After graduating from
Queen's University in 1963 with 1st Class Honours in Civil Engineering Adrian
was invited to take up an Assistant Lectureship post which allowed him to carry
out research on a part-time basis. This led in 1967 to the award of a PhD on the
ultimate strength of reinforced concrete slabs at columns.
The next four years were
spent in Canada initially on the design of railway and highway bridges in the
Toronto Office of FENCO and then as an Assistant Professor in the Civil
Engineering Department, Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. In the latter
post Adrian was responsible for the supervision of contract research work on
steel-concrete composite bridges for the Ontario Department of Highways, as well
as lecturing at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Since 1971, apart from a
year's sabbatical leave at the Royal Military College in Canada, Adrian has been
on the staff of the Civil Engineering Department at the Queen's University
Belfast. In 1976 he was promoted to Professor and in the following year became
Head of Department and Director of the Materials Testing Station. The latter
post allowed Adrian to increase his contacts with the Construction Industry
which had already been well established by way of his problem oriented research
projects. These have included extensive studies into the local strength of
reinforced and prestressed concrete slabs, research on the load distribution
characteristics of M-beam bridge decks and on a new methods of assessing the
in-situ properties of concrete. In addition, from 1977-1984 he guided a team of
interdisciplinary researchers involved in the development of a wave energy
convertor system for the UK Department of Energy. Over the past 35 years he has
had a direct involvement with a large number of research projects with a total
value of over £9m.
Arising out of these
activities, Adrian has authored over 200 technical publications and has been the
recipient of a number of awards including two by the American Society of Civil
Engineers. In 1982 he was awarded the Henry Adams bronze medal of the
Institution of Structural Engineers, London, in 1983 the Murray Buxton bronze
medal of the same Institution and in 1985 he was awarded a Henry Adams Diploma.
In 1985-86 he was the Vernon Harcourt Lecturer of the Institution of Civil
Engineers. He was awarded the Telford Premium and Certificate (1988, 1998), the
Coopers Hill Memorial Prize (bronze medal, 1988) and the Baker Medal (1998) by
the Institution of Civil Engineers, London.
From the professional
viewpoint Adrian has been an active member of the Northern Ireland Association
of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was Chairman in 1984-85 and was a
Committee Member until 1992. He has also been a member of the Northern Ireland
committees of the Concrete Society and Institution of Structural Engineers. From
1989-1992 he was a member of the Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers
in London. In this capacity he was a member of the Education & Training
Committee from 1989-92 and was a member of the Structural and Building Group
Board and the Research and Development Panel from 1988-95. He was Chairman of
the NI branch of the Institution of Structural Engineers for the year 1993/94
and this also involved membership of the Council in London and other national
committees of this institution. In 1995 he was elected a Fellow of the
Institution of Engineers of Ireland. In
1999 he became Vice-President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in
London, with a view to becoming President in 2002/3.
ICE is the longest established Engineering Institution in the world and
has over 75,000 members worldwide.
In 1984 Adrian was awarded
a DSc by the University for his research on concrete and wavepower. From
February 1986 until December 1994 he was European Editor of the International
Journal of Engineering Structures published by Butterworth Heinemann/Elsevier.
He is a member of the ACI/ASCE Shear and Torsion Committee. He has been a member
of the Joint Board of Moderators (ICE and IStructE) from 1987-93 and in
September 1989 he was appointed to the RMO Steering Group of the Civil
Engineering Sub-Committee of SERC. From September 1990-94 he was co-ordinator of
the Performance of Structures and Materials Sub-Committee of SERC (now EPSRC).
Presently he is a member of the Built Environment College of EPSRC.
He was Dean of the Faculty
of Engineering from 1988-91 and was appointed Director of the School of the
Built Environment, which incorporates the Department of Architecture and
Planning and the Department of Civil Engineering, in January 1989. He was a
member of Senate from 1991-94 and started a second term as Dean of the Faculty
of Engineering in August 1998.
In July 1989 he was
elected to the Royal Academy of Engineering and in 1994 he was one of a team of
four to be awarded the Royal Society Esso Energy Gold Medal and Prize of £2,000.
In 1996 he was elected a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (USA) and he
was given a special award for research on concrete durability at the ACI/CANMET
conference in Auckland in August 1997. In 1998 he was elected a Fellow of the
Irish Academy of Engineering.
From 1986 to 1994 Adrian
was a member of the Board of Governors of Bloomfield Collegiate School, Belfast.
He was President of the Old Boys Association of the Royal School,
Dungannon in its 375th Anniversary year and has been a member of the Board of
Governors since 1996.