Hosein Naderpour received his Ph.D. degree with high honors in Structural Engineering. He then joined Semnan University where he is presently Professor of Structural Engineering. Since joining the faculty of Civil Engineering at Semnan University, Dr. Naderpour has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of structural engineering, numerical methods, mechanics of materials, structural stability, concrete structures, structural reliability, as well as soft computing. Dr. Naderpour is author of 210 papers published in journals and about 100 papers presented at national and international conferences. He has given several speeches in Switzerland, China, Australia, South Korea, Romania, Turkey, Canada, Hong Kong, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Japan, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and France. He is currently a chief member of Iranian Earthquake Engineering Association, Iran Concrete Institute (ICI), Iranian Society for Light Steel Framing (LSF), Iran's National Elites Foundation, Safe School Committee, Organization for Development, Renovation and Equipping Schools of Iran (DRES). Furthermore, he is currently the editor-in-chief of three international journals in the area of civil and mechanical engineering including Journal of Soft Computing in Civil Engineering (SCCE), Journal of Computational Engineering and Physical Modeling (CEPM) and Reliability Engineering and Resilience (REngR). His major research interests include: application of soft computing in structural engineering, seismic resilience, structural reliability, structural optimization and damage detection of structures.
Pouyan Fakharian received his B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil and Structural Engineering from Semnan University. Furthermore, he is a professional in the area of application of soft computing in Civil Engineering. He is a member of some associations such as the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Iranian Society of Structural Engineering (ISSE), the Iran Concrete Institute (ICI), the Iranian Society of Steel Structures (ISSS), Iranian Geo-Synthetic Engineering Society (IGS). Pouyan serves as deputy editor in two international peer-reviewed journals of Journal of Soft Computing in Civil Engineering (Scopus indexed), Computational Engineering and Physical Modeling, and also as the guest editor of SN Applied Sciences (Springer) and Coordinator Editor in Journal of Rehabilitation in Civil Engineering (Scopus indexed). During his academic experience in university, he has performed lots of activities as an executive manager in many parts. Pouyan's awards and honors include the Top talent of Iran National Elites Foundation, 1st Top-Ranked Ph.D. Student at Semnan University, Faculty of Civil Engineering, the distinguished student among master students of Semnan University, Top 10% Ranked B.Sc. Student at Semnan University, Faculty of Civil Engineering. Pouyan was awarded the Publons Peer Review Awards of 2018 for being placed in the top 1% of reviewers. He has taught a variety of academic courses including Soft Computing, Advanced Concrete Technology, Prestressed Concrete, Research Methodology, Managing Machinery, Project Management, Statics, Strength of Materials, Construction Machinery, Bridge Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Cost Estimating, Principles of Construction Management, Building Construction Techniques, Architecture and Urban Design, Principles of Architecture and Urbanism. Right now, he is working as the Head of the Department of Construction Engineering and Management at the Energy Institute of Higher Education. He has also published a variety of different course books, research papers, and articles in the realm of civil engineering.
Research Interests:
Structural Engineering
Soft Computing
Earthquake Engineering
I'm Dr. Elisa Bertolesi, a Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Cardiff University. With a Ph.D. from Politecnico di Milano (Italy), my research extends beyond theoretical frameworks, with practical applications contributing to the identification of collapse risks due to fatigue and assessing the robustness of structures. My research, recognized internationally with awards such as the Postgraduate Project Prize from the International Masonry Society, focuses on ensuring the safety and resilience of critical infrastructures. I have developed SHM systems, identifying risks of collapse and assessing structural robustness. My dedication extends to collaborative projects, including the EU-funded SCOURSHAKE project, addressing multi-hazard challenges posed by climate change. I have published over 36 papers in high-impact journals and I'm actively engaged in teaching, administrative roles, and promoting diversity and inclusion in academia. I serve as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Danial Rezazadeh Eidgahee is an expert in the field of numerical modeling, particularly discrete element modeling (DEM) of granular materials. His researches include experimental and numerical investigations on the geomaterials mechanical behavior. Environmentally friendly and reusing waste materials in civil and geotechnical infrastructures are his broad concerns. He is interested in applications of soft computing approaches and probabilistic studies in the field of geotechnical and foundation engineering.
Born in Paris, France in 1975, I joined the Theoretical Applied and Computational Mechanics team at Cardiff University on 1st September 2009, as a Professor and directed the Institute of Mechanics and Advanced Materials since October 2010 to November 2013.
On November 1st, 2013, I joined the University of Luxembourg as a Professor in Computational Mechanics.
Before this, I was a lecturer in Glasgow University Civil Engineering Department (2006-2009).
Between 2003 and 2006, I was at the Laboratory of Structural and Continuum Mechanics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, working under the support of Professor Thomas Zimmermann on meshfree point collocation methods and partition of unity enrichment (extended finite elements) with applications to geomechanics.
In 2003, I graduated in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics with a Ph.D. from Northwestern University under the guidance of Professor Brian Moran. My thesis, funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, concentrated on applications of the extended finite element method (XFEM) to damage tolerance analysis of complex structures, casting design and biofilm growth processes. In addition to the unique support of Professor Moran, this work would never have been possible without Professor James Conley and Professor David Chopp as well as the instruction of Professor Ted Belytschko.
In 1999, through a joint graduate programme of the French Institute of Technology (Ecole Spéciale des Travaux Publics) and the American Northwestern University I complete a dual M.Sc. after a thesis work on Time Domain Reflectometry simulation to assess ground movements with Professor Charles H. Dowding.
RESEARCH AREAS
My research area is known as Computational Mechanics. I focus on free boundary problems, i.e. problems where part of or the whole boundary is unknown. For example, I have worked on problems involving topological changes or relatively complex geometries, such as crack propagation, delamination, biofilm growth, cutting in soft tissue. Within this field, I concentrate particularly on:
Mohammad Mehdi Rashidi is born in Hamedan, Iran in 1972. He received his Ph.D degree from Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran in 2002. He is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering (from Bu-Ali University, 2014), he works at UESTC in Chengdu. He has published two books: Advanced Engineering Mathematics with Applied Examples of MATHEMATICA Software (2007) (320 pages) (in Persian), and Mathematical Modelling of Nonlinear Flows of Micropolar Fluids (Germany, Lambert Academic Press, 2011). He has published over 350 journal articles and 50 conference papers.
Jorge de Brito is a Civil Engineering (1982), Master in Structural Engineering (1987) and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (1993), all at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, where he has been a Full Professor in Civil Engineering since 2005.
Since he started his University career in 1985, he has given courses on Mechanics, Concrete and Construction Technology and Pathology. He was for a 15-year period a structural designer, mostly in buildings and bridges.
Besides being a Fellow of the Portuguese Chartered Engineers Institution and other national professional associations, he has been a member of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering, the Fédération Internationale du Béton, International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (full member of working groups W80, W86 and W115) and International Association for Bridge Management and Safety.
His present research fields are recycled aggregates in concrete and mortars production, buildings and bridges management systems, service life prediction and life cycle assessment. His international publication record includes 150+ papers in journals from the ISI Web of Knowledge system, a similar number of papers in conferences, 15 book chapters and 2 books. He has been a reviewer for around 100 international journals and belongs to the Editorial Board of international journals.
Panagiotis G. Asteris is full professor, Head of the Civil Engineering Department and Director of Computational Mechanics at the School of Pedagogical & Technological Education, Athens, Greece. He received BS, MS and PhD degrees in civil engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece. His research focuses on Artificial Intelligence, Computational Mechanics, Soft Computing, Applied and Computational Mathematics and Masonry Materials and Structures. Professor Asteris is the author/editor of three books in computational structural engineering. He is also the editor-in-chief of the journals Metaheuristic Computing and Applications and the Open Construction and Building Technology Journal. He has also authored more than 200 publications on peer-reviewed international journals and is member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). Prof. Asteris has recently been included in the list with the world's top 2% scientists for 2019, 2020 & 2021.
Dr Behzad Fatahi is an award-winning engineer working at the frontier of new infrastructure and building technologies and solutions, in particular, systems that will make infrastructure (e.g. roads, railways, pipelines, large energy storage tanks) and buildings safer subjected to complex loading conditions such as ground settlement and dynamic loading.
An Associate Professor of Civil, Railway and Geotechnical Engineering in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UTS, he has been involved in many railway and ground improvement projects in Australia and overseas. Behzad has completed doctorate studies in Railway Geomechanics at the University of Wollongong. He was the recipient of prestigious Rail-CRC Scholarship.
Behzad, who is also a Chartered Professional Engineer and Fellow member of Engineers Australia, has published more than 240 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers since 2006 on various topics related to understanding and enhancement of performance of infrastructure.
He was named Australasia Young Railway Engineer of the Year in 2007 by Engineers Australia and the Railway Technical Society of Australasia. He was also awarded the first prize at the Young Geotechnical Professional Night in 2006, which is a prestigious geomechanics award from the Australian Geomechanics Society and Engineers Australia. He was also a first prize-winner at the UOW Higher Degree Research Conference in 2005 in the category "Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries" for his research related to Railway Geomechanics and Unsaturated Soils.
Behzad’s research and practical interests include unsaturated soil mechanics, dynamic behaviour of soils and rocks, ground improvement techniques for roads and railway lines, the viscous behaviour of clays, bioengineering, and dynamic soil-structure-interaction.
He has also made significant contributions to the concept of green corridors for railway lines, developing a novel model considering the coupled flow-deformation equations in soil to simulate the influence of native vegetation on railway and road formation. He has worked on new designs and construction techniques to improve performance of large energy storage tanks (e.g. LNG tanks), and high-rise buildings during large earthquakes, is leading several major research projects in this field, and has conducted advanced numerical modelling and experiments to verify the new designs.
He has been external assessor for research grant bodies such as Australian Research Council (ARC), The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), and Chilean National Science and Technology Commission (CONICYT).
Before moving to academia, Behzad worked extensively as a consulting and site civil-geotechnical and railway engineer in major civil-infrastructure companies in Australia and overseas on major infrastructure projects such as Ballina Bypass Project, Brisbane Gateway Upgrade Project, and Penrith Lakes development project, to name few.
As the principal supervisor, Behzad has supervised 19 PhD students to successful completion since 2012 and currently supervises graduate research students in Civil Engineering, Geomechanics, Transportation Geotechnics, Structural Engineering, and Earthquake Engineering.
Behzad was a recipient of 2011 UTS Learning and Teaching Citation for contribution to improved learning experience of civil engineering students through practice-based and research-inspired teaching.
Behzad is Category 1 supervisor and able to supervise Honours, Masters by Research, PhD and Post-docs.
Behzad is the reviewer for >25 international journals, including Géotechnique, Journal of Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Engineering (ASCE), Computers and Geotechnics, Acta Geotechnica, Engineering Geology, and Soils and Foundations.
Prof. S. Chakraverty is having experience of 30 years as a researcher and teacher. Presently he is working in the Department of Mathematics (Applied Mathematics Group), National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Odisha as a Senior (Higher Administrative Grade) Professor and he is also the Dean of Student Welfare of the institute from Nov. 2019. Prior to this he was with CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, India. After completing Graduation from St. Columba’s College (Ranchi University), his career started from University of Roorkee (Now, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee) and did M. Sc. (Mathematics) & M. Phil. (Computer Applications) from there securing the First positions in the university. Dr. Chakraverty received his Ph. D. from IIT Roorkee in 1992. There after he did his post-doctoral research at Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR), University of Southampton, U.K. and at the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University, Canada. He was also a visiting professor at Concordia and McGill universities, Canada, during 1997-1999 and a visiting professor of University of Johannesburg, South Africa during 2011-2014. He has authored/co-authored 17 books, published 345 research papers (till date) in journals and conferences, two more books are in Press and two books are ongoing. He is in the Editorial Boards of various International Journals, Book Series and Conferences. Prof. Chakraverty is the Chief Editor of “International Journal of Fuzzy Computation and Modelling” (IJFCM), Inderscience Publisher, Switzerland (http://www.inderscience.com/ijfcm), Associate Editor of “Computational Methods in Structural Engineering, Frontiers in Built Environment” and happens to be the Editorial Board member of “Springer Nature Applied Sciences”, “IGI Research Insights Books”, “Springer Book Series of Modeling and Optimization in Science and Technologies”, “Coupled Systems Mechanics (Techno Press)”, “Curved and Layered Structures (De Gruyter)”, “Journal of Composites Science (MDPI)”, “Engineering Research Express (IOP)”, “Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal” and “Computational Engineering and Physical Modeling (Pouyan Press)”. He is also the reviewer of around 50 national and international Journals of repute and he was the President of the Section of Mathematical sciences (including Statistics) of “Indian Science Congress” (2015-2016) and was the Vice President – “Orissa Mathematical Society” (2011-2013). Prof. Chakraverty is recipient of prestigious awards viz. Indian National Science Academy (INSA) nomination under International Collaboration/Bilateral Exchange Program (with Czech Republic), Platinum Jubilee ISCA Lecture Award (2014), CSIR Young Scientist Award (1997), BOYSCAST Fellow. (DST), UCOST Young Scientist Award (2007, 2008), Golden Jubilee Director’s (CBRI) Award (2001), INSA International Bilateral Exchange Award ([2010-11 (selected but could not undertake)], Roorkee University Gold Medals (1987, 1988) for first positions in M. Sc. and M. Phil. (Comp. Appl.) etc. He has already supervised sixteen (16) Ph. D. students and nine are ongoing. Prof. Chakraverty has undertaken around 16 research projects as Principle Investigator funded by international and national agencies totaling about Rs.1.5 crores. A good number of International and national Conferences, Workshops and Training programmes have also been organised by him. His present research area includes Differential Equations (Ordinary, Partial and Fractional), Numerical Analysis and Computational Methods, Structural Dynamics (FGM, Nano) and Fluid Dynamics, Mathematical Modeling and Uncertainty Modeling, Soft Computing and Machine Intelligence (Artificial Neural Network, Fuzzy, Interval and Affine Computations).
Iman obtained his PhD in 2006 from Sharif University of Technology, one of the top technical universities in the Middle East. After being a lecturer in the Civil Engineering Department at University of Science and Culture for two years, he was awarded a Marie Curie Research Fellowship (En-core MCRTN) at the University of Sheffield on the use of internal FRP reinforcement in new reinforced concrete structures. In 2009, he received a prestigious Individual Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (IIF) at The University of Sheffield on optimum strengthening of deficient reinforced concrete buildings using FRP composites. From 2010 to 2012, he was a Lecturer in Structural Engineering at the University of Nottingham, where he was convener of Advanced Concrete Structures and Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics modules. He was then appointed Lecturer in Structural Engineering in the Department in 2012 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2015. He is currently the leader of the Earthquake Engineering Group (EEG) and Deputy Director of Research in the Department.
In general, Iman’s research aims to develop practical methods to improve the structural performance of structures and make them more resilient to extreme load events, such as earthquakes or explosions. His research into practical design guidelines for engineers has led to the development of simplified performance-based optimum design methodologies for structural engineers to enable them to produce safer buildings at minimum costs. Iman has been principal or co-investigator of several EU and nationally funded projects (total value of approximately €8M). He has extensive research experience in earthquake engineering, performance-based design, structural strengthening, optimisation, cold-formed steel (CFS) structures, energy dissipation devices, progressive collapse, and soil-structure interaction.
Activities and Distinctions
Professor Meguid completed his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Western Ontario under the co-supervision of Professors Kerry Rowe and K.Y. Lo. His doctoral research in the area of 3D modelling of underground tunnels received the “Best Graduate Thesis Award” in 2002 from the Canadian Tunneling Association. He worked as a Postdoctoral fellow at the GeoEngineering Centre at Queen’s-RMC where he conducted 3D modelling of a hazardous waste landfill in Ontario. He then spent one year in the industry before accepting an Assistant Professor position at McGill University in 2004.
Professor Meguid’s research can be broadly categorized into three primary areas of specialization (i) sustainable subsurface infrastructure (tunnels and pipelines), (ii) long-term performance of earthen structures (embankments levees and tailings dams), (iii) developing new multi-scale models to understand the behavior of granular materials and their interaction with solid structures.
Professor Meguid has an international reputation in sustainable design of buried lifeline systems. He is currently a member of the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design at McGill University and has been invited to join the Trenchless Engineering International Research Advisory Committee since 2011. Professor Meguid has served as an expert reviewer for major tunneling projects in Canada.
Since joining McGill, Professor Meguid’s teaching activities have been largely in geotechnical engineering and numerical modeling in geomechanics. In 2010, he received the Samuel and Ida Fromson Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Faculty of Engineering. He was also nominated by the Department for the Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2011.
Biography
Prior to his appointment at the UWA, Assoc/Prof Karrech was a Senior Research Scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation until July 2012. He had also held the position of Assistant professor at the Petroleum Institute of Abu Dhabi (2007-2009).
Assoc/Prof Karrech obtained his Habilitation to Direct Research in Engineering Sciences from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (Paris, France) in 2013, his PhD and MSc in Materials and Structures from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris, France) in 2007 and 2004, respectively, and his Multidisciplinary BEng from the Ecole Polytechnique de Tunisie (Tunisia) in 2001.
Assoc/Prof Karrech research expertise is in computational geo-mechanics for resource engineering applications.
Key research
Computational geomechanics (Finite Element Method, Discrete Element Method...)
Resource engineering (surface mining, in-situ leaching, enhanced oil recovery...)
Large transformations (finite strain/rotations, instabilities in materials and structures)
Non-equilibrium thermodynamics of natural materials
Phenomenological and upscaling based damage mechanics
Thermal-Hydraulic-Mechanical-Chemical Coupling
Dynamics and vibration
Granular materials
Composite materials
Homogenisation and overall effective media
Roles, responsibilities and expertise
• Research, teaching and academic service for the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering (CEME);
• Graduate Research Coordinator, School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering;
• Acting director of the Structures Laboratory (Feb. 2015- Jan. 2016).
Languages
Arabic, English, French, Italian
Memberships
• Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS);
• Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM);
• Mine Subsidence Technological Society (MSTS);
• Australasian Fluid and Thermal Engineering Society (AFTE);
• Australian Concrete Institute (ACI).
Current projects
• Associate Professor Ali Karrech 2016, 'Benign Recovery of Precious Metals from Deep Pristine Environments', ARC Discovery Projects.
• Professor Klaus Regenauer-Lieb, Doctor Christoph Schrank, Associate Professor Ali Karrech, Dr David-Alexandre Boutelier 2015, 'Finite Strain with Large Rotations - A New Hybrid Numerical Experimental Approach', University of New South Wales ex ARC Discovery Projects.
Pooria Ghadir is a Postdoctoral fellow in Civil Engineering at the University of Strathclyde, working on EPSRC funded project “An energy-free pump: nanoporous gels to passively lift subsurface water”. He has worked in Professor Akbar Javadi's research group on the "synthesizing environmentally-friendly binders from secondary resources" at the University of Exeter. He has published two prestigious national patents, twelve high-quality journal papers (SJR-Q1), and several conference papers. So far, his publications have been cited more than 750 times within four years.
He has also been working as the Research Director in the Geoenvironmental Engineering Laboratory since September 2017.
He has also been a member of several internationally sponsored/funded research project teams. Because of his keen interest and capability in performing mining and construction projects, he has started working as a project manager and senior engineer on many geotechnical and mining projects since 2011.
Pooria Ghadir has been known as a recognised committee member, reviewer, and guest editor in many leading international journals and seminars. Besides, he has been an active member of international professional societies and associations.
In 2021, Pooria Ghadir was awarded two highly competitive visiting fellow scholarships sponsored by the Australian Coal Industry's Research Program and the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran to work on a project titled "value-added products from mine tailings" under Professor Zhong Tao supervision in Australia.
In 2022, Pooria Ghadir was awarded a highly competitive visiting fellow scholarship on GeoRes Research Program “Geomaterials: from waste to resource” sponsored by European Union, Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 778120.