Ryan Hoult

Dr. Ryan Hoult is a Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering at the University of Newcastle, where he has been based since July 2025. He holds a PhD in Structural Engineering from the University of Melbourne, where his doctoral research on the seismic vulnerability of non-ductile reinforced concrete (RC) walls in Australia directly informed updates to the national concrete design standard, AS 3600 (2019). Prior to joining UoN, he held postdoctoral and fellowship positions at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium, including a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship investigating the use of shape memory alloy (SMA) reinforcement to improve the seismic resilience of RC walls.

Dr. Hoult's research combines large- and half-scale experimental testing with advanced numerical modelling to improve the seismic performance, resilience, and sustainability of RC wall and core systems. His work spans the in-plane and out-of-plane seismic behaviour of RC walls, torsion and warping in non-planar (U- & H-shaped) core sections, low-damage structural systems, and the use of alternative reinforcement materials — including Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars and SMAs — to enhance durability and reduce residual drift. He has authored over 37 peer-reviewed journal articles in leading venues such as Earthquake Spectra, Engineering Structures, and the ACI Structural Journal, and his research has an h-index of 17 with over 900 citations.

Dr. Hoult is Vice President of the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society (AEES) and has chaired technical sessions at major international conferences, including the 18th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering. He is an active supervisor of postgraduate research students and a regular peer reviewer for journals including Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics and the Journal of Structural Engineering. He is committed to mentoring the next generation of engineers and to bridging the gap between research and real-world engineering practice.