(Hons), Ph.D (UWA), MIEAust, CPEng

A/Prof Ian Howard joined Curtin University in 1994 as a lecturer in Applied Mechanics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and was promoted to A/Prof in 2005. Prior to this appointment he was a research scientist with DSTO at the Aeronautical Research Laboratory in Melbourne from 1988 to 1994. His academic and research career has largely focused on the measurement, modelling and signal processing of vibration for the detection of incipient failure of rotating machinery, primarily with gears and bearings. He currently supervises several postgraduate students in areas of reliability, dynamic modeling and smart sensor power harvesting, as well as teaching undergraduate courses in Machine Dynamics, Vibration and Noise.

Chun is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering and the Director of the Sir Lawrence Wackett Aerospace Research Centre RMIT University, Melbourne. He received his PhD in 1991 from the University of Sheffield, UK. Prior to joining RMIT in 2009, he was a Principal Research Scientist and the Head of the Advanced Composites Technology Group at the Defence Science & Technology Organisation, between 1995 and 2009. He has published more than 90 refereed journal papers in the area of solid mechanics, advanced composite materials, fatigue and fracture mechanics, inverse solutions and imaging. He is a member of editorial board for Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures. 

Dr Andrei Kotousov  has 20 years experience in theoretical and experimental fracture mechanics, composites, bio-mechanics and mathematical modeling. He is currently an Associate Professor with the School of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Adelaide.

Dr Raj Das is a Senior Research Scientist at the CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences division. His current areas of interest include mesh-less methods, structural analysis, fracture mechanics and fatigue, material processing and optimisation. Dr Das completed his PhD from Monash University in the field Structural Optimisation and Failure Analysis. He then worked as Research Associate in the University of Manchester in England. Here he was involved in investigating resistance to disproportionate collapse of joints in steel-framed structures under fire. Following his return to Australia, he joined CSIRO. In the early stage of his career, Dr Das worked in Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a national research laboratory under the Ministry of Defence in Bangalore, India. Here he was involved in a variety of projects related to structural integrity evaluation and mechanical analysis of ‘Kaveri Engine' for the ‘Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)' of Indian Air Force. Dr Raj Das has established strong linkages with composite and material processing industries and active collaboration with national and international academic institutions. Dr Das is an adjunct academic of the University of Quebec, Canada.