Speakers
The organising committee have an exciting lineup of speakers planned for the SESOC 2023 Conference. Stay turned for further details.
Megan Stringer
Megan Stringer is an Associate Principal with Holmes and works out of their San Francisco office. Motivated by our impact on the built environment, Megan is at the forefront of reducing structural embodied carbon. She champions Holmes' commitment to SE 2050 and gets sustainable structures built at impressive scales. Megan has overseen mass timber construction at Microsoft, low-carbon concrete pours at Intuit, and many life-cycle assessments. Megan also serves as President of Structural Engineers Association of Northern California.
G. Charles Clifton
Charles Clifton graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Hons) in 1978 and a Master of Civil Engineering in 1979. From 1979 to 1981 he worked for a major New Zealand consulting engineering firm, (now) Beca Consultants, then from 1981 to 1983 for a joint UK/Saudi Arabian consulting engineering firm in London, RH Sanbar Consultants, Ltd.
In 1983, Charles started the Structural Division of the New Zealand Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA). He has been an expert advisor to the National Association of Steel Framed Housing (NASH NZ) since its formation 1989, and had a leading role in establishing Steel Construction New Zealand (SCNZ) in 1994. The outputs from all this research have been presented to the consulting engineering profession; first as design guides, starting in 1984 and then into new and revised Standards and codes of practice, from 1989. He obtained his PhD from the University of Auckland in 2005.
In 2008, he joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, specialising in structural steel and composite engineering in both heavy and light gauge steel and focusing on the performance of different types of structural steel systems in severe earthquake, severe fire and durability, with special emphasis on resilience of these buildings in severe fire and in severe earthquake. He has given expert advice on several fire affected steel framed buildings, with the NZICC being by far the most significant example.
He is a Life Member of NZSEE and SESOC and a Distinguished Fellow of Engineering New Zealand.
Jamie Lester
Jamie Lester is a Technical Director – Building Structures with WSP, based in Christchurch. Intrigued by the last continent and the impactful science carried out there, Jamie has been instrumental in enhancing WSP’s capability for design in cold climates through the Scott Base Redevelopment and other projects. These projects are driven by low-carbon objectives and remote location constraints requiring leading edge, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) thinking and solutions.
Jamie is a promoter of WSP’s “Future Ready” approach to design in the built environment. In 2013 he was also the recipient of the ACENZ (now ACE) Future Leader award.
Linus Lim
Linus Lim is a Technical Director at Holmes ANZ, Sydney. Linus is passionate about the design of modern and heritage structures for robust structural response under fire conditions. Linus completed his Ph.D. from the University of Canterbury investigating membrane action of concrete floor systems under fire conditions. Linus has extensive experience in developing structural fire engineering design strategies for buildings and the analysis of structural response under fire exposure. Linus leads a specialist team of 15 specialist structural fire engineers in Holmes, working on projects involving response of different types of buildings and structures under fire exposure.
Alayna Rā
Alayna is of Ngāi Tahu whakapapa and was born and raised on Ngāi Tahu whenua in Ōtepoti and Ōtautahi. She is a strong advocate for Indigenous rights and ensuring mana whenua agency prevails in planning, design and construction processes. Alayna has extensive experience working with Indigenous communities locally and internationally, with her work focusing on social justice and equitable city making. In this presentation she will speak to the future of Aotearoa and the changes we are facing culturally, socially, environmentally, and economically.