Prof Frank Collins

From  July 2015:

Professor of Infrastructure Engineering  Institute for Frontier Materials,  Deakin University

Director of ACID (Australian Centre for Infrastructure Durability)

Past Appointments

• to June 2015:  Associate Professor and Head of Structures,  Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University
• to Nov 2007:  Director AECOM Ltd, Melbourne
• 1997-99: PhD Postgraduate Research  Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University
• 1996: Project Manager (ODA-funded Aid Project: Bridge Rehabilitation Vietnam) Taywood Engineering Ltd (seconded to  Ministry of Transport, Hanoi, Vietnam)
• 1990-96: Regional Manager (Southern Australia), Taywood Engineering Ltd, Melbourne
• 1988-90: Senior Engineer, Taywood Engineering Ltd, Sydney, Melbourne
• 1987: Engineer ,Taywood Engineering Ltd, Hong Kong
• 1986: Engineer Taywood Engineering Ltd, London (UK)
• 1984-85: Research Student (MEngSc, 100% research) Department of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney

1984 Bachelor Civil Engineering (1st Class Honours and Dux), Department of Civil and Mining Engineering, University of Sydney

1985 Master of Engineering Science (100% research)
Department of Civil and Mining Engineering, University of Sydney

1999  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University
Completed within record short time for Monash University (2 years, 2 months)

Awards
2015  Award for Excellence in Teaching, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University
2013  Vice-Chancellor University Recognition of Teaching Excellence, Monash University
2010  Deans Teaching Excellence Award, Monash University
2004  Australian Concrete Repair Association (ACRA) Innovation Design Award
2002  Australian Concrete Repair Association (ACRA) Award for Technical Innovation
2001  International Concrete Repair Institute Award for Excellence for the Repair of a Transportation Structure
1999  Award of Excellence for Research, Concrete Institute of Australia Biennial Conference, Sydney, Australia
1995  PIANC Young Author Award (World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure)
1983  ARC Engineering Prize for Excellence in Reinforced Concrete Studies
1983  Bradfield Memorial Prize for First Class Honours in Civil Engineering
1983  D G Walkom Prize for First Class Honours in Civil Engineering

Dr Collins held a directorship of AECOM Ltd prior to joining Monash University in December 2007. He established a new business unit, the Advanced Materials Group, providing expertise in the areas of life cycle durability plans for new infrastructure, construction materials expertise, condition evaluation, non-destructive testing, diagnosis and predictive modelling, maintenance and rehabilitation of built infrastructure. His leadership grew the team to 55 members, providing high-level consulting engineering advice on many Australian and international infrastructure projects.

In 2009, his contributions were recognised by Engineers Australia by award of Fellow in 2009.

Dr Collins 19 year career in industry has provided fewer opportunities to engage in research  activities than a full-time career academic, however much has been achieved since joining Monash in December 2007:

• Main Supervisor Supervisor of 10 PhD completions and co-supervisor of 4 PhD completions
• Current supervision of 8 PhDs (5 as Main Supervisor) and 1 Research Fellow
• As Lead Chief Investigator, Collins has successfully brought $3.7Mil of research grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC Discovery (DP11 and (DP12)  and Linkage grants (LP15, LP08 and LP07) as well as industry supported contract research

Despite fewer opportunities to publish before 2007, Frank Collins has published:

• 2 books on Rehabilitation of structures, with a 3rd currently underway with CRC Press (Taylor and Francis Group), “Ageing of Built Infrastructure - A Life Cycle Approach”
• A patent was filed in 2013.( Patent 61/580,484: “Graphene Oxide Reinforced Cement and Concrete”)
• Total of 57 refereed journal publications in primarily ERA rated A*/A journals.
• Citation statistics indicate: h-index 14 (Scopus); highest citations of a single paper is 92.

Engineers Australia: Fellow (FIEAust) and Chartered Professional Engineer (NPER CPEng )
Concrete Institute of Australia: Former Victorian President (1998-1999), Vice President (1997-1998), and Victorian Committee Member (1992-1993 & 1996-2006), member of the Concrete Institute Concrete Durability Committee
American Concrete Institute (ACI): Member since 1988. Member of ACI Technical Committees 365 Service Life Prediction of Concrete Structures, 222 Corrosion of Metals in Concrete, 506  Shotcrete for Underground Support, and 207 Mass Concrete
Member:
RILEM (Réunion Internationale des Laboratoires et Experts des Matériaux, systèmes de construction et ouvrages)
Australasian Corrosion Association

Prior to joining Deakin University in July 2015:

Coordinator and lecturer of the following teaching units at Monash University:

• CIV2226 Design of Concrete and Masonry Structures
• CIV3203 Civil Engineering Construction
  Revision of the unit in 2011 to integrate the student Practice Classes with a major Melbourne-based construction project (including industry mentors from the project). The unit consistently achieves the highest student evaluations within the faculty. In 2014, the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) and Associate Dean (Teaching) both provided letters of congratulations regarding student surveys showing overall satisfaction of 4.80 out of 5.0 for Frank Collins coordination and teaching of CIV3203 Civil Engineering Construction
• CIV4212 Civil Engineering Practice
• This Capstone unit  was extensively restructured in 2009  by Collins to promote strong engagement with students and to provide better preparation of students for professional practice. It included group design of a major facility on campus (e.g. Green Chemical Futures Facility in 2013), provided new unit structure and course materials and promoted role-playing of the relevant industry mentors as “The Client”, “Architect”, “Consulting Engineer” and “Builder”. This led to 2010 Deans Teaching Excellence Award

• Life cycle predictive modelling of durability, supported by intervention strategies for maintenance and rehabilitation of built infrastructure. Collective research and industry experience will be the basis of a forthcoming book with CRC Press (Taylor and Francis Group), “Ageing of Built Infrastructure – A Life Cycle Approach”
• Sustainable and enhanced construction materials, utilisation of recycled wastes, greener cements, and development of cement-nanocomposites;
• Development of 1st, 2nd, 3rd… generational infrastructure that is resilient to extreme natural and man-made events
• Cutting edge cement and concrete technology and cement composites

Cement-based construction materials, durability, and sustainability of built infrastructure. Director of ACID (Australian Centre for Infrastructure Durability) Career has been different to most academics, including 19 years as a Chartered Professional Engineer. His grounding in durability of construction materials began when working with Harold Roper at the University of Sydney in the early 1980???s. This led to 13 years work with Taywood Engineering Ltd in their London, Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne offices; involved with diagnosis and rehabilitation of infrastructure and applications of construction materials. In 1988, Frank was Lead Materials Engineer in the Sydney Opera House rehabilitation programme which entailed diagnosis of the roof shell elements and substructure, and development of remedial and preventative maintenance works. In 1995, Frank established the Bridge Testing and Rehabilitation Unit within the Ministry of Transport, Vietnam, allowing the Ministry to become self-sufficient in the management of bridge assets. During 1997-99, Frank undertook his PhD research at Monash, developing alkali-activated cements as an alternative to conventional Portland cements ??? it was the forerunner to what is now termed the ???geopolymer???. He then joined AECOM (Maunsell) and over 7 years as technical director he established and managed AECOM's Advanced Materials Group, including technical and commercial leadership, and providing high-level advice on many international infrastructure projects. Before joining Deakin in July 2015, he was Head of Structures, Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University. He has keen research interest in the areas of durability and ageing of built infrastructure; utilisation of wastes as alternative construction materials; and improved construction materials for durable and stronger infrastructure (e.g. carbon nanotube-cement composities.

• Architecture and building
• Engineering
• Fibres
• Sustainability

Professional Appointments
Current
Professor of Infrastructure Engineering  Institute for Frontier Materials,  Deakin University, and Director of ACID (Australian Centre for Infrastructure Durability)

Nov 2011 to June 2015: Associate Professor and Head of Structures, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University

2007-11:  Senior Lecturer and Head of Structures, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University

1999 to 2002:  Principal Engineer  AECOM Ltd (formerly Maunsell Australia P/L), Melbourne

1997-99: PhD Postgraduate Research Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne

1995-96: Project Manager (ODA-funded Aid Project: Bridge Rehabilitation Vietnam), Taywood Engineering Ltd (seconded to  Ministry of Transport, Hanoi, Vietnam)

1990-95: Regional Manager (Southern Australia) Taywood Engineering Ltd, Melbourne

1988-90: Senior Engineer Taywood Engineering Ltd, Sydney, Melbourne

1987: Engineer Taywood Engineering Ltd, Hong Kong

1986: Engineer Taywood Engineering Ltd, London (UK)

1984-85: Research Student (MEngSc, 100% research) Department of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney

Countries of Work Experience:
Australia, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, New Caledonia, India.

2015  Award for Excellence in Teaching, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University
2013  Vice-Chancellor University Recognition of Teaching Excellence, Monash University
2010  Deans Teaching Excellence Award, Monash University
2004  Australian Concrete Repair Association (ACRA) Innovation Design Award
2002  Australian Concrete Repair Association (ACRA) Award for Technical Innovation
2001  International Concrete Repair Institute Award for Excellence for the Repair of a Transportation Structure
1999  Award of Excellence for Research, Concrete Institute of Australia Biennial Conference, Sydney, Australia
1995  PIANC Young Author Award (World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure)
1983  ARC Engineering Prize for Excellence in Reinforced Concrete Studies
1983  Bradfield Memorial Prize for First Class Honours in Civil Engineering
1983  D G Walkom Prize for First Class Honours in Civil Engineering

Recently Awarded:

ARC Linkage LP150100832 Concrete Enriched with Carbon Nanotubes for Advanced Future Construction

Collins (Lead CI), Gates (Monash University), Middleton (Eden Energy), Solomon (Eden Energy)

Concrete, the most consumed construction material globally, is brittle which necessitates embedded steel reinforcement. An advanced construction material based on enrichment of concrete with carbon nanotubes (CNT), one of the strongest known fibres, may partially substitute conventional bulky and heavier steel reinforcement thereby creating economies (e.g. thinner section sizes), and reduced CO2 emissions by expending less steel and cement for construction. This project extends earlier research by the CIs and and will be turn-key because it will transform cement-CNT pastes into construction-scale concrete by resolving uncertainties associated with scaling.

Current Projects

ARC Discovery DP120102203  Cementitious Gel: The Missing Link in Understanding the Ageing of Built Infrastructure

Collins (Lead CI), Gates (Monash University), Aldridge (ANSTO), Fernando (ANSTO), Pickard (National University of Singapore)

Corrosive coastal exposure prematurely ages built reinforced concrete infrastructure, causing unplanned remediation and safety concerns. Traditional durability forecasting models, based on convective and ionic transport of chloride, overlook the influence of the cement gel. The mechanisms of chloride and water adsorption/binding/release to/from the gel will be scrutinized by a number of advanced techniques which will provide the first visual characterization of the pore structure of cement gel to 0.25 nm. Analytical modeling of chloride/water/gel interaction will be integrated with macro-transport predictive models and calibrated with diffusion experiments: culminating in superior durability forecasts.

 

ARC Discovery DP110101095  Tensile Enhancement of Cements Utilising Carbon Nanotubes to Create Stronger, Lighter, More Ductile, and
Easier-to-Build Structures

Collins (Lead CI), Duan (Monash University), and Wang (National University of Singapore)

Portland cement, common worldwide as a building and construction material, is brittle and prone to cracking. Embellishment with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) will yield a new material: a Portland cement-CNT composite, with enhanced tensile strength and strain capacity, low cracking tendency, and better durability from lower porosity. CNTs, with superlative mechanical properties, have had little previous research towards embellishing cement, yet the marriage with Portland cement is highly likely to be complementary. Advanced numerical modelling using molecular dynamics simulations, nano to macro-size scaling analysis, surfactants assisted dispersion and microstructural measurement of the fluid and hardened nanocomposite will advance new knowledge.

 

ARC Linkage LP0883290  Improved Management of Australian Port Infrastructure by Development of Predictive Ageing Simulation

Collins (Lead CI), Law (RMIT), Molyneaux (RMIT), Blin (AECOM)

Sustainability of Australia’s extensive maritime infrastructure is impaired by steel reinforcement corrosion, causing ongoing rehabilitation and reduced service life.  Based on data gathered from Australian ports, life-cycle durability predictions were developed, incorporating geographical location, structure type, composition, and maintenance levels. Prior models are based on simpler 2D conditions that do not simulate actual deterioration whereas 3D modelling provides realistic damage simulation. provide decision support for construction and maintenance.