valuable experiences was studying pavement engineering course under visiting academic Prof André Molenaar, whose industry knowledge and teaching gave me a deeper understanding of pavement behaviour, design, and real-world engineering challenges,” he says. He also credits the guidance and support of Prof Mofreh Saleh in shaping his learning pathway and professional direction.

Outside of engineering, Vishnu enjoys travelling, exploring new places, experiencing different cultures and local food, and spending time with friends and family.

Professor Santiago Pujol, Director of Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE delivered a keynote presentation at the 12th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, held from 2–5 June at Universidad Escuela Colombiana de Ingeniería Julio Garavito, Colombia.

Drawing on decades of research and lessons learned from past earthquakes, Professor Pujol explored the critical relationship between displacement control and building performance, emphasising its role in improving seismic resilience.

In his presentation, Professor Pujol compared buildings designed with displacement control principles, particularly inter-storey drift control, with more flexible structures designed primarily to reduce base shear. He demonstrated that structures designed with displacement control consistently achieved better performance outcomes during earthquakes.

Professor Pujol also highlighted the differences between predicted seismic hazards and actual earthquake measurements, noting that real-world events have often varied significantly in both magnitude and intensity from initial estimates. He reinforced the importance of fundamental structural design principles, including appropriate proportioning and detailing, in achieving safe and resilient buildings. Concluding his keynote, Professor Pujol emphasised that established engineering principles, practical design approaches, and engineering judgement remain powerful tools for assessing and predicting seismic performance. He noted that experience and sound judgement are often just as important, and in some cases more valuable than increasingly sophisticated analytical tools and methods.

His presentation provided valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and students working towards safer and more resilient built environments worldwide.