Dr Kristen MacAskill is the Course Director for the Construction Engineering Masters programme at the Laing O'Rourke Centre for Construction Engineering and Technology. She originally trained as a civil engineer and then completed a Masters degree in Engineering Management in New Zealand. She has also obtained an MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development and a PhD from Cambridge University's Engineering Department. Before returning to a role in academia, Kristen has worked for several years as a consulting engineer in both the water and transport sectors. Her experience covers various areas of infrastructure development, including: strategic level options assessment, post-earthquake damage assessment, infrastructure design, project management and sustainability assessment. She teaches a sustainable development course in the engineering department and her core research focus is in the area of disaster risk reduction and post-disaster recovery.