Commemoration 2024

Excellence in Structural Engineering

Commemoration Day is a time to celebrate the achievements of our graduating students and those entering the final stages of their education. This year, Ethan Chen (top left), who worked under Christian's supervision on the project “A Machine Learning Approach to Low-Cost Non-Destructive Acoustic Material Evaluation”, was awarded the prestigious Robert Bird Award for the Best Individual Research Project in Structures.

For this project, Ethan designed and trained several convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to analyse tapping sounds from various specimens, investigating the models' sensitivity to pitch, intensity, and timbre. The models underwent extensive testing on 3D-printed samples with precisely located voids, as well as on oriented strand board (OSB) mock-ups. The objective is to offer an inexpensive way to estimate mechanical properties—such as density and elastic modulus—of different wood samples without the need for specialized equipment.

We were also delighted to welcome back Enoch, last year’s recipient of the same award. His optimised designs have since been constructed and are now awaiting testing in our Structures Lab.

It is always a pleasure to witness our students’ hard work, dedication, and contributions to advancing structural engineering being recognised. You make us proud!

17/Oct/2024