Australian engineer elected to elite academy Wednesday, 24 August 2016

University of Queensland civil engineering academic Professor Sritawat Kitipornchai has joined just five other Australians as members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA).

Based in Salzburg, Austria, EASA describes itself as an "independent knowledge pool" promoting dialogue between researchers around the world.

Professor Kitipornchai was recognised for his work in advanced composites and nanomaterials and said he was humbled to join the organisation.

“To be elected to an academy which includes dozens of Nobel Prize winners and a Pope is a great honour,” Kitipornchai said.

“To be recognised for my life’s work and elected in the class of technical sciences is truly humbling.”

He and his UQ colleague Associate Professor Faris Albermani gained worldwide recognition for their work in establishing accurate modelling for predicting the behaviour of electricity transmission towers. This work earned them the coveted Munro Prize in 1992.

“It is very hard to calculate the failure load for these structures, and for decades engineers had resorted to full-scale testing,” Kitipornchai said.

“At the time of this research, no numerical modelling existed to predict the full range of nonlinear load-carrying capacity for these structures.”

His work gave engineers a comprehensive understanding of structural characteristics and led to new practices and procedures in building design. The model is now considered a standard by large utility companies in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

Professor Kitipornchai has been invited to receive his honour at the Plenary Session of the EASA meeting in Salzburg, Austria, in March next year.

[Professor Sritawat Kitipornchai. Photo: UQ]

Leadership will be a major topic of discussion at the Australian Engineering Conference 2016 in Brisbane on November 23-25.