Fugro Appoints New Chair in Geotechnics at UWA

Geotechnical engineer, Dr Fraser Bransby, has been appointed Fugro Chair in Geotechnics at The University of Western Australia’s Oceans Graduate School (OGS) within the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences.

Dr Bransby has worked across academia and industry, most recently at Fugro AG Pty Ltd, applying his geotechnical expertise to meet the scientific and engineering challenges of the offshore oil and gas industry.

After obtaining his PhD in soil mechanics from the University of Cambridge, he spent time in university geotechnical research and in industrial consultancy before joining Fugro.

Having established the Fugro Chair in Geotechnics in 2014, UWA and Fugro have developed a research group that is significant to Fugro’s activities.

Numerous offshore projects have benefited from new technical solutions developed by Dr Bransby, who is looking forward to the opportunities presented by this role. “With my previous experience in seabed characterisation, pipeline and subsea foundation design, I think I have an excellent starting point. The aim will be to continue to develop the partnership between Fugro and the UWA, and identify and execute research which will make a real difference to design, construction and asset management practice,” he said.

Professor Ryan Lowe, Acting Head of School of the OGS said Dr Bransby brought a wealth of industry knowledge to this leading role. “He has been at the forefront of subsea and pipeline structure foundation design that has been used to address the geotechnical engineering challenges of the oil and gas industry. He will help to sustain and develop UWA, in partnership with Fugro, as a centre for world class research and education in geotechnical engineering.”

The UWA-Fugro partnership will address key questions related to design and performance within the field of offshore geotechnics, reduce risk and enhance engineering design within the offshore sector. It also provides funding for three PhD scholarships to facilitate the growth of high quality graduates in offshore geotechnics and engineering, with selected students offered the opportunity to work with Fugro.