Danah Albuhairi is a PhD student with the University's School of Engineering:
Climate extremes are making the headlines everyday as they continue to test the very systems modern life depends on. Flash floods close motorways, heatwaves warp rail tracks, and storm surges breach coastal barriers. But the quieter crisis lies inside the design models that still guide most civil projects. Many were calibrated for a stationary climate and a single design hazard, not for the shifting, overlapping extremes we now face. Even as climate datasets improve, their complexity rarely filters into everyday structural practice.
My PhD sits at this disconnect. Working in the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Net Zero Maritime Energy Solutions (N0MES) with industry partner Flood Technology Group, I combine hazard science with structural engineering. Guided by academic and industry mentors, I am developing tools that enable engineers to incorporate uncertainty in design decisions without needing specialist hazard modelling expertise.
Engineering for a Shifting Baseline
Some hazard assessments rely on dense simulations and long-term records. Others must work with fewer inputs or tighter resources. But across methods and contexts, one constant remains: uncertainty.
My research focuses on preserving that uncertainty and ensuring it is propagated through to decision-making. When that uncertainty is ignored or oversimplified, risk does not just increase structurally, it compounds systemically. Failures in one infrastructure component can cascade into broader disruptions and potentially trigger industrial disasters. These chain reactions, often referred to as Natural Hazards Triggering Technological Disasters (NaTech) risks, make the ability to account for compounding natural events an existential necessity.
That is why the method I am developing focuses on turning natural hazard information into structured inputs to unlock resilience in civil infrastructure by designing for a credible spectrum of conditions.
Milestone: River Flood Screening Tool
In my first year, I developed a screening tool that reformats the uncertainty of flood modelling outputs into structural design inputs through reproducible coding scripts. Validation against full hydraulic models proved that the shortcut preserves key behaviours while cutting run-time from hours to minutes, making risk-based engineering feasible within everyday project workflows. These early results were presented at the UK Marine Technology Postgraduate Conference inviting feedback from the wider maritime research community.
The same workflow is now being extended to ingest surge and wind datasets towards a unified multi-hazard framework. By treating hazard outputs and structural demands as one continuous pipeline, the method reduces reliance on bespoke modelling and supports risk-based decision-making.
Pilot Application: Flood Adaptive Platform
The Flood Adaptive Platform, developed by Flood Technology Group, is a modular steel platform designed to lift critical structures above rising floodwaters. It represents an innovative solution for safeguarding assets in exposed coastal and maritime locations. This platform provides an ideal testbed for applying and refining the multi-hazard screening method developed in this research.
Once the screening framework is complete, it will be used to generate the structural loading inputs needed to apply performance-based engineering principles. This approach will allow the platform to be tested and optimised under realistic combinations of flood, surge, and wind hazards. In doing so, it will demonstrate how the method can support resilience in critical infrastructure where climate extremes are rapidly evolving.
My Research Journey
The University of Liverpool has shaped my career twice. I earned my Master's degree here, publishing early work on sustainable materials, and returned for this PhD under the guidance of a highly engaged supervisory team.
From the outset, working alongside Flood Technology Group has grounded my research in practical realities. This collaboration ensures that each stage of the work speaks to real-world decisions where courage in thinking out of the box is pushing the field forward.
The CDT in N0MES combined with Liverpool's maritime legacy and advanced research facilities offer an ideal foundation for applied learning. CDT bootcamps, technical training, and industry site visits have strengthened my journey towards becoming an expert with a strong sense of community fostered with fellow researchers.
What's Next
The next phase of my research builds toward a full multi-hazard framework that supports performance-based engineering across flood, surge, and wind risks. With the initial fluvial method in place, I am now extending the approach to coastal and atmospheric hazards, laying the foundation for a case study on the Flood Adaptive Platform.
Planned international research placements will help ensure my research is grounded in the most advanced codes and policies. By linking academic research, industry collaboration, and global testing environments, the project aims to bridge environmental sciences with structural engineering. The goal is to deliver open-access tools that help decision makers embed risk-awareness into every stage of civil infrastructure planning.
As an expert, I aim to deliver infrastructure that withstands extremes and enables societies to thrive in a changing climate.
