Peter Stafford

Peter Stafford is a Professor of Engineering Seismology within in the Structures section of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. His principle areas of investigation and expertise relate to the fields of Engineering Seismology and Earthquake Engineering. However, he also maintains active research interests in applications of probabilistic methods to engineering applications (Structural Reliability Theory), and applied Structural Dynamics.

Prof. Stafford initially became of member of faculty in 2007 as a Lecturer in Modelling Engineering Risk. Since that time he has contributed to teaching at late-stage MEng, MSc & PhD levels. Given that the majority of his students are very close to entering industry, he draws upon the experience he gained prior to entering academia as both a Structural and Geotechnical engineering consultant. He also draws upon his recent and ongoing research-driven consulting activities to provide realistic examples and appropriate industrial context for his teaching.

Currently, Prof. Stafford serves as the Director of the MSc programme in Advanced Structural Engineering and also holds the role of Department Careers Adviser.

Research

An indicative sample of recent and ongoing areas of activity can be found at Prof. Stafford’s research page. However, this page focusses upon his activity in Engineering Seismology and Seismic Risk. A more generic view of his research interests are provided in the list below:

Engineering Seismology

• Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis
• Development of ground-motion models
• Advanced approaches to regression analysis

Earthquake Engineering

• Probabilistic seismic demand analysis
• Earthquake loss estimation
• Incremental dynamic analysis

Dynamic Response of Bridges

• Earthquake response of conventional and under-deck cable-stayed bridges
• Pedestrian-induced vibration, human-structure interaction, and advanced load modelling
• Vehicle-structure interaction

Structural Reliability

• Reliability of components and systems
• Reliability methods in Engineering Seismology & Earthquake Engineering

Tensegrity Structures

• Stability of Tensegrity systems Design of Tensegrities for variable load scenarios

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) University of Canterbury (2002 — 2006)
• BE (Hons, First Class) University of Canterbury (1997 — 2000)