Management Committee

National Technical Director
WSP, Wellington
Elected to Management Committee 2019

Brabhaharan is a National Technical Director at WSP, with a focus on earthquake & geotechnical engineering, and resilience. He has over 40 years’ experience in New Zealand and overseas, and has been a member of the NZ Society for Earthquake Engineering for over 30 years.
Brabha has a passion to enhance our resilience to earthquakes, climatic and other hazards. He combines research, learning from earthquakes, assessments, design, standards and guidance development and advisory services to infuse resilience to earthquakes, geotechnical and climatic hazards.
He was a member of the Society’s management committee in 2003 – 2013 and 2019 - and a past member of the Editorial Board of the Society’s Bulletin. Taking part in Society’s reconnaissance missions following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China and the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake in Japan, he brought back and disseminated and embedded valuable lessons for New Zealand, into research and practice. Brabha shares his knowledge widely and is keen to broaden the engagement and seek ideas of a wide range of professionals, so that we can collectively focus on enhancing our resilience.

Contact:
WSP
Majestic Centre, 100 Willis St,
P O Box 12-003, Wellington 6144
Telephone +64 27 483 0705

brabha@wsp.com

Professor
University of Canterbury
Elected to Management Committee 2019 (Co-opted 2018)

Geoff is a Professor and Associate Head of Department in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Canterbury. His research focus is on low-damage seismic design, energy dissipation devices, and instrumentation/structural health monitoring, with a particular focus on experimental testing. Geoff co-leads the Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE Interdisciplinary Programme on Functional Recovery of Multi-storey Buildings (together with Associate Professor Alice Chang-Richards). Geoff has contributed to several large-scale internationally-collaborative shake-table tests on new building systems and devices, with ongoing research projects with researchers in China, Japan, Chile, Canada, and the USA. Geoff served as President of NZSEE from April 2022 to April 2024 and this current year will complete his four-year term on the Society’s Executive Team and seven-year term on the Management Committee.

Contact:

geoff.rodgers@canterbury.ac.nz

Associate Professor
The University of Auckland
Elected to Management Committee 2024

Alice Chang-Richards is Associate Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the University of Auckland. She was a Fulbright New Zealand Scholar hosted at the University of California Los Angeles (2023/24), a visiting scholar at Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Institute, Kyoto University (Japan) and Disaster Research Center, the University of Delaware (USA) (2019). She is also a Corresponding Member for FEMA NEHRP (US National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program) Functional Recovery Task Committee. Alice is interested in performance-based earthquake engineering and the application of its extensions. She has extensive field experience for earthquake recovery in Japan, China, Indonesia and the USA. She co-leads Te Hiranga Rū QuakeCoRE Interdisciplinary Programme on Functional Recovery of Multi-storey Buildings (together with Professor Geoff Rodgers) which aims to contribute to the development of seismic design standards for MBIE and engineering society. Also in her role as a Programme Area Leader (PAL) within QuakeCoRE, Alice contributes to the diversity, equality and capability development of QuakeCoRE goals.

Contact

yan.chang@auckland.ac.nz

Technical Director
Holmes Consulting, Auckland
Elected to Management Committee 2019

Andy works with the Buildings/Structures team at Holmes Consulting, where his role encompasses project delivery, technical advancement, and the co-leading of Holmes Consulting’s competence development programme. Andy’s project experience covers a broad assortment of construction types, sectors and project sizes—residential, commercial, heritage, public and private education, hospitality, healthcare and institutional projects. In the healthcare sector, Andy has worked with numerous DHBs and private customers in the delivery of new-build projects—as well as in the seismic assessment, improvement or post-earthquake damage evaluation/repair of existing assets, and in the guiding and education of stakeholders through the journey of informed seismic risk management.
Andy is an active proponent for resilient design and low damage technologies, having designed or provided input into several recent base isolated projects in New Zealand (for example the new Acute Services Building at Christchurch Hospital). He also has extensive experience in the assessment and improvement of existing buildings, particularly in New Zealand’s main centres, amassing a strong working knowledge of local NZSEE guidance past and present, as well as other international guidelines/methods.

Contact:

Holmes Consulting
Level 1, 39 Market Place, Auckland 1010
PO Box 90745, Auckland 1142
Auckland

andrew.thompson@holmesconsulting.co.nz

Lead Engineer, Sustainability
Aurecon
Elected to Management Committee 2024

I would like to join the NZSEE Management Committee as I am motivated to create a more diverse industry where we prioritise sustainability alongside resilience on all our projects. I am organised, reliable and will work hard to coordinate industry groups to continue to develop best practice guidance, upskill the industry, respond to government policy and lead advocacy for earthquake science and engineering across the motu. Brs. Upon returning to Auckland, I began working for Jensen McArley & Associates. I am now based at Aurecon as the Auckland Leader for Sustainable Buildings.
I have been involved in many different projects, ranging from the design of private dwellings, to DSAs and significant seismic strengthening projects, to being one of the lead design and construction engineers for the retail component of Commercial Bay.
My involvement with NZSEE began in 2018 when I joined the conference organising committee. I have in subsequent years continued to be on the organising committee and was the conference convenor in 2022. These experiences have allowed me to contribute ideas and time to the conference and NZSEE, whilst learning about how the society runs.

Contact

annie.scott@aurecongroup.com

Research Fellow
Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University
Elected to Management Committee 2024

Catalina Miranda is a Research Fellow at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University. Originally a structural engineer from Chile, Catalina has significant experience working for engineering firms. Catalina obtained her PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Auckland, where she investigated the intersection of engineering with social science as a means to improve community resilience. Catalina has received several awards throughout her career, including the Best Thesis in Civil Engineering (University of Concepcion, 2014) and the NZSEE 2023 Best Research Paper award. Catalina has been involved in the QuakeCoRE Emerging Researchers Chapter Auckland as a president for two consecutive years, in 2019 and 2020, and as an outreach coordinator for two consecutive years, in 2021 and 2022. Catalina was also the Emerging Researcher representative on the Communication, Education and Engagement committee of QuakeCoRE. Catalina has contributed to the NZSEE community in different ways, such as organising the Seismic Design Competition at the NZSEE conference for three consecutive years. Beyond her professional role, Catalina volunteers with Wellington Response Team RT8, having a different perspective on disasters. Additionally, she serves as an ambassador for the Wonder Project, an Engineering New Zealand initiative, inspiring young minds in STEM, and as a member of the Wellington Young Engineers Engineering NZ. Catalina would bring an emerging research and practice perspective to NZSEE, and with her current relationships would work with a variety of people and agencies to advance NZSEE aims.
Contact

c.miranda1@massey.ac.nz

Beca
Elected to Management Committee 2023

Dion currently sits on the NZSEE Management Committee and is the convenor for the 2024 annual technical conference.
Dion is a Technical Director & Principal with Beca Ltd. Prior to returning to New Zealand and joining Beca, Dion worked as a Senior Structural Engineer & Technical Director in California from 2016-2022, where his project experience included assessment and retrofit of existing buildings (his passion), and new construction, covering the commercial, residential, and historic preservation sectors. During his time in California, Dion was active within the engineering profession - he is a current Associate Voting member of ASCE7-28, ASCE41-23, and contributes to several Task Groups within those organizations.
Dion is motivated to support industry working groups - particularly in areas that disseminate knowledge and support to practicing engineers, and to help make every day better.

Professor
University of Canterbury
Elected to Management Committee 2022

Gregory MacRae completed his engineering degrees in NZ and has been teaching structural and earthquake design at the University of Canterbury for the past 16 years. Before that he worked in NZ, Japan and the USA. MacRae has been the head of the UC structural/ geotechnical cluster, and has actively participated in NZS3404 and NZS1170.5 standard development. He served as a member of the SESOC Management Committee and as a QuakeCentre board member. MacRae represented NZ at the International Association of Earthquake Engineering, and has served as chair of the ASCE seismic effects committee. He has been active in bringing earthquake engineering knowledge to developing countries through the World Seismic Safety Initiative, where he was a Board member and instructor. MacRae has been, and continues to be, involved in leading international research collaborations. He is active in editorial roles with both the NZSEE bulletin and the Journal of Earthquake Engineering. MacRae is interested in all aspects of earthquake engineering and furthering Aotearoa New Zealand’s earthquake preparedness. He wants NZ to be the world leader in earthquake engineering, including implementation. Based on his discussions with industry/practitioners MacRae has, and continues to, advocate for: (i) more resilient and economical infrastructure by implementing using simple, robust and verified approaches; (ii) simplicity and clarity of standards and their commentaries; (iii) standards committees listing priority needs as they complete amendments/revisions; (iv) collaboration with NZ professional organizations to develop a suite of high-quality design guidelines and worked examples for all aspects of earthquake engineering; (v) supportive collaboration with MBIE to: (a) move robust alternative solutions into standards; (b) develop timely response mechanisms dealing with important earthquake engineering issues, (c) develop robust and nationally consistent peer review systems for “alternative solutions”; (vi) improved information sharing including free web-based tools providing seismological information direct to users; (vii) learning from earthquakes, (viii) training of the next generation, and (ix) the improvement of earthquake prone building assessment methods..

Contact:

gregory.macrae@canterbury.ac.nz

Technical Principal – Structural and Earthquake Engineering
WSP
Elected to Management Committee 2024

I am Julian, a Technical Principal in Structural and Earthquake Engineering at WSP. With over 16 years of consulting experience, I bring a multidisciplinary approach to earthquake engineering spanning structural, civil, and geotechnical disciplines.

I graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and later completed a master’s degree in Earthquake Engineering at the University of Canterbury. From 130-meter-high dams to tunnels and buildings, I’ve worked across unique projects in active seismic zones, not only in New Zealand but around the world. Earthquake engineering has been my passion and one of the reasons to move to Aotearoa. It drives my personal purpose as an engineer as I strive to save lives by designing resilient structures and mentoring fellow engineers to find their passion in this field too. My vision is to continue to grow the NZSEE by strengthening collaboration between professionals, researchers, and students and by championing policies and knowledge that promote earthquake resilience.

Contact

julian.benito@wsp.com

Professor
University of Canterbury, Christchurch
Elected to Management Committee 2010

Professor Rajesh Dhakal is the Head of the Civil Engineering Department at University of Canterbury. Rajesh is also a Chartered Professional Engineer in NZ, and a fellow of NZSEE and Engineering NZ. Rajesh has been a member of the NZSEE management committee since 2010 and has been serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the Society’s quarterly Bulletin since 2015.

Contact:
editor@nzsee.org.nz
rajesh.dhakal@canterbury.ac.nz

Senior Scientist
GNS
Co-opted to Management Committee 2024

Sanjay Bora, a senior scientist at GNS, is an engineering seismologist. He earned his PhD in Geophysics from the University of Potsdam in Germany and conducted postdoctoral research at the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam and at Swiss Seismological Service (ETH) Zurich. Before joining GNS, Sanjay was an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar. He played a key role in the revision of the New Zealand national seismic hazard model (NZ NSHM 2022). Sanjay serves the editorial board of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA) as associate editor since April 2021. His primary research interests lie in ground-motion modeling and seismic hazard analysis, focusing on uncertainty quantification and propagation. Sanjay is a strong advocator of multidisciplinary and cross-agency interaction/engagement for better understanding of earthquake hazard and its consequences in New Zealand and globally.

Contact

s.bora@gns.cri.nz

Technical Advisor
Wellington City Council
Structural Engineer

Universal Seismic Ltd
Elected to Management Committee 2024

Umair is a Chartered Professional Engineer with over 15 years of experience in structural engineering. Currently serving as a Technical Advisor for Wellington City Council's Resilient Buildings team, he manages the oversight of seismically challenged buildings in the city. Umair is also an engineering sole-practitioner providing structural engineering services to his clientele on part-time basis.
Umair's international career practise involves performance centric designs for airports, mixed-use commercial centers, base isolated hospitals, industrial structures and onshore structures in New Zealand, South Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.
Umair strongly supports industry-academia-agency partnerships, evidenced by his international engineering career, technical publications and his hands-on familiarity of public sector operational policy through his role at the Council.

Contact

umair@universalseismic.nz