Visiting Scholars

Asghar AmaniDashlejeh

Dr. Asghar AmaniDashlejeh is an Assistant Professor at the University of Mohaghegh Ardabil, Iran. Asghar achieved his Ph.D. in Structural Civil Engineering from Tarbiat Modares University, Iran. He has been working on timber structures as a Visiting Professor since 2021 at UBC. His research focuses on the development of an analytical model for hybrid steel-timber connections that are tested by the UBC SESSL group.

Yuji Miyazu

Dr. Yuji Miyazu is an Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Science, Japan. Yuji achieved his Ph.D. in Engineering from Waseda University, Japan. His research aims to evaluate and upgrade the seismic performance of timber buildings. Current research themes are the identification of vibration properties, development of energy dissipation devices and base isolation systems, and optimization of vibration control structural systems for timber buildings.

PhD Students

David Owolabi

David Owolabi is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in timber engineering in the Department of Wood Science and a foundational member of the UBC SESSL headed by Dr. Cristiano Loss. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria, and a master’s degree in sustainable civil and structural engineering from the University of Liverpool, UK. During his master’s program, funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, he developed a fascination for sustainable technologies in the built environment, particularly in the use of timber for construction. This steered him to proceed with a doctoral program in this field. His current research focuses on the development of equations and guidelines for the vibration design of steel-CLT composite floors.

Blériot Feujofack

Blériot Feujofack is a Ph.D. candidate in Timber Engineering in the Department of Wood Science and member of the UBC Sustainable Engineered Structural Solutions Laboratory. Blériot’s current research focus is on developing a resilient and reliable wood-damage-free connection technology for mass-timber panels in multi-storey buildings. Prior to developing an interest in timber structures, he studied both Civil and Mechanical Engineering and holds a M.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Quebec, as well as an Engineering Master and a Bachelor—both in Civil Engineering.

Yue (Rachel) Diao

Yue (Rachel) Diao is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. She obtained her B.E. and M.Sc at Beijing Forestry University (BFU). In 2015, she had been a visiting student at UBC, holding the Visiting Student Scholarship from China Scholarship Council (CSC) and the BFU scholarship for Outstanding Student in Liangxi Experimental Class. She was awarded the Doctoral Scholarship from CSC in 2020 to pursue her Ph.D. degree at UBC. Her field of interest is timber engineering, focusing on the development of innovative sustainable connection solutions for composite structural components in mass timber constructions.

Mohammad Shekarchi

Mohammad is a first-year Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada and member of the UBC Sustainable Engineered Structural Solutions Laboratory. Prior to joining SESS Laboratory, he completed a master’s in Earthquake Engineering (Civil Engineering) at Sharif University of Technology and published several papers in the field of timber structures. His research interests include timber-steel hybrid structures, FRP strengthening of timber elements, CLT constructions, and seismic behavior of composite structures. His Ph.D. research mainly focuses on the in-plane behavior of hybrid steel–cross-laminated timber floor diaphragms. It is anticipated that some guidelines and design equations are derived from the findings of this research study helping engineers employ this innovative hybrid steel-timber floor system efficiently and safely.

Mohammad Kamalinejad

Mohammad Kamalinejad is a first-year Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada, and a UBC Sustainable Engineered Structural Solutions Laboratory member. Prior to joining SESS Laboratory, he completed a Ph.D. in Structure Engineering (Civil Engineering) at the Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University (SRTTU), Tehran, Iran. He has also published several papers concerning creating, improving, and utilizing optimization algorithms in structures inspired by physical and natural rules. As a researcher, he is interested in employing the performance-based design approach to achieve optimal and safe high-rise buildings subjected to seismic hazards. He is fascinated by modern materials and methods to find optimal, reliable, and feasible solutions for timber high-rise buildings using eco-friendly approaches. His research interests include the optimal performance-based design of various structural systems, including timber-steel hybrid and mass-timber structures, rehabilitation of damaged timber elements and structures, CLT constructions, and seismic behaviour of composite structures. He reckons that the timber structure design consists of solving an optimization Np-hard multi-objective problem including uncertainties in the environment and solids mechanics variables. It is predicted some methods and regulations will be derived from this research to efficiently help engineers achieve the optimal and reliable design solutions for timber high-rise buildings subjected to lateral and gravity loads.

Master Students

Arezoo Rezai Sabzevar

Arezoo Rezai Sabzevar is a third-year Master’s Student in timber engineering in the Department of Wood Science and a foundational member of the UBC SESS Laboratory headed by Dr. Cristiano Loss. She had a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Iran University of Science and Technology located in Tehran, Iran. Her current research focuses on understanding the impact of moisture on the vertical displacement of mass timber buildings. UBC Brock Commons Tallwood House, the tallest hybrid mass-timber structure in North America, has been selected as a case study for this research.

Aly Al Samouly

Aly Al Samouly is a M.A.Sc. candidate at the Department of Wood Science at the University of British Columbia. Aly obtained a Bachelor of Engineering from McMaster University and worked in engineering consulting prior to joining Dr. Cristiano Loss’s research team. His research focuses on the development of a hybrid steel-timber seismic force-resisting system for tall mass timber structures. In his free time, he enjoys watching and playing soccer, hiking, and travelling around the world.

Ehsan Ferdosi

Ehsan Ferdosi is a second-year master of applied science student and a research assistant at UBC SESS Laboratory. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Isfahan, Iran, and a master’s degree in structural engineering from the Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Iran. Ehsan studies the seismic resilience of high-rise timber structures. In this research, he focuses on utilizing probabilistic methods to estimate the downtime of high-rise structures made of heavy timber materials after a seismic event. His research is supervised by Dr. Cristiano Loss and Dr. Carlos Ventura from the civil engineering department.

Visiting Students

Camilla Burigo

Camilla Burigo is a Visiting International Research Student (VIRS) at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. After receiving her Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering at the University of Trento in Italy, she’s attending the Master in Civil Engineering in the same University. Now she’s been working to accomplish her Master’s thesis research under the supervision of Dr. Cristiano Loss and Prof. Ivan Giongo. The aim of her research is studying the long-term performance of Steel-Timber Composite (STC) floors.