Professor Joshua Zhao

Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Engineering

Professor Xiao Lin (Joshua) is an Adjunct Professor and the former Associate Dean (International) of Faculty of Engineering. Professor Zhao’s current research focuses on hybrid construction utilising seawater, sea sand concrete and fibre reinforced polymers; rehabilitation of aging infrastructure using advanced composite materials; and ultra-high strength steel structures. He received his BE and ME from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, PhD and Doctor of Engineering (higher doctorate) from the University of Sydney, as well as MBA (Executive) jointly awarded by the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney. Prior to joining UNSW, Prof Zhao held the Chair of Civil Engineering at Monash University since 2001. He was the Head of Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University from 2008 to 2011. Prof Zhao received a variety of prestigious fellowships, e.g. the Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (based at RWTH Aachen), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Invitation Fellow (based at Nagoya University), the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) Distinguished Visiting Fellowship Award (based at Imperial College London), the Swiss National Science Foundation Visiting Professorship Award (based at EMPA and ETH) and the H.K. Cheng Structural Engineering Fellowship (based at University of Hong Kong).

Prof Zhao is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia. He served on the Australian Research Council ERA (Excellence in Research for Australia) Research Evaluation Committee for Engineering and Environmental Sciences Cluster in 2015 and 2018. He chaired the IIW (International Institute of Welding) Committee XV-E on Tubular Structures from 2002 to 2014. Prof Zhao was the recipient of the IIW Thomas Medal in 2013. Prof Zhao also chaired the IIFC (International Institute of FRP in Construction) Working Group on FRP Strengthened Metallic Structures from 2005 to 2013. He is a member of the ARC College of Experts.

Prof. Zhao has published 8 books and 390 refereed SCI journal papers. He received 26 grants from the Australian Research Council and supervised over 50 PhD students to completion. He is a highly cited researcher in Civil Engineering discipline (Shanghai Ranking Consultancy and Elsevier in 2016). Prof. Zhao was selected as Australia’s Top Researcher in the field of Structural Engineering in The Australian’s Research Magazine in 2019 and as Australia’s Top Researcher in the field of Civil Engineering in The Australian’s Research Magazine in 2021. He was among the World’s Top 2% Scientists in the field of Civil Engineering in the 2020 and 2021 lists compiled by Stanford University.