A photo of Dr Minh Nguyen.

Dr Minh Nguyen: leading research in climate change impacts and adaptations for water infrastructure

Dr Minh Nguyen is an expert in modelling infrastructure materials degradation in different environments and climatic conditions.

  • 3 August 2009 | Updated 14 October 2011

Current activities

Dr Minh Nguyen is a Senior Research Scientist of CSIRO Land and Water.

Research topics of special interest have included:

  • infrastructure performance modelling and service lifetime prediction
  • climate and climate change impacts on infrastructure performance and service lifetime
  • utilisation of sensors and sensor networks for water infrastructure condition monitoring.

Background

Dr Minh Nguyen joined CSIRO in 2000 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow.

During 1995-1998, when he was completing his doctoral work, Dr Nguyen successfully developed a method to analyse long-span bridge aerodynamic behaviours under extreme wind conditions, which was used to analyse the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge - the longest suspension bridge in the world.

From 1998-2000, Dr Nguyen was a Research Fellow at the Central Research Institute of the Electric Power Industry in Japan, working on dynamic analysis and design procedure for under-ground reinforced concrete structures which are used by emergency services in nuclear power plants and subject to earthquake loading.

Since joining CSIRO in 2000, Dr Nguyen has extended his expertise to a number of research fields and internationally been recognised as an expert in:

  • infrastructure materials degradation and service lifetime modelling. Dr Nguyen was a key scientist of an award-winning team to develop a world-first set of service-life models and durability design for timber construction
  • non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and data interpretation techniques. He was an invited speaker at an international conference to present his works on microwaves techniques for detecting wood properties and defects, and application of artificial intelligent techniques for NDE data.

Academic qualifications

Dr Nguyen has been awarded a:

Dr Nguyen's research includes infrastructure performance modelling.
  • Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering with First Class Honours from HCM University of Technology, Vietnam in 1989
  • Master of Engineering degree in Structural Engineering and Construction, with a First Class Prize, from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, in 1995
  • Doctorate in Civil Engineering, Architecture and Marine Technology from Yokohama National University of Japan in 1998.

Dr Nguyen received scholarships for his Masters studies from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand and for his Doctoral studies from the Japan Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.

Achievements

Dr Nguyen is the author of 15 journal articles, 38 conference papers, 75 technical reports, one Draft Australia Standard, 11 research manuals, and contributed to a design guide book.

Dr Nguyen has won several awards including:

  • Wood Engineering Achievement Award – Engineering Innovation from the American Wood Council & the Forest Products Society, US - as a key member of the award winning CSIRO-FWPRDC Service Life R&D team, which developed the world-first service life models and durability design procedure for timber construction in 2006
  • Invited speaker at the 1st International Conference on Advanced Non-Destructive Evaluation (ANDE 2005), Jeju, Korea, 2005
  • Research Fellowship Award from the Japan Science & Technology Agency to conduct research at the Central Research Institute of the Electric Power Industry, Japan, 1998–2000
  • Mahesh Varma Prize for the most outstanding academic performance of Master's graduates in Structural Engineering and Construction, at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, 1995
  • Government Award for excellence for his contribution to the design and construction of the National Project of the first 500KV Power Transmission Line, Ministry of Energy, Vietnam, 1993
  • University Award and Gold Medal Prize for Excellent Graduate from the HCM University of Technology, Vietnam, in 1989.

Professional activities

Dr Nguyen is a member of the Timber Stress Grading TM3 committee, Australia Standards, and a technical reviewer of three international journals.

Find out more about CSIRO Land and Water.