Dr Agathoklis Giaralis

Overview

Dr Agathoklis Giaralis graduated with a 5-year Diploma in Structural Engineering from the Department of Civil Engineering of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki-Greece in July, 2003. He subsequently received from the same Department an MSc in Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures in August, 2004. In the same year, he enrolled in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Rice University, Houston, TX-USA, to pursue PhD studies partly funded by a Fulbright Exchange Student Program. He graduated with a PhD in Civil Engineering from Rice University in May 2008 and then served for a year as a lecturer at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and as a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Rice University. In September 2009, he joined the School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at City University London. As of August 2012, he serves as a Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering at City University London.

Dr Giaralis is leading the Smart Structures and Structural Health Monitoring Research Unit within the Department of Civil Engineering focusing on nonlinear stochastic dynamics approaches and on time-frequency signal analysis techniques for eathquake engineering, seismic structural design and assessment, structural health monitoring, and passive vibration control applications. Recent contributions include inerter-based vibration control configurations, compressive/sub-Nyquist data acquisition and processing for low-power wireless sensors in output-only vibrations-based health monitoring, and assessment and decision-making methodologies for civil infrastructure under uncertainty.

In terms of teaching duties, he is lecturing on Structural Dynamics, on Earthquake Engineering, and on Classical and Matrix methods in Structural Analysis modules at undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

Qualifications

• PhD Civil & Environmental Engineering, Rice University, United States, 2008
• MSc in Seismic Design of Structures, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2004
• Ptychion (5 yr Greek Diploma) Civil/Structural Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2003

Employment

• Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering, City, University of London, United Kingdom, August 2012 - present
• Lecturer in Structural Engineering, City, University of London, United Kingdom, September 2009 - July 2012
• Lecturer, Rice University, United States, August - December 2008
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Rice University, United States, May 2008 - August 2009
• Research Associate, Rice University, United States, August 2004 - May 2008

Fellowships

• Higher Education Academy, UK, September 2012 - present

Memberships of professional organisations

• American Association of Civil Engineers (ASCE), December 2012 - present
• Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics (SECED), September 2010 - present
• Chi Epsilon (National Civil Engineering Society, USA), September 2008 - present
• Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), December 2004 - present
• Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), December 2004 - present
• Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE-TCG) - Chartered Engineer, November 2003 - present

Languages

French (can read, write, speak, understand spoken) and Greek, Modern (1453-) (can read, write, speak, understand spoken, peer review)

Stochastic representation and simulation of dynamic loads in wind, wave, and earthquake engineering; Derivation of seismic response spectrum compatible non-stationary stichastic processes and artificial accelerograms using wavelet-based response spectrum matching techniques

Time-frequency signal analysis techniques in structural dynamics and health monitoring/damage detection applications including wavelet analysis, time-frequency atoms decomposition and empirical mode decomposition.

Applications of compressive sensing techniques for vibration-based structural health monitoring and damage detection applications of civil engineering structures using wireless sensor networks

Stochastic dynamics approaches for seismic design and assessment of nonlinear structural systems with emphasis on statistical linearization methodology

Novel passive structural vibration control solutions and optimum design for wind and earthquake engineering applications based on tuned-mass-dampers and on mass-amplification devices

Seismic design and assessment of special civil infrastructure accounting for input and system uncertainty

Research Expertise

-Optimal design of lightweight dynamic vibration absorbers for low embodied CO2 and resilient civil engineering structures to wind and earthquake excitations

-Sparse and wavelet-based signal acquisition, modelling, analysis, processing, and simulation for structural system identification, structural damage detection, and wind & earthquake engineering applications

-Stochastic dynamics and Monte Carlo simulation approaches for performance-based design and assessment of structures under wind & earthquake hazards accounting for excitation and system uncertainties

Current Research Interests

- Optimal design of minimal-weight low embodied CO2 civil engineering structures using adaptive inerter-based vibration absorbers for resilience to wind and earthquake excitations under changing climate and performance requirements
-Inerter-based motion control of offshore wind turbines on fixed and floating foundations for CAPEX reduction and renewable energy production maximization
-Dynamic energy harvesting and compressive sensing data acquisition & transmission supporting energy-autonomous wireless sensor networks for sustainable monitoring of civil engineering structures and infrastructure
-Characterization of non-stationary ground motion frequency content in performance-based seismic risk assessment and design of structures using wavelet transform-based signal analysis metrics
-Digital twinning and machine learning techniques in wind engineering applications

Selection of Research Grants

10/2021-08/2023: Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) "Machine learning-based optimal design for wind human comfort in urban environments through wind-building-landscape interaction" PI: Dr Giaralis; Funder: Innovate UK and AKTII Ltd; Value: £244,734

10/2019-09/2023: University Studentship "Optimal design of non-linear inerter-based motion control for vibration suppression and energy harvesting" PI: Dr Giaralis; Funder: City, University of London; Value: £66,000

01/2018-07/2018 and 01/2019-07/2019: Knowledge Exchange and Impact Fund x 2 "The tuned mass damper inerter for irregular tall buildings under wind and earthquake excitations" PI: Dr Giaralis; Funder: City, University of London; Value: £18,000

01/2015-09/2017: Big Pitch- Bright Ideas Call "Multi-objective performance-based design of tall buildings using energy harvesting enabled tuned mass-damper-inerter (TMDI) devices" PI: Dr Giaralis; Funder: EPSRC; Value: £309,812

10/2013-09/2016: University Studentship "Compressive techniques for sub-Nyquist data acquisition and processing in vibration-based structural health monitoring of engineering structures" PI: Dr Giaralis; Funder: EPSRC; Value: £63,000

09/2013-04/2015: First Grant Scheme Compressive sensing for wireless vibration-based structural health monitoring of civil structures" City, University of London; Value: £124,942

10/2011-09/2014: University Studentship "The tuned mass damper inerter for passive vibration control and energy harvesting in dynamically excited structural systems" PI: Dr Giaralis; Funder: City, University of London; Value: £60,000

Research students

Publications by category