A geotechnical engineer will attend a conference in Spain in 2024 thanks to the Business Events Aspire Awards and The University of Western Australia.
Business Events Perth, funded by the State Government through Tourism Western Australia, has been running the awards program for 24 years, sponsoring hundreds of local academics and researchers to attend an international conference in their discipline, to further their development and profile WA on the international stage.
Dr Cristina Vulpe, from UWA's School of Engineering, uses numerical modelling combined with laboratory and centrifuge testing to create safe and economic solutions for the deployment and management of onshore and offshore infrastructure.
Dr Vulpe's current research contributes to the development of monitoring systems and models for mining industry earthen infrastructure, namely tailings storage facilities.
She is a senior lecturer who teaches environmental geotechnics and risk, reliability and safety, which combine her passion for safe, cost-effective and environmentally friendly engineering solutions.
Dr Vulpe said winning the award was an honour, and she was looking forward to sharing some of the industry-driven research being conducted in WA.
"The International Conference on Geotechnical and Geophysical Site Characterisation conference in Barcelona is a fantastic avenue to meet, learn from and share knowledge with a community of international experts in a number of complementary fields," Dr Vulpe said.
"It will provide networking opportunities and the potential for collaborations with other research organisations and industry practitioners around the world."
Professor Anna Nowak, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at UWA, congratulated Dr Vulpe and said she encouraged all academics to become involved in conferences and showcase the University's research strengths.
"Attending these events enables our researchers to meet and hear from leaders in their field, build partnerships and develop collaborative networks to share good practice, acquire knowledge and learn about innovation," Professor Nowak said.
