4.1 National
Recognition
A
key factor in establishing the CRC for Railway Engineering
and Technologies was the Railway Geotechnology, Track Design
and
Maintenance research conducted by Prof. Buddhima Indraratna
and Dr. Richard Dwight for several years at UoW, prior to
Rail-CRC approval. UoW is the only institution in Australia that
conducts research in track geotechnology and large-scale simulation
of rail track behaviour under dynamic loading (Appendix 5). The
Theme 2 of Rail-CRC on “Innovative Track Upgrading & Maintenance” was
developed by Prof. Indraratna and Dr Dwight. Prof. Indraratna
is now the national Theme Leader for this, managing more than
2 dozen researchers and 10 projects from several Universities.
Dr Dwight plays a major role in Theme 6 on Railway Engineering
Education. In addition, A/Prof. Philip Laird represents UoW in
Theme 4 on “Rail Transport Energy Efficiency”. |
4.2 International
Recognition
Prof. Indraratna
has been appointed as the Chair of sub-committee in Soft
Clay Improvement under the International Society of Soil
Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), Technical
Committee, TC36. Over the next 4 years, this international
group of 10 academics from various countries will address
the need for improving soft and weak soil foundations for
optimizing the efficiency of roads and rail embankments,
and subsequently develop the International Standards for
soft clay improvement. |
