Team
Dr. Serhan Guner, Ph.D., P.Eng. Dr. Guner’s research is focused on creating more resilient and sustainable structures to mitigate the impacts of natural hazards such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes. More specific research interests include:
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CURRENT STUDENTS
Rafael de Amorim Salgado Ph.D. Candidate (2015/8 – Present) Contact: rafael.desalgado@gmail.com Rafael de Amorim Salgado is a Ph.D. student at the University of Toledo. He is a former undergraduate student of the Federal University of Espirito Santo, Brazil. His current research at Toledo is focused on understanding and modeling the response of concrete frame buildings subjected to earthquake and tsunami multi-hazards using a probabilistic approach. |
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Salim Khoso, M.Sc. Ph.D. Candidate (2016/8 – present) |
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Conrado Praxedes Silva Neto, M.Sc. Ph.D. Candidate (2015/5 – present) Contact: neto_conrado@hotmail.com Conrado is a Ph.D. candidate at Ryerson University, advised by Dr. Yuan and Dr. Guner. He completed his undergraduate studies at the State University of São Paulo in Brazil where he studied structural modeling with ANSYS. His MSc thesis, at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, was on the discrete modeling based on the fracture mechanics as applied to structural concrete. At Ryerson, his research is focused on probabilistic progressive collapse analysis and structural robustness. He is currently completing his studies and composing journal and conference papers to disseminate the research results. He is holding a Brazilian Science without Borders Scholarship to support his studies. |
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Renaud Franssen |
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Anish Sharma MS Candidate (2018/1 – Present) Contact: sharma.anish453@gmail.com Anish Sharma is a graduate student at the University of Toledo. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering in the Paschimanchal Campus of the Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He has worked on the analysis and design of multistory concrete buildings in his undergraduate studies, and as Civil Engineer for two years in design and construction of concrete bridges and one year in the field of earthquake resistant design and retrofitting for the Government of Nepal. His current research is focused on developing a finite element analysis technique for the load rating of deep concrete beams and foundations. His studies are funded by ODOT. |
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Sundar Chiluwal MS Candidate (2018/1 - 2019/12) Contact: sundar.chiluwal@rockets.utoledo.edu Sundar is a graduate student at the University of Toledo. He received his Bachelor's degree from the Pulchowk Campus of the Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He has completed a capstone project on the seismic design of a multistory concrete building. He is interested in understanding and modeling the response of concrete structures subjected to lateral cyclic loads including earthquake and wind loads. His current research is focused on advancing the understanding of the response and failure modes of helical pile-to-footing connections, and creating an analysis methodology to advance the current design methods. His studies are funded by Deep Foundation Institute. |
FORMER STUDENTS
Pappu Baniya MS Candidate (2017/1 - 2019/12) Contact: Pappu.Baniya@rockets.utoledo.edu Pappu Baniya completed his Undergraduate from Pulchowk Campus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal and is now pursuing his MS Degree at the University of Toledo. He has worked on Seismic Design and Analysis of High Rise Building during his undergraduate studies. He worked as a Civil Engineer for one year in the field of Earthquake Resistant Design and Construction for Ministry of Nepal. His research interest includes non-linear analysis of structures, earthquake engineering, deep beams and bridge engineering. His current research is focused on understanding the behavior and capacity of deep bridge piers using strut-and-tie models. His studies are funded by ODOT. |
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Jian Liu Ph.D. Candidate (2016/5 - 2019/8) Contact: j.liu@ulg.ac.be Jian Liu is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Liège, Belgium, working with Prof. Boyan Mihaylov. Her Ph.D. work is focused on establishing a macro element for the prediction of the shear behavior of reinforced concrete deep beams. This macro element seeks to combine computational efficiency and accuracy. She joined Dr. Guner’s research group during summer 2016 to conduct a feasibility study for creating a mixed-type finite element platform for modeling slender and deep beams with a single model. She is currently completing her studies and composing journal and conference papers to disseminate the research findings. Her studies are funded by an external research agency. |
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Salvio Aragão Almeida Júnior MS Candidate (2017/8 – 2019/8) Contact: salvio_almeida@hotmail.com Sálvio is a graduate student at the University of Toledo. He graduated in civil engineering from the Federal University of Sergipe. He conducted research on optimization algorithms for inversion of stiffness matrices and formulated a Timoshenko stiffness matrix for beams, as an exchange student at the University of Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. Guner. His current research is focused on creating hurricane-resilient connections for non-structural elements. |
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Abdullah Haroon MS Candidate (2017/8 – 2019/5) Contact: abdullah.haroon@rockets.utoledo.com Abdullah is a graduate student at the University of Toledo. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Aligarh Muslim University, India, in 2017. As a part of his undergrad dissertation, he analyzed the dynamic response of an Intze tank subjected to an earthquake loading. His research interests include finite element analysis, structural dynamics, fatigue analysis and metal corrosion. His current research is focused on understanding and modeling the fatigue fracture behavior in aluminum trusses subjected to combined wind and thermal loads. His studies are funded by ODOT. |
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Abraham Bahre MS (2016/9 – 2018/5) Contact: abraham.bahre@rockets.utoledo.edu Abraham Bahre completed his undergraduate studies at the Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara, Eritrea. He worked on the structural Design of a hotel during his undergraduate studies. Abraham's MS studies focused on nonlinear numerical modeling to predict the failure modes of moderate aspect-ratio RC walls. He studied how shear effects reduce the flexural capacity, stiffness and ductility of the moderate aspect-ratio RC walls. |
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Zhangcheng (Ryan) Pan MASc (2014/9 – 2016/11) Contact: ryan.pan@mail.utoronto.ca Ryan was a MASc candidate at the University of Toronto. He received his Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto. The objective of his studies was to formulate a micro model to capture the nonlinear behavior and failure modes of beam-column joints. This model was integrated into the VecTor5 analysis procedure to allow for more accurate analysis of reinforced concrete frames. He held an Ontario Graduate Scholarship to support his studies. |
COLLABORATORS
Yildir Akkaya, Ph.D. Research Assistant Contact: akkayayil@itu.edu.tr Dr. Akkaya is a Research Assistant in the Department of Civil Engineering at Istanbul Technical University, Turkey. He completed his post-doctoral studies at the University of Toronto, in which he created a numerical model (called RDM) to simulate the inelastic buckling behavior of reinforcing bars in compression. The RDM model provides improvements over existing models by providing more accurate results over a larger applicability range. The open-access computer code of the RDM model and the VecTor5 software (including the RDM formulations) are provided online for the use of researchers and practitioners. This study was funded by Tubitak Bursary 2219. |
CURRENT STUDENTS
Andrew Coffman Summer Research Intern (2019/5 - present) Contact: andrewcoffman679@gmail.com Andrew Coffman is an undergraduate student at the University of Toledo, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. His research involves the creation of a calculation procedure and associated computer code for the performance prediction of structural connections using neural networks for hurricane resilience. |
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Shivani Gandage |
FORMER STUDENTS
Hatim Alattas Summer Intern (2018/6 – 2018/9) Contact: alattas96@outlook.com Hatim Alattas is an undergraduate student at the University of Jeddah, where he studies Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research focuses on modeling axially-loaded circular columns subjected to lateral impact loads due to accidental ship collisions. He verified the developed computer models using experimental results available in the literature. Dr. Wei FAN from the Hunan University provided guidance during this study. Hatim's studies are funded by the Mitacs Globalink program. |
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Vitor Moraes da Cruz Summer Research Assistant (2016/5 – 2016/8) Contact: vitordacruz_600@hotmail.com Vitor Cruz is an undergraduate exchange student from Brazil, majoring in Civil Engineering at the Universidade Federal de Sao Joao Del-Rei, in Brazil. He attended two semesters at the University of Nevada, Reno under the Brazilian Scientific Mobility Program. His research at the University of Toledo is related to modeling and analyzing concrete structures using in-house nonlinear analysis platform VecTor5. The main research finding sought is a more effective way of modeling concrete building structures subjected to earthquakes. His studies are funded by the Institute of International Education. |
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Roger Lemos Decarli Summer Research Assistant (2016/5 – 2016/8) Contact: roger.l.decarli@hotmail.com Roger Decarli is an undergraduate student at Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo, major in Mechanical Engineering. He attended two semesters at the University of Arizona as part of the Brazillian Scientific Mobility Program. His research at the University of Toledo focuses on the creation of a new, faster solution and inversion subroutine using the Fortran language to increase the efficiency of the nonlinear analysis platform VecTor5. His studies are funded by the Institute of International Education. |
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Daniela dos Santos Lourenço Summer Research Assistant (2016/5 – 2016/8) Contact: lourencodaniela.s@gmail.com Daniela is an undergraduate student majoring in Computer Engineering at the CEFET-MG, a Brazilian institution specialized in Engineering and Technology. She attended two semesters at the Pacific Lutheran University as an exchange student funded by the Science Without Borders Program. Her summer research at The University of Toledo focuses on improving Janus, a graphical damage visualization software, using C++ language and the OpenGL graphics system. Her studies are funded by the Institute of International Education. |
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Lucas Assis Rodrigues Summer Research Assistant (2016/5 – 2016/8) Contact: lucas.assis.ro@gmail.com Lucas is a student seeking the major of Computer Engineering at the Universidade Federal de Itajubá, a federal university in Brazil. He attended two semesters at the University of Texas at El Paso as an exchange student under the Brazilian Scientific Mobility Program. His research at the University of Toledo is about establishing new functionalities on a graphical damage visualization program, Janus, using C++ language with the MFC framework and OpenGL libraries. His studies are funded by the Institute of International Education. |
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Chu Peng Summer Research Assistant (2016/6 – present) Contact: peng.chu@mail.scut.edu.cn Chu majors in Civil Engineering at the South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. His research focuses on finding a more efficient way of modeling building structures using the platform VecTor5. He modeled 12 beams and 10 frame structures subjected to static, cyclic, reversed-cyclic and dynamic loads. He edited User Bulletins 1 and 2, and created the User Bulletin 5: Determination of Material Properties. He also composed a journal paper for the non-linear finite element analysis of frames. His studies are funded by the Mitacs Globalink program. |
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Ethaniel Peng |
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Kyle A. Blosser |
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Markus Jesswein Summer Research Assistant (2015/5 – 2015/8) Contact: markus.jesswein@ryerson.ca Markus is attending Ryerson University for his Bachelor’s of Civil Engineering. His summer research focuses on the nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete beams and frames. Markus enjoys combining math and science to solve problems, and he appreciates the capability and accuracy of computers to analyze the behavior of structures. In the future, Markus plans to pursue graduate studies and aid the development and innovation of structures that will benefit society. His summer research has been supported by the Ryerson University Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science Dean’s Research Fund. He published a poster in the ACI Spring 2016 convention in Milwaukee, WI. |
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Salvio Aragão Almeida Júnior Summer Research Assistant (2015/5 – 2015/8) Contact: salvio.aragaoalmeidajunior@mail.utoronto.ca Salvio is an undergraduate civil engineering exchange student at the University of Toronto. He has a great interest in structural engineering, including numerical modeling, nonlinear structural analysis, and seismic effects. His research focuses on the creation of solution algorithms for the nonlinear analysis of frames. His studies in Toronto are funded by the Science without Borders program. |
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Agneya Sunil Loya Summer Research Assistant (2015/5 – 2015/8) Contact: agneya1994@gmail.com Agneya studies Civil Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India. He is an exchange research intern at Ryerson University. His research focuses on the advancement of the graphical pre-processor software Janus using the object-oriented C++ language. His studies at Ryerson are funded by the Mitacs Globalink program. |
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Rafael de Amorim Salgado Summer Research Assistant (2014/5 - 2014/8) Contact: rafael.desalgado@gmail.com Rafael de Amorim Salgado is a former undergraduate student of the Federal University of Espirito Santo, Brazil. In 2014, he attended Queen’s University and Ryerson University as an exchange student for the Science Without Borders program. During this time, he created Excel spreadsheets for the modeling of circular and rectangular sections. He also composed documents to illustrate the coding process and the calculation of the unsupported length ratio for modeling reinforcing bar buckling. His studies are funded by the Science without Borders program. |
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Harley Francisco Viana Summer Research Assistant (2014/5 – 2014/8) Contact: harley-viana@hotmail.com Harley Francisco Viana is an undergraduate student at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He attended Ryerson University in 2014 as an exchange student of the Science Without Borders Program. His research placement was focused on nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete structures subjected to static loads using VecTor5. In addition, he prepared two technical bulletins to describe the steps for performing a beam and a frame modeling with VecTor5. This study was funded by the Science without Border program. His studies are funded by the Science without Borders program. |