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Dr Dia Adhikari Smith is the Tritium E-Mobility Research Fellow at The University of Queensland’s Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation (School of Chemical Engineering) and the Transport Engineering Group (School of Civil Engineering). Her current research focusses on advancing the performance, economics, and uptake of E-Mobility globally, with a particular focus on the decarbonisation of both on-road and non-road heavy vehicles used in transport, construction, and mining sectors in Australia. Dia’s research expertise in low and zero emission heavy vehicles, powered by electric, hydrogen and advanced biofuels, has been demonstrated through several industry and government engagements to deliver decarbonisation feasibility studies, emissions modelling, cost benefit analyses, total cost of ownership scenarios and developing strategic roadmaps and recommended policy packages to achieve net zero emissions. Dia has a PhD in Power and Energy Systems Engineering from Glasgow Caledonian University, UK and worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Integrated Renewable Energy Generation and Supply, Cardiff University, UK and as a Lecturer at the Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, USA.

Dia's postdoctoral research experience, at Cardiff University, involved in-depth research to investigate Smart Grid network assessment and planning methodologies that would consider type, extent, and pathway of various smart, innovative, and sustainable technology interventions (renewable energy sources, distributed generation, battery storage, electric vehicles, and hydrogen). Dia has worked on different quantitative and qualitative research methods to analyse the factors affecting the diffusion of low and zero emission technologies in the UK and conducted feasibility studies to evaluate the inhibiting factors for Smart Grid transition within the building industry (smart sustainable houses) and the mining sector (electric heavy vehicles, renewable energy sources, and energy storage) in the perspective of users, energy experts, energy providers, respective industries, policymakers, regulators, and the government. Dia's research projects involved close collaboration with Academia, Government and Industry to propose strategic guidelines, evaluate policies, and publish joint work-stream reports, for the successful diffusion of zero-emission technologies and renewable energy systems.

Biography

Dr Juan P. Hidalgo is a Senior Adjunct Fellow within the School of Civil Engineering (honorary position) and is currently a Fire Safety Engineer at Airbus Operations GmbH.

Juan joined The University of Queensland in 2016 as the first of the three academic appointments in the Centre for Future Timber Structures to lead the research and teaching on the fire safety of engineered timber structures. His background is in fire safety engineering, building systems and timber construction. His research to date has primarily focused on the performance of building materials for sustainable and durable construction exposed to fire conditions. Juan's field of expertise comprises material thermal degradation and flammability, heat transfer, and fire dynamics, highlighting his vast experience in multi-scale fire testing. Juan is actively involved in multiple research projects focused on sustainable construction, such as timber, insulation materials, or composites, and studying the fire dynamics in modern buildings. At present, Juan contributes to supervision and research collaborations on fire safety for the built environment with the Fire Safety Engineering Research Group at UQ.

Juan completed his BEng-MEng in Industrial Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain), a five-year degree equivalent to Mechanical/Civil Engineering in the UK with a final year specialisation with a particular focus on structural engineering. He also attained an MSc in Industrial Construction and Installations at the same University. During his MSc, Juan joined PBD Fire Consultants S.L., a Spanish company specialising in fire safety design for the built environment. He worked for this company for two years as a consulting fire engineer in multiple national and international projects. Following the completion of his MSc in 2011, Juan joined the University of Edinburgh (UK) to pursue his PhD in Fire Safety Engineering sponsored by Rockwool International A/S, which was completed in 2015 with the thesis entitled “Performance-Based Methodology for the Fire Safe Design of Insulation Materials in Energy Efficient Buildings”. He continued his academic career at the University of Edinburgh as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering, being involved in numerous research projects such as the FireComp project, and other projects focused on the fire performance of facades, timber construction, concrete and diverse construction systems.

Previous involvement in Teaching and Learning

During his appointment as academic staff at UQ, Dr Juan P. Hidalgo contributed to the teaching of Civil Engineering Bachelor and Masters programmes, including the BE-ME in Civil and Fire Safety Engineering (EA-accredited) and the MEngSc in Fire Safety Engineering. He was involved in the following courses:

• Introduction to Fire Safety Engineering (FIRE3700).
• Fire Engineering Design: Solutions for Implicit Safety (FIRE4610).
• Fire Dynamics (FIRE7620).
• Fire Dynamics Laboratory (FIRE7640).
• Structural Fire Engineering (FIRE7660).
• Fire Engineering Design: Explicit Quantification of Safety (FIRE7680).
• Research Thesis (FIRE7500).
• Design of Timber Structures (CIVL4334).