Associate Professor Mary Hardie

Associate Professor Mary Hardie joined Western Sydney University as a casual academic in the late 1990s. This followed nearly 20 years in industry where she worked in Design and Construct building companies as well as in architectural design practices. She has been a registered architect for more than 40 years since graduating from UNSW in 1979, and following her retirement from practice she has been a registered Architect in the non-practising category since 2023. In 2011, at WSU she completed her PhD researching technical innovation delivery by small and medium-sized Australian construction enterprises. She has held governance roles at the university, namely as Course advisor initially and then as Director of Academic Programs in Construction Management, Building Design Management and Architecture. She now concentrates on teaching and research in the field of construction. She was a founding member of the Centre for Smart Modern Construction at WSU. Her research interests centre around innovative solutions for a sustainable construction future. Topics include practical detailing for buildability and waterproofing, passive solar design principles, green or vegetated roofs, compressed earth block structures, rainwater storage systems for housing developments and management of wastewater on construction sites. The challenge of delivering a low carbon future in the construction industry will be critical to her future research.