Key details
Dr Allin A Azarbakht
Course Leader for Construction Design and Build Technician CertHE, Construction Site Supervisor CertHE
Dr Azarbakht received his BSc and MSc degrees in Civil Engineering and Earthquake Engineering in 2000 and 2002. After his PhD graduation (with excellent honours) in civil and earthquake engineering from the International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES) in 2007, he joined Arak University in Iran as an assistant professor in Civil Engineering Department within the Engineering Faculty. He was promoted to associate professor in 2013 in the same department. During this period, he was involved in teaching, research and administrative activities, as well as industry-linked projects.
After 12 years working in Iran, in September 2019, he joined the University of Strathclyde as a Research Fellow working as the co-leader of work package 3 of the European H2020 TURNkey, a multidisciplinary project among 21 European partners aiming at increasing earthquake safety in Europe. This project was also an excellent opportunity for his communication skills, where he strengthened his abilities to listen, engage, liaise, exploit, and present complex technical information in an accessible way to a range of non-technical end-users/audiences.
He joined the University of Greenwich as a lecturer in the civil engineering portfolio in 2022 which allowed him to look for a new professional challenge and to broaden his horizons.
In terms of teaching and scholarship, he has more than 20 years of extensive teaching experience in Structural Analysis, Finite Element Method, Structural Design (Concrete, Steel and Masonry), Structural Dynamics, Earthquake Engineering and Seismic Hazard and Risk. Besides, he has a Fellowship in the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
He follows a supportive and responsive teaching scheme for his students by providing them with a wide variety of timely teaching materials, swiftly responding to their teaching demands and closely working with other colleagues, the student service team and student union representatives. His teaching approach is research-informed, industry-oriented, and project-based, focusing on enhancing students' research abilities and problem-solving skills. Besides, he uses adaptive, responsive, and progressive evaluation to assess students' performance and ensure that they meet the learning outcomes.
Dr Azarbakht's research interests consist of Resilient Modelling for Multi-Natural Hazards, Offshore Wind Turbine Structures, Structural Engineering, Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering, Artificial Intelligence in Engineering, Operational Earthquake Forecasting and Uncertainty Treatments in Engineering Problems. He has acted as the supervisor of more than 50 MSc theses, one PhD thesis, a co-supervisor of four PhD theses, a co-advisor of an EPSRC Vacation Intern, and an advisor of an MSc intern at the University of Grenoble. Besides, he is keen to consider self-funded PhD proposals through the University of Greenwich admission.
Responsibilities within the university
Program Leader for ‘Construction Design and Build Technician CertHE’ and ‘Construction Site Supervisor CertHE’ in the civil engineering portfolio at the University of Greenwich, teaching several modules consisting of ‘Finite Elements in Civil Engineering’, ‘Engineering Analysis and Applications’, ‘Structural Design’, ‘Design of Concrete Structures’ and ‘Analysis and Design for Seismic Actions’. He is also a project supervisor for several undergraduate final projects as well as graduate students' research projects and personal tutor for a group of more than 35 students.
Awards
Best Young Researcher by the Iranian Association of Earthquake Engineering in 2009.
Best Researcher in the civil engineering department at Arak University in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Best Teacher in the civil engineering department at Arak University in 2010 and 2014.
Recognition
- Member of Iranian association of earthquake engineering, since 2011.
- Chartered Civil Engineer at Tehran Construction Engineering Organisation, since 2003.
- Official Judiciary Expert in Building discipline in Iran, since 2013.
Research / Scholarly interests
Resilient modelling for multi-natural hazards, Offshore wind turbine structures, Structural engineering, Performance-based earthquake engineering, Artificial intelligence in engineering, Operational earthquake forecasting, Uncertainty treatments in engineering problems.
Key funded projects
Co-leader of work package 3 of the European ‘TURNkey’ project (H2020 – SC5 – 2018 – 2 call (action RIA – Research Innovation Action)) titled: “Towards more Earthquake-resilient Urban Societies through a Multi-sensor-based Information System enabling Earthquake Forecasting, Early Warning and Rapid Response actions” running from 2019 to 2022 [~€8m].
It addressed the topics of Operational Earthquake Forecasting (OEF), also called time-dependent hazard assessment, as well as of Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) and Rapid Response Actions (RRA) and their use, both in real-time (during an event) and in near real-time when rapidly responding to earthquake impacts.
The focus of TURNkey was to close the gap between theoretical systems and their practical application in Europe in order to improve seismic resilience before, during and after a damaging earthquake. I closely worked/cooperated with several European partners including:
The University of Strathclyde (UK), NORSAR (Norway), French Geological Survey (BRGM-France), European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC-France), EUCentre (Italy), University of Alicante (Spain), Anglia Ruskin University (UK), University of Bergamo (Italy), Institutul Naţional de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Fizica Pământului (Romania), National Observatory of Athens (Greece), and The University of Naples Federico II (Italy).