Dr Heber Sugo

Biography

Since my appointment as Research Associate in the Discipline of Civil, Surveying and Environmental Engineering, working in conjunction with Professor Adrian Page, several key milestones have been set in the fields of masonry bond and thermal performance of masonry. The research in these areas has been experimental in nature, requiring the development of specialised techniques and strategies. The resultant work has proved unique, attracting the attention of overseas and local academics.

This success has been instrumental in receiving several industry and ARC funded grants as detailed in the next section. My major achievements are outlined as follows:

• Invited paper RILEM Workshop, Mantova, Italy

As recognition of the work being carried out in the field of masonry bond strength, I was invited by the RILEM technical Committee for Site Control and Non-Destructive Evaluation of Masonry Structures and Materials to present the research findings at the Mantova, Workshop in 2001.

• Establishment of a Guarded Hot-Box Facility (GHB)

This is a laboratory test facility used to measure the thermal properties of full-scale building assemblies. The facility has been designed and constructed completely in-house and, at this time, is the only facility in Australia. The GHB apparatus complies with relevant ASTM specifications.

• Building Modules for Evaluating the Thermal Performance of Masonry

Four purpose built modules have been constructed at the Callaghan campus to measure the thermal performance of masonry walling systems and other building envelope components. The modules are fully instrumented and monitored continuously. The data from these building has been crucial for the masonry industry and has now been used by the AGO for the validation of the second generation energy simulation software developed by CSIRO. A protocol for monitoring buildings has been adopted by the AGO based on the Newcastle University test modules.

• Establishment of a Roof Testing Facility

This test facility is under construction. It will be used to directly compare the thermal performance of six roofing materials under actual weather conditions. Measurements will include UV-VIS & IR reflectance, surface and air temperatures of roof membranes and attic spaces and, resultant through-ceiling heat flux. This facility is similar to that developed at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories in the USA.

• Australian Greenhouse Office

The research into the thermal performance of masonry has attracted the attention of the AGO and resulted in a large consulting project between TUNRA and the AGO.

In addition, the AGO convened a meeting of all interested researchers in the building energy field, at a national level, to showcase the work being carried out at the University of Newcastle.

The above achivements have all been attained through setting up small and large scale experments (small sized buildings). This has been an extremely time consuming excercise. This large workload together with the need to produce frequent industry reports has impacted on my available time to dedicate to journal papers. However. these circumstances have recenlty changed by additional industry funding for employment of technical support staff.

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Newcastle, 2001
• Bachelor of Business / Bachelor of Laws, NSW Institute of Technology
• Master of Science, University of Technology Sydney

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Research

Research keywords

• Materials
• Thermal Performance

Research expertise

I have etensive expertise in materials characterization techniques, XRD, SEM and DTA/TGA. Also over the last 5 years I have set up an experimental facility to assess the thermal performance of building systems. This is both laboratory based, via the construction and commissioning a Guarded Hot Box apparatus and, full-scale with the construction of 4 full-scale test modules which are exposed to external conditions. As a result of receiving further industry support, a test facility is also being commissioned, to evaluate the thermal performance of roofs. The success of this research has been recognised by several industry and government authorities

Languages

• Spanish

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
091500	Interdisciplinary Engineering	40
120299	Building Not Elsewhere Classified	30
090400	Chemical Engineering	30

Memberships

Committee/Associations (relevant to research).

• Invited Guest - Think Brick Australia Technical Committee

Invitations

RILEM Technical Committe 177MDT RILEM, Italy (Conference Presentation - non published.)

2001

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Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Engineering Materials

Teaching expertise

Whilst at UTS I have lectured engineering materials and advanced ceramics courses. In my current position at U of N, I have supervised over 15 final year project students, 1 MSc student and assisted several Ph. D candidates.