Professor Chongmin Song - CIES Director
Professor Chongmin Song obtained his Bachelor of Engineering from Tsinghua University, China and Doctor of Engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan. After working in academia and industry in Switzerland, he joined UNSW in 2001.
UNSW research led by Professor Song is helping structural engineers design buildings that will be more resilient against natural disasters.
His work was critical in the development of a numerical method that makes it possible to analyse complicated geometries that are frequently found in construction, and to tackle challenging engineering problems.
Since the development of this method, known as the scaled boundary finite element method, its use has been crucial for studying fractures in structures which could be created by stress or natural disasters. The method forms the foundation of software that can automatically convert images and data to numerical models. This allows analysis of critical infrastructure data in seconds or minutes, rather than the hours or days required using existing tools.
The approach means structural engineers can know in advance the dangers to infrastructure, and whether any planned construction or seismic activity would impact the structural integrity of surrounding buildings and regions.
During his academic career, Professor Song has published more than 130 papers in top-tier journals in his research area. His co-authored book -Finite Element Modelling of Unbounded Media, Wolf and Song, 1996, Wiley - is widely referenced by researchers and practitioners in earthquake engineering. His second book -The Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method – Introduction to Theory and Implementation -was published by Wiley in 2018.
Since 2009, he has led seven Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects and been involved in three ARC Linkage Projects. See fuller details here.
In 2018 Professor Song was appointed as Director of the Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and Safety in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
