ProfessorFrank Collins

Frank Collins is currently Honorary Professor of Infrastructure within the Institute for Frontier Materials at Deakin University. Previously (prior to 2022) as Professor he led Deakin’s ACID (Australian Centre for Infrastructure Durability). Prior to 2016, he was Associate Professor and Head of Structures at the Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University.
His professional career includes 22 years practice as a Chartered Professional Engineer plus 15 years as an academic, providing a vital and rare balance between scholastic excellence and industry need within his research, teaching, and leadership activities.
Collins’ background relates to innovative, durable and resilient built infrastructure that balance social need for environmental and economic sustainability, supported by activity in the following areas:
1. Durability of engineering materials, non-destructive testing and diagnosis, and formulation of remedial solutions
2. Utilising treated waste PFAS soils to enhance the properties of concrete
3. Life cycle predictive modelling of durability, supported by intervention strategies for maintenance and rehabilitation of built infrastructure. Collective research and industry experience is the basis of a book recently published by CRC Press (Taylor and Francis Group), “Ageing of Built Infrastructure – A Life Cycle Approach” ISBN 9781466580855.
4. Sustainable and enhanced construction materials (e.g. alkali-activated cements), Utilisation of recycled wastes in concrete, and development of cement-nanocomposites;
5. Development of 1st, 2nd, 3rd… generational infrastructure that is modular and resilient to extreme natural and man-made events
6. Cement and concrete technology
7. Cutting edge materials, particularly LC3 cements, utilising carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide-cement composites, and treated wastes

His grounding in durability of construction materials began when working with Professor Harold Roper at the University of Sydney in the early 1980’s. This led to 13 years employment 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 development of remedial and preventative maintenance works. In 1995, as part of an ODA (UK) aid project, 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 University, one of the 1st Australian research efforts in this area, developing alkali-activated cements (or “geopolymer”) as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional Portland cements. 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 University in July 2015, he was Head of Structures, Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University. He has a 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. He has worked on many major built infrastructure, as an engineer and as a researcher, both within Australia and internationally.