Dr Josh Macabuag Disaster Risk Engineer

Dr Josh Macabuag Dr Josh Macabuag CEng MICE EngD

Josh is a Chartered Structural Engineer with over 10 years’ experience in disaster risk-related fields, spanning: structural engineering for natural disasters, catastrophe risk modelling, and engineering for Urban Search & Rescue (USAR).

An engineer for the UK Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) NGO SARAID since 2012, Josh has conducted USAR deployments and building safety assessments in the 2015 Nepal Earthquake and 2017 Hurricane Irma (Caribbean). Josh is also Vice Chair of the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), and member of the IStructE’s Humanitarian and International Development Panel.

With experience of seismic and windstorm design for various structures around the world, Josh is able to assess and advise on structures at risk to natural disasters. Example experience includes: seismic design in the Middle-East, post-disaster structural investigations in the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami and 2013 Typhoon Hayain (Philippines); and community-based seismic retrofitting projects in Nepal and Peru.

Having also worked in catastrophe risk modelling for the (re)insurance sector and now with the World Bank, Josh strongly advocates that resilience planning should use quantitative analysis of a client’s portfolio to identify key risks, quantify those risk, and recommend remedial actions with cost-benefit reporting to aid decision-making.

Josh is also a confident speaker and trainer. He has discussed USAR operations on British television (BBC and ITV), and is a guest lecturer on University College London’s Natural and Environmental Hazards MSc. As a trainer for the Structural Engineering Course of the International Search & Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), Josh is able to lead the training of international participants.

Josh is a strong addition to our teams, whether providing training in engineering for natural disasters, or assessing disaster risk for locations, portfolios, or countries.


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