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Simos Gerasimidis, Ph.D.

Dr. Gerasimidis received his five-year Diploma in Civil Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece (2005), his M.Eng. degree from MIT, USA (2006) and his Ph.D. degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece (2011). He then worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist at Columbia University, in the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics (2011-2015). In September 2015, he started his academic career by joining the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Our research group is primarily interested in the areas of computational and experimental engineering mechanics for analysis, development and assessment of structural systems. Specific theoretical research themes include architected truss or plate/shell lattice metamaterials, universal features of stability of thin shells including energy barrier methods for the prediction of their capacity, imperfection insensitive thin shells as well as the response of structures under the presence of damage.
 

Additional research endeavors with diverse applications include harnessing architected lattice metamaterials for a new class of concrete structures and advanced wastewater treatment facilities, the experimental and computational assessment of deteriorated bridge structures, the development of methods to predict the capacity of aged bridges, the development of new additive repair methods (metal 3D printing) to increase the lifetime of old bridges, the response of materials under fire as well as analytical methods to assess the progressive collapse resistance of structural systems under extreme events.

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Dr. Gerasimidis has published more than 100 technical papers in peer-reviewed international Journals and Conference Proceedings. He is the recipient of the NSF CAREER award (2021) and the Greek Diaspora Fellowship from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation as one of 21 Greek-born scholars across the USA.  He is a member of several committees of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Structural Stability Research Council (SSRC). He is a member of the Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI), the ASCE and the SSRC and a Registered (Licensed/Chartered) Professional Civil Engineer in Greece.

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His 5-year professional experience as a structural engineer started from his year at Santiago Calatrava SA working for the Olympic Complex in Athens which included landmark, large-scale infrastructure projects such as the Olympic Stadium Steel Roof Structure. After his graduate studies at MIT, he worked for Thornton Tomasetti Inc. in New York for the design/supervision of the new New York Yankees Stadium in the Bronx and the conceptual design of the Chicago Spire. Lastly, as a licensed professional structural engineer during his PhD studies at Thessaloniki, Greece, Dr. Gerasimidis was in charge of the design of important projects such as a steel footbridge in one of the most important Byzantine monuments of the world, the Thessaloniki Rotunda.

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Post-doctoral Researchers
Sara Daneshvar

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  • LiDar

  • Corroded steel bridges

  • Experimental testing

  • Point cloud processing

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George Tzortzinis

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  • LiDar

  • Corroded steel bridges

  • Experimental testing

  • Point cloud processing

  • Machine learning for civil infrastructure

PhD Students

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Aidan Provost

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  • Corroded steel bridges

  • Experimental testing

  • Finite element modeling of steel bridges

  • Laser Scanning of bridges

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Thomas Vitalis

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  • Additive manufacturing

  • Architected materials

  • Auxetic materials

  • Composite materials

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James Viglas

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  • Effect of fire on concrete structures

  • Experimental testing

  • High heat testing

MS Students

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Kevin Brooks

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  • BIM technology for infrastructure

  • Digitalizaation of infrastructure

Undergraduate Students

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Alanna Joachim

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  • Architected materials

  • Structural art

Group Alumni

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Zoe Sloane: MS 2022, Euplectella Aspergillum’s Natural Lattice Structure for Structural Design & Stability Landscape of Thin Cylindrical Shells with Dimple Imperfections.

Current Position: Structural Engineer SGH.

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Peijun Hou: Postdoc 2021, Additive manufacturing for repairing steel bridges.

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Fani Derveni: PhD 2021, Harnessing the mechanics of thin-walled metallic structures: from plate-lattice materials to cold-formed steel shear walls.

Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher EPFL (Pedro Reis group).

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Kshitij Yadav: PhD 2020, Buckling of thin cylindrical shells: imperfection sensitivity, non-destructive technique for capacity prediction and application for wind turbine towers.

Current Position: Assistant Professor, IIT (BHU) Varanasi.

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Panos Pantidis: PhD 2019, Mechanical performance of structural systems with missing members: from buildings to architected materials.

Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher NYU Abu Dhabi.

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Nick Menz: MS 2021, Post-fire assessment of concrete tunnel structures.

Current Position: Structural Engineer SGH.

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Gabrielle Pryor: MS 2020, Development of comprehensive inspection protocols for deteriorated steel beam ends and the usage of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (drones).

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Bryan Ovelheiro: MS 2020, 3D printed biomimetic biofilm supports for waste water treatment systems.

Current Position: Quality Control Inspector, Holts Precision.

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Brendan Knickle: MS 2019, Design of experimental testing setup for deteriorated steel bridge beam ends.

Current Position: Assistant Engineer I, CHA Consulting Inc.

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Thomas Hill: MS 2019, Experimental testing of deteriorated steel bridge beam ends.

Current Position: Structural Engineer, Degenkolb.

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