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Our research

Meet our research team

Academic staff | Postgraduate researchers

James Brownjohn

Professor of Structural Dynamics

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My research expertise includes:

vibration serviceability
structural health monitoring (SHM)
system identification
human biomechanics
wind engineering
measuring and evaluating the performance of structures at full scale, including deformation and extreme loads
ambient vibration testing and operational modal analysis using minimal portable equipment, including calibrated humans

Alex Pavic

Professor of Vibration Engineering

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My research expertise includes:

vibration serviceability - looking at how large structures vibrate in day to day usage
human comfort when using structures and buildings
slender civil engineering structures, such as long-span floors, footbridges and grandstands, which are occupied and dynamically excited by humans
human-induced dynamic forces applied on human musculo-skeletal systems

Paul Reynolds

Professor of Structural Dynamics and Control and EPSRC Leadership Fellow

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My research expertise includes:

vibration serviceability, specifically control and mitigation of vibrations using technology
building structures that use fewer materials but still perform well. We can use VSimulators to explore those limits in a more rigorous and in depth manner.
dynamic testing and monitoring - I have tested a number of UK sports stadia and examined solutions to the London Millennium Bridge problem.

Prakash Kripakaran

Senior Lecturer

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My research expertise includes:

Data analytics for structural health monitoring
Machine learning and statistical techniques for anomaly detection
Model updating, system identification and uncertainty propagation
Bridge scour assessment and monitoring
Evaluation of debris impact forces on bridge structures
Numerical and experimental characterisation of drag and lift forces on bridge piers and decks”

Ki Young Koo

Lecturer

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My research expertise includes:

structural health monitoring (SHM)
civionics: wireless sensors for field measurements of civil infrastructures
machine learning for structural health monitoring
structural degradation detection and quantification
finite element model updating
system identification

Stana Zivanovic

Associate Professor

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My research expertise includes:

human motion analysis
human response to vibration and other perturbations in built environment
human-structure and human-human interaction and synchronisation
vibration serviceability assessment
dynamics of lightweight (e.g. fibre-reinforced polymer and aluminium) structures and human-structure systems

James Bassitt

Senior Experimental Officer and Laboratory Manager

Emma Hudson

Senior Consultant (Full Scale Dynamics Ltd)

Katy Manning

Administrator

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I act as a research coordinator for VES, providing administrative, logistical, and communications support to the professors, other staff and PHD students.

This includes planning, scheduling and organising strategic and operational group meetings, conferences, events and collaborations with national and international partners in academia and industry.

In addition, I support research projects including VSimulators, a new EPSRC funded research facility that will be available for academic and commercial use from summer 2019.

Julie Lewis-Thompson

Commercial Manager (VSimulators) and Impact and Partnership Development Manager (Civil Engineering and Infrastructure)

I am the Commercial Manager for VSimulators, two multi-million pound innovative research facilities at the Universities of Bath and Exeter. This facility will enable cutting edge multi-disciplinary research involving human factors analysis, enabling creative innovations from the design of buildings through to testing immersive experiences for large audiences.

Additionally I work with academics and aligned industries to facilitate and promote the development of research in Civil Engineering, Construction and Infrastructure.

I provide project management support to develop and run research projects, focused on facilitating inter-disciplinary collaborative team based research to encourage an innovative mind-set and promote commercial exploitation.

Adam Brownjohn

VR/Lab Technician

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My role involves me working within the Structures Lab, providing general assistance with projects, from helping to build field apparatus to various metal related work such as welding.

Alongside my role in the lab, my main responsibilities are related to our state of the art virtual reality kit, including working within 3D modelling software and the Unity game engine to create environments suitable for testing purposes. Determining the impact of human factors in work environments and medical science work such as rehabilitation are just some of the ways in which virtual environments can benefit science and technology.

Zhu Qian-kun

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Dr. Zhu Qian-kun is an Associate Professor at Lanzhou University of Technology. He is currently an academic visitor in VES, funded by the China Scholarship Council, and collaborating with Professor Stana Zivanovic.

His current research interests are human-structure interactions and structural fatigue analysis, which have been supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China grants entitled " Study on nonlinear dynamic interaction of the crowd- large span isolation floor based on the social force model " (2016-2018), “Research on Time-varying Dynamic Characteristics and Adaptive Vibration Control of Crowd-Large Span Beam and Slab Structure Coupling System” (2017-2020) and “Research on the performance of random vibration fatigue of cable supported footbridges considering the crowd-structure-environment coupled effect”(2019-2022).

Qian-kun received his undergraduate degree in Engineering Mechanics from Central South University in 2005. He later completed his Masters (2008) and PhD (2011) in structural engineering at Lanzhou University of Technology. He then worked as a post-doctoral researcher under the supervision of Prof Li Hong-nan at Dalian University of Technology（2013-2016）.

Atheer Al-Anbaki

EMPS Visiting Scholar

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Atheer joined the University of Exeter in 2014 to pursue a PhD under the supervision of Prof Aleksandar Pavic, which he successfully completed in 2018. Atheer is now an EMPS Visiting Scholar, working remotely from Iraq, where he holds a full-time Lecturer position at the University of Anbar.

His main research interests are in the field of vibration serviceability of civil structures, including

vibration serviceability of building floors, such as lightweight and ultra-lightweight floors
human-induced dynamic forces
dynamic testing and structural modelling of full-scale civil structures (e.g. building floors, grandstands, and footbridges)
footfall excitation of slender civil structures

Academic staff list

Name	Research expertise
James Brownjohn Professor of Structural Dynamics	vibration serviceability structural health monitoring (SHM) system identification human biomechanics wind engineering measuring and evaluating the performance of structures at full scale ambient vibration testing and operational modal analysis using minimal portable equipment
Alex Pavic Professor of Vibration Engineering	vibration serviceability human comfort when using structures and buildings slender civil engineering structures such as long-span floors, footbridges and grandstands human-induced dynamic forces applied on human musculo-skeletal systems
Paul Reynolds Professor of Structural Dynamics and Control and EPSRC Leadership Fellow	vibration serviceability, specifically control and mitigation of vibrations using technology building structures that use fewer materials but still perform well dynamic testing and monitoring
Stana Zivanovic Associate Professor	human motion analysis human response to vibration and other perturbations in built environment human-structure and human-human interaction and synchronisation vibration serviceability assessment dynamics of lightweight (e.g. fibre-reinforced polymer and aluminium) structures and human-structure systems
Prakash Kripakaran Senior Lecturer	data analytics for structural health monitoring machine learning and statistical techniques for anomaly detection model updating, system identification and uncertainty propagation bridge scour assessment and monitoring evaluation of debris impact forces on bridge structures numerical and experimental characterisation of drag and lift forces on bridge piers and decks
Ki Young Koo Lecturer	structural health monitoring (SHM) civionics: wireless sensors for field measurements of civil infrastructures machine learning for structural health monitoring structural degradation detection and quantification finite element model updating system identification

Postgraduate researchers in VES

Researcher	Research area
Mr Atheer Al-Anbaki	Vibration serviceability of lightweight floors
Mr Jose Capilla	Designing dynamic issues in high guyed masts
Ms Karen Faulkner	Quantifying the resilience of the built environment to extreme weather events, through direct field measurements of environmental conditions and structural impacts
Mr Márcio Santos Goncalves	Realistic modelling of floors and walking loads towards optimal vibration serviceability
Mr Farhad Huseynov	Development of bridge condition assessment methodologies using rotation measurements
Mr Jalil Kwad	Assessment and management of civil infrastructure systems such as steel bridges, novel composites materials in civil engineering and construction
Mr Ahmed Mohammed	Using a probabilistic approach for vibration serviceability assessment of civil structures due to multiple-pedestrian loading
Mr Zandy Muhammad	A unified approach to vibration serviceability assessment of floors
Mr Mubarak Patel	Monitoring human motion using wearable sensors to reduce risk of trips and falls
Mr Jorge Perez-Aracil	Control and isolation of low level vibration in civil engineering structures
Ms Ying Wang	System identification of telecoms masts
Ms Yan Xu	Remote sensing and non-contacting bridge assessment

Interested in a PhD with VES?

Our PhD students have access to the UK’s most advanced facilities and training in vibration testing, analysis and control

You will be supported by supervisors at the forefront of their field, work on industry-led projects and network with global engineering consultancy companies.

We are always keen to hear from candidates with a PhD project idea related to one of our areas of expertise.