About CONFAB 2019
The infrastructure of human civilisation is perennially under threat from natural and man-made hazards, of which fire and blast are among the most destructive and frequent. These hazards are often also interdependent, where one may lead to the other, particularly in industrial environments. It is the aim of this conference to provide an international forum to regularly bring together leading researchers in these fields along with leading practitioners in order to meet the following main objectives:
• Disseminate state-of-the-art knowledge and practice for dealing with both of these hazards either individually or collectively
• Provide a forum where students, researchers and practitioners in these fields may interact, network and learn from each other and promote best practice
• Researchers are afforded the opportunity of obtaining useful feedback on their research from their peers as well as from a strong contingent of leading practitioners in the field. Likewise industry participants will get the chance to inform researchers with the issues of greatest concern to them
• Over the long term it is expected that this conference will contribute in leading to a safer and more resilient built environment as well as enhanced safety in industrial environments, both on and off-shore.
Conference Themes
| Characterisation of fire, blast and impact loading on structures |
| Behaviour of structural materials at high temperatures and highstrain rates, including performance of protective materials |
| Mechanics of material and structural damage, including the analysis of failure and collapse mechanisms |
| Modelling and simulation, including coupled modelling methods |
| Design of structures for improved resilience |
| Strengthening, retrofit and repair |
| Risk and uncertainty modelling as well as performance based engineering |
| Safety of high risk facilities such as nuclear power plants |
| Applications of sensing, AI and big data in infrastructure safety |
| Examples of high-end design case studies in various industry sectors, both on and offshore |
| Material Behaviour of Timber Structures under Fire & Blast Loading |
| Design of Bridges for Fire & Blast Resistance (Including Cables & Other Appendages) |
| Effects of Fire & Blast on Steel Connections |
| Effects of Fire & Blast on Facades & Glass Assemblies |
| Competing Constraints in the Design Process |
| Multi-Hazard Assessment & Design |
Organising Committee
| Asif S Usmani Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong |
Yong Lu The University of Edinburgh UK |
| Purnendu Das ASRANet Ltd UK |
Katherine Cashell Brunel University London UK |
Industrial Advisory Board
| Allan Jowsey | PFP Specialists | UK |
| Florian Block | BuroHappold Engineering | Germany |
| Susan Lamont | ARUP | United Arab Emirates |
| Kees Both | Etex Group | UK |
| Neal Blennerhassett | IKM Consulting | UK |
| Danny Hopkin | OFR Consultants | UK |
| Holly Warren | AkzoNobel | UK |
| Jiayu Hu | Mott MacDonald | UK |
International Advisory Committee
| Zhaohui Huang | Brunel University London | UK |
| Hong Hao | Curtin University | Australia |
| Dmitri Val | Heriot-Watt University | UK |
| Wan-Ki Chow | Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Hong Kong |
| Guillermo Rein | Imperial College London | UK |
| Umesh Kumar Sharma | Indian Institute of Technology | India |
| Suwen Chen | Tongji University | China |
| Lin-Hai Han | Tsinghua University | China |
| Luke Bisby | University of Edinburgh | UK |
| Norbert Gebbeken | Munich Bundeswehr University | Germany |
| Masuhiro Beppu | National Defense Academy | Japan |
| Daniel Ambrosini | National University of Cuyo | Argentina |
| Mark Stewart | Newcastle University | Australia |
| Suwen Chen | Tonji University | China |
| Jose Torero | University of Maryland | USA |
| Naian Liu | University of Science and Technology | China |
| Andrew Tyas | University of Sheffield | UK |
| Guo-Qiang Li | Tongji University | China |
| Ganesh Thiagarajan | University of Missouri Kansas City | USA |
| Eric C Williamson | University of Texas Austin | USA |
| Panos Kotsovinos | Arup | UK |
| Ben Zhang | Glasgow Caledonian University | UK |
Keynote Speakers
| Prof Jose Torero | University College London | UK |
| Prof Mark G Stewart | The University of Newcastle | Australia |
| Prof Ganesh Thiagarajan | University of Missouri Kansas City | USA |
Key Deadlines
| Deadline for abstracts | May 25, 2019 |
| Notification of Acceptance | June 10, 2019 |
| Submission of full papers | Aug. 2, 2019 |
| Registration Closes | Aug. 15, 2019 |
