Australia Day honours for Transport Research Centre

Professor Buddhima Indraratna is the Director of the UTS Transport Research Centre and a Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering of Civil Engineering at UTS. He commenced his academic career in 1991 at the University of Wollongong and moved to UTS in 2020.

Over his distinguished career, Professor Indraratna has become a world authority on the application of fundamental and applied geotechnical research to the development of transport infrastructure with special attention to railways with innovations in foundation improvement and large-scale physical modelling.

His research interests include soft soil engineering and ground improvement, transportation geomechanics, jointed rock engineering, and dams and embankment engineering. He has consistently led numerous research projects worth millions of dollars and founded the Australian Research Council’s Industrial Transformation Training Centre, ITTC-Rail as its inaugural Director in 2018.

Professor Indraratna says the honour of the Order of Australia, awarded for his significant service to civil engineering, particularly through infrastructure development, ground improvement and transportation geotechnics, came as a welcome surprise.

“It’s not something I set out to achieve, but I do feel that these awards reflect that the Australian government and people appreciate technological advancements that enhance the lifestyles of our communities, and that makes me happy,” he says.

A consultant to various geotechnical and rail organisations around the world, he is also among the most highly cited researchers internationally. He has published over 1000 papers, including 13 books and about 500 peer-reviewed journal papers, and has delivered over 70 invited keynote papers internationally.

Professor Indraratna is passionate about training young engineers to become masters of railroad design and construction and has mentored over 150 higher degree research students and post-doctoral researchers throughout his career.