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IStructE Caribbean Regional Group biennial conference 2026

Regional

Date & Time

29 October 2026 - 30 October 2026
09:00 -16:00 AST

Location

Radisson Aquatica Resort, Bridgetown, Barbados
View on Google Maps

Price

£20-£185

Availability

Places available

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The two-day event focusing on resilient, sustainable and resource-efficient engineering solutions for the Caribbean’s built environment.

Resilience by design: engineering security in uncertain climates is the 2026 regional conference of the Institution of Structural Engineers Caribbean Regional Group. The two-day event will focus on resilient, sustainable and resource-efficient engineering solutions for the Caribbean’s built environment.

The conference will examine the structural challenges created by hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, storm surge, rising sea levels, ageing infrastructure and limited construction resources. It will feature technical presentations and panel discussions on resilient design, critical infrastructure, sustainable construction, artificial intelligence, BIM, heritage structures, marine infrastructure, disaster recovery and regional design standards.

Bringing together engineers, academics, policymakers, consultants and other built-environment professionals, the conference will support technical knowledge exchange, continued professional development and regional collaboration. Its overall aim is to strengthen engineering practice and promote safer, more durable and climate-responsive infrastructure across the Caribbean.

Speakers

Expedition Engineering

Professor Chris Wise is a renowned structural engineer, designer and educator, and a Co-founder and Senior Director of Expedition Engineering. His career has been defined by innovative, sustainable and highly creative structural design, including major projects such as the London 2012 Olympic Velodrome, Millennium Bridge, Commerzbank Headquarters, Infinity Bridge and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre. His contributions to engineering have received some of the profession's highest honours, including the Gold Medals of both the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers, the IABSE Milne Medal, and the Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal.

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Useful Studio, UK

Catherine Ramsden is the Founding Director of Useful Studio and a Senior Director of the Useful Simple Trust. An experienced architectural designer, she combines conceptual design with extensive project-delivery experience gained over a decade as an Associate Partner at Foster + Partners. Her portfolio includes the Millennium Bridge, Albion Riverside, Thomas Deacon Academy, Chiswick Park Footbridge and major masterplanning, infrastructure, retrofit and educational projects. Her work places particular emphasis on sustainable design, material efficiency, circularity and social value.

University of Liverpool

Dr. di Sarno is the Founder and Leader of the Civil Infrastructure Research Team at University of Liverpool, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, plus the Director of the Research for the Deparment. Dr. di Sarno holds a PhD in Structural Engineering, MSc in Earthquake Engineering and Structural Design and MSc in Structural Steel Design. Dr. di Sarno is Associate Editor of the Journal of Earthquake Engineering and is in the Editorial Board of several other journals dealing with Structural Engineering. He is also a member of the Working Group 11 of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering dealing with the seismic design of bridges and member of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction of the United Nations. He is also global consultant in disaster risk analysis and response mitigations and was the recipient of the Staff Award 2024 – Sustainability in Research (University of Liverpool - Vice Chancellor, 2024).

Free4M Consulting Ltd

Tony Parasram is a Chartered Consulting Civil and Structural Engineer of over 30 years experience. He is a Fellow of both Civil and Structural Engineering Institutions, sits on a variety of engineering committees and is a regular presenter at conferences. He founded Free4m Consulting in the UK in 2009, which today, is an award-winning international engineering practice. Tony is the co-author of the Institute of Lighting Professionals best practice guide: GN22 advising on the management of minor structures in the public realm. Following publication of GN22 in 2019 Tony founded Free4m Lighting going on to design and build the industry's first fully portable, Ai powered, digital testing tool for metal structures, recognised as Finalists in 3 categories at the 2024 NCE TechFest Awards, London.

Moffatt & Nichol

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The University of the West Indies

Dr Aaron Chadee has over 20 years’ experience within the civil engineering and construction sector of various islands in the Caribbean and internationally. He was Chief Engineer for Trinidad and Tobago Housing Development Corporation where he executed thousands of government subsidized housing for low to medium income households and achieved 80% less cost overruns. He has instituted FIDIC within public sector programmes and has supervised mulitmiliion US dollar projects. He has published over 50 peer reviewed articles based on wicked cycle, prospect theory, water and wastewater engineering, housing, climate change resilience and sustainability within Small Island Developing States and is the lead in construction management research within the Caribbean.

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McNicolls & Associates

Dylan Charles is a structural engineer with Mc Nicolls & Associates Ltd (MAAL), a Trinidad based engineering consultancy specialising in offshore, marine and onshore infrastructure across the Caribbean region. He has 3 years of experience in structural integrity assessment, underwater inspection and engineering analysis of marine structures. Mc Nicolls & Associates Ltd (MAAL) is an engineering consultancy firm which provides technical consultancy services such as advanced civil and structural engineering solutions and Integrity Management systems for both new facilities and modifications of existing onshore and offshore facilities.

Allahar Associates Ltd.

Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO)/ Pothos Ltd

Shalini Jagnarine-Azan, FIStructE is a Chartered Structural Engineer with over 17 years of professional experience across the Caribbean. She is The Director of Pothos Ltd., Vice President for the Americas (2024–2026) and a Board Trustee of the Institution of Structural Engineers and received the Institution’s Keith Eaton International Award in 2022 for her international humanitarian contributions. Her experience includes supporting responses to hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding and volcanic events, most recently following Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica. She has led or supported major resilience initiatives in Jamaica, Dominica, Haiti, The Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean, including PAHO’s Smart Hospitals programme.

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Danielle Steele Consultancy

Danielle Steele is an accomplished structural engineer with over twenty years of professional experience. Over the course of her career, Ms. Steele has specialised in structural engineering and restoration, dedicating eighteen years to this particular field. Her background encompasses seven years in the private sector, six years within the oil and gas industry, and seven years as founder and principal of Danielle Steele Consultancy. Her technical expertise extends across residential and commercial projects, including educational, institutional, cultural, leisure, and onshore facilities. Throughout her career, Ms. Steele has contributed to both design and on-site construction supervision, applying her expertise to numerous restoration projects across Trinidad and the Caribbean.

Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)

Ms. Antonia Hart (BSc, MSc, MPhil, CEng, MIStructE) is an Operations Officer (Civil Engineer) in the Economic Infrastructure Division, Projects Unit, at the Caribbean Development Bank, where she is responsible for the technical appraisal, structural review, and implementation oversight of infrastructure projects across the Bank's Borrowing Member Countries. She holds a BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine; an MSc in Structural Engineering from Imperial College London; and an MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge. She is a Chartered Civil and Structural Engineer registered with the Institution of Structural Engineers (UK). With over twenty years of experience spanning structural design, project supervision, and construction administration, Ms. Hart has directed infrastructure projects through the full delivery cycle — from conceptual and detailed design through construction supervision to completion and handover.

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Buro Happold

Natasha is the Sustainability Co-Lead for UK+ Structures and Ground Engineering for Buro Happold, as well as the UK+ Climate Emergency Change Manager. These roles support each other in determining and delivering the systemic change needed to tackle the Climate Emergency at an industry level, organisational level, team level, and an individual level. Alongside the technical aspects of sustainability, she is also interested in wider issues around equity and unconscious bias.

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The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC)

Kafele Reddock is a Trinidadian researcher and Deformation Specialist at the SRC. A former Seismic Research Technician and Field Team Lead in the Geophysics Department, he is now focused on the monitoring and upkeep of the Global Navigational Satellite System (GNSS) network at the SRC. Academically trained in Geology and Seismology, his interests span the breadth of work done at the SRC where he is involved in Seismology, Volcanology, Geophysics, and Geology with some input in instrument design and deployment. His primary research is now the Tectonic Deformation of the Eastern Caribbean as well as local deformation due to volcanism.

Additional attendee information

In-Person - StructE Members - $200

In-Person - Non-Members - $250

Online - $125

Student Online - $30

Contact

Email - [email protected]

Name - Savitree Singh