Advances in Geotechnical Engineering: From Lab and Field Testing to Seismic Risk Assessment

Synopsis

This presentation will explore a wide spectrum of scientific topics within the field of geotechnical earthquake engineering. It will encompass subjects ranging from advanced laboratory testing of soil mixtures for seismic isolation applications to large-scale seismic risk assessments at the urban and national levels. The invited speakers will share recent developments and insights from their ongoing research, showcasing cutting-edge work conducted at the Research Unit of Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering of the Department of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. For more information, please visit https://sdgee.civil.auth.gr.

About the speakers

Dimitris Pitilakis is Full Professor and expert in geotechnical earthquake engineering, with emphasis on soil – foundation – structure interaction, dynamics of foundations and performance-based design. Lately, he has been working on the earthquake vulnerability assessment of soil-foundation structure systems, in local and in city scale. He is the author of more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and international conference proceedings. He is a member of national and international scientific societies on Earthquake Engineering and reviewer of international scientific journals. He is currently in charge of the laboratory-scale shaking table facility of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and of the field-scale EuroProteas structure facility in Euroseistest.

Anastasios Kapouniaris is a Civil Engineer, PhD Student and Researcher at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Anastasios (Tasos) graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His master’s degree was on the sustainable design of structures against earthquakes and other natural hazards. His PhD Thesis focuses on the determination of dynamic properties of soil-rubber mixtures in the laboratory. Currently, he works in soil dynamics, laboratory experiments and field experiments in geotechnical earthquake engineering. He has participated in many research projects, including SERA, KACARE, RISKSCHOOLS, and ERIES.

Stefania Apostolaki is a Civil Engineer and PhD Student at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In 2017, she earned her Civil Engineering diploma from the University of Thessaly, followed by her graduation from the Earthquake Engineering master’s program at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2018. Her interest in the subject of seismic hazard and risk assessment of buildings and infrastructures led her to pursue a PhD at the same university since 2021. In 2023, she was honoured with a fellowship of the Hellenic Foundation of Research and Infrastructure (H.F.R.I.) in the framework of the "4th Call for H.F.R.I. Scholarships to PhD Candidates". She has actively participated in eight research projects and published four research papers in esteemed international journals, along with nineteen contributions to national and international conferences.

Chiara Amendola is a Civil Engineer and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Chiara graduated with honours from the University of Naples Federico II. Her master’s thesis received the “Best Master Thesis Marco Mucciarelli Award”. Chiara got her PhD at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship as part of the Horizon 2020 ITN URBASIS-EU. Currently, she works in the field of Earthquake Engineering, with expertise in seismic vulnerability and risk assessment, soil-structure interaction, seismic resilience assessment, and the seismic behaviour of existing buildings, both at single-building level and large scale. She has participated in several international research projects, including SERA, URBASIS, TESCO-SSI, and EMERGE.

Registration

The event is open to all and is free to attend. Please join the meeting via Teams* by clicking on this link. No registration is required.

Further information

This online talk is organised by SECED Young Members. For further information, please contact Maria Liapopoulou (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

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Event Details

Event Date 09/07/2025 12:30 pm
Event End Date 09/07/2025 1:30 pm