Pat Heffernan

Pat Heffernan is a Professor of Civil Engineering at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC), where he has held leadership roles including Head of the Civil Engineering Department (2010–2014), Vice-Principal, Research and Dean of Graduate Studies (2014–2020). He earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from RMC in 1997. His research focuses on resilient infrastructure design, blast-resistant structures, and fatigue analysis of materials. He has served in the Canadian Military Engineers (1982–2005), combining military experience with academic leadership.

Dr. Heffernan’s research emphasizes critical infrastructure resilience against extreme loading, including blast and impact scenarios. His work integrates advanced materials like fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) for structural rehabilitation. He has published extensively on topics such as FRP reinforcement, corrosion-fatigue of metals, and numerical modeling of blast effects.

Teaching focuses on mechanics of materials, structural analysis, and resilient design principles. His academic contributions include cross-departmental leadership in the Master of Defence Engineering and Management program. Despite no explicitly stated awards, his publications reflect significant contributions to structural and materials engineering.