Within Air Operations Division of DSTO 1 intelligent agents are used to model the tactical decision making processes of pilots and fighter-controllers involved in air combat. One of the largest hurdles to be overcome by software engineers and analysts, when developing simulations of the air defence environment, is the acquisition of domain knowledge. Primarily the source of this knowledge is the pilots and other operational personnel, whose availability is limited and who have little experience with the design or development of simulation software. The adoption of agent oriented technologies has realized a number of significant benefits. High amongst these is the ability for operational air force personnel to become actively involved in the modification, design and development of these simulations. This involvement has dramatically reduced the time taken to prototype, test, and commission software and has resulted in simulations that have the confidence of the RAAF. IntroductionIntelligent software agents have proven their utility within Air Operations Division (AOD) over a number of years. During this time it has been possible to build up knowledge of the advantages that agent oriented technologies offer for the air combat modeling domain and to begin to develop engineering practices for the design, implementation, use, and re-use of agent models. AODs interest in agents is primarily focussed on the modeling of human reasoning within large simulations of air-combat. The Division maintains and develops many such simulations and agents are utilized in several of these models. These large computer simulations are used for assessing the relative merits of potential hardware acquisitions and for the evaluation and testing of tactics that it is not practical or possible to examine with real aircraft. Furthermore AOD is examining other uses for these simulations including their use as intelligent opponents within human-in-the-loop (HIL) training simulators [1].AOD engineers and scientists maintain close links with operational squadrons and develop good working relationships with pilots and fighter-controllers in an effort to improve the understanding of the domain and improve the fidelity of 1 Details on the Defence Science and Technology Organisation may be obtained from

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Civil engineering schemes such as new highways and railway lines, regional planning and large-scale land-management projects in areas known to have a landslide problem require regional landslide susceptibility evaluation. The Matrix Assessment Approach (MAP) is introduced as a medium-scale landslide hazard mapping technique for establishing an index of slope stability over large areas. The method allows the relative landslide susceptibility to be computed over large areas using a discrete combination of geological/geomorphological parameters. MAP was applied to a region in the Peak District, Derbyshire. The model identified key geological/geomorphological parameters involved in deep-seated failures, provided an effective means of classifying the stability of slopes over a large area and successfully indicated sites of previously unmapped landslides. The resultant regional landslide susceptibility index provides useful preliminary information for use at the desk study and reconnaissance stages of large-scale civil engineering works such as highway construction.

The Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project in Essex, UK, is transforming 670 ha of farmland back to coastal marshland. A total of 98% of excavated material from the Crossrail project in London has been recycled and reused, with almost half being shipped to Wallasea Island – more than 3 Mt. Up to six ships arrived daily at Wallasea, unloading 8000 t of excavated material. A total of 2400 shiploads of material were delivered, removing the requirement for 150 000 haulage lorry movements from London's roads. The recycled excavation material has been used to raise land levels at Wallasea by ∼1·5 m to create Europe's largest wetland nature reserve. The project includes an innovative flood defence system incorporating new seawalls to protect vulnerable coastal areas from flooding. Partnering with nature conservation charity RSPB was a key part of Crossrail's sustainability policy. The project provides an excellent example of the circular economy in the built environment, where construction materials have been reused in a high-value conservation project providing benefits for both people and wildlife.

The susceptibility of glacigenic deposits to liquefaction under seismic loading conditions : a case study relating to nuclear site characterization in West Cumbria.', Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society., 62 . pp. 116-132.