Download the full one-page program or view each day: Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Our Melbourne conference was hosted at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn from Thursday 20 November to Saturday 22 November, 2025.
Our keynote speakers were Professor Kenneth Elwood from the University of Auckland, Dr Anna Kaiser from Earth Sciences New Zealand (formerly GNS Science), and Dr Lisa Tobber from the University of British Columbia.
Thanks to our keynote, coffee cart, and break sponsors:
Ken Elwood, Professor at University of Auckland, currently serves as Chief Engineer (Building Resilience) for New Zealand Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment and the Natural Hazards Commission. He is involved in research and provides policy advice in relation to the seismic risk of existing buildings and design of new buildings.
Ken received his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002, M.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995, and BASc from the University of British Columbia in 1993. He has over 20 years experience on international standards and code committees, including ACI 318, ASCE 41, NBCC, and NZS 1170.5. Ken is currently serving as Executive Vice President of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering.
Lisa Tobber is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, where she holds the Principal’s Research Chair in Disaster-Resilient Buildings. Her research focuses on the seismic performance of cast-in-place and precast concrete shear wall buildings in low, moderate, and high seismic regions. Working closely with Canada’s industry, government, and policy stakeholders, she develops and tests structural systems that balance resilience with constructability and practical implementation.
Lisa received her PhD in Structural Engineering from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, in 2021. She is a member of Canada’s National Model Code Committee on Seismic Design and the first UBC Okanagan faculty member to receive the prestigious Wall Legacy Fellowship, the university’s largest research award, given to researchers whose work makes a significant and direct impact on society.
Anna Kaiser is a Senior Seismologist and current Deputy Lead for Natural Hazard and Risk research at Earth Sciences New Zealand (formerly GNS Science). In this role, she helps guide a range of fundamental earthquake science through to its applications in long term risk reduction and rapid response.Her research focus areas include earthquake ground motion,local site/basin amplification effects, and their incorporationinto engineering design codes.
Anna received her PhD in Geophysics from ETH Zürich, Switzerland in 2011, and her MSc and undergraduate degrees from Victoria University of Wellington. Over the past 15 years, she has been heavily involved in NZ’s response to major earthquakes and tsunami, and the scientific learnings from these events. She is a current senior member of the NZ National Seismic Hazard Model programme, and a contributing member of NZ’s code development committee.