Current PhD Students
Pablo Vega
Pablo is a PhD candidate in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Pablo received his Bachelors and Masters of Science in Civil Engineering at The University of Puerto Rico–Mayaguez.
Pablo’s PhD research investigates new ways to retrofit old concrete buildings and applications of shape memory alloys in structural engineering. He also has a keen interest in automation of design/analysis processes for civil engineering projects. While finishing his PhD, Pablo works as a structural analyst at Arup’s Advanced Technology + Research group in New York. In his spare time, Pablo enjoys sports and athletic activities, playing guitar, and exploring the wide variety of cuisines New York City has to offer.
Research: Cost-Benefit Analyses for Seismic Retrofit of Nonductile Concrete Buildings
pablo.vega.behar@gmail.com
Sujith Mangalathu is a PhD scholar at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Atlanta. His research is focused on the problems in performance based grouping of structures for regional risk assessment, statistical decisions that supports post-earthquake response and infrastructure resilience.
Further, he also dabbles in biomedical engineering research, especially in the area of big-data analysis and is collaborating with neurologists to assess the upper extremity performance of stroke patients.
He is also a member of the SEI-ASCE’s Task Group 3 (TG3) on the risk assessment of structural and infrastructural systems. He has a MS degree in Earthquake Engineering from Rose School, Italy and EPFL Switzerland. Currently, he is leading the EERI and SEI chapters at Georgia Tech.
He attends independent film festivals and have an active passion for movies. He also plays football and do hikes in his free time.
Research: Response of CA Bridges in Earthquakes
sujithmss@gatech.edu
Nan Gao
Nan Gao is a PhD student in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Tongji University in 2008. After that, he worked as a structural engineer in China for five years. In 2012, he became a registered structural engineer in China. In 2013, he started his graduate studies at Georgia Tech.
His major research interest is the application of shape memory alloys in earthquake engineering and blast protection. Nan is currently carrying out experimental research at the Structural Engineering and Materials Laboratory, under the direction of Dr. Reginald DesRoches and Dr. Lauren Stewart.
Research: Experimental Testing of Strain Rate Dependency of Shape Memory Alloy Materials under Quasistatic and Dynamic Loading
Email: nangao@gatech.edu
Farahnaz Soleimani
Farahnaz is a PhD student in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech. She received her Master’s degrees from Tufts University and Georgia Tech.
Her Ph.D. work in the Natural Hazards Mitigation Research Group under the supervision of Dr. DesRoches focuses on the fragility analysis of California bridges.
In general, her research interests include seismic probabilistic assessment, multi-hazards analysis, structural reliability, finite element analysis, structural damage identification, and performance of advanced materials for structures.
She enjoys baking, jogging, and playing music in her spare time.
Research: Fragility of California Bridges: Development of Modification Factors
soleimani@gatech.edu
La Sasha Walker
Research: Application of Recycled Concrete Aggregate in Seismic Design of Buildings
lwalker35@gatech.edu
Past PhD Students
 Dr. Tim Wright (2015) MS Student in Data Analytics, GT |  Dr. Laura Redmond (2014) Structural Engineer Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. |  Prof. Jong-Su Jeon (2013) Assistant Professor Andong University, Seoul, Korea |
 Prof.Reza Mizaeifar (2013) Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering Virginia Tech |  Prof. Stephanie Paal(2013) Assistant Professor Texas A&M University |  Dr.Jazalyn Dukes (2013) Research Engineer Naval Surface Warfare Center Washington, D.C. |
 Dr. Karthik Ramanathan (2012) Research and Modeling Engineer Air Worldwide Boston, MA |  Dr. Ben Kosbab (2010) Prinicipal Engineer SC Solutions Atlanta, GA |  Prof. Abdollah Shafieezadeh (2011) Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Ohio State University |
 Dr. Laura Jacobs (2010) Research Engineer, Los Alamos National Labs New Mexico |  Dr. Matthew Speicher (2009) Research Structural Engineer NIST Gaithersburg, MD |  Prof. Masahiro Kurata (2009) Associate Professor Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan |
 Prof. Jamie Padgett (2009) Associate Professor Rice University |  Dr. Murat Eroz(2007) Project Engineer Alpaslan, Hydro Projects II Ankara, Turkey |  Prof. Monique Head (2007) Associate Professor Morgan State University |
 Dr. Berk Taftali (2007) Software Engineer CSI Ankara, Turkey |  Dr. Walter Yang (2006) Research Engineer II Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA |  Prof. Jason McCormick (2006) Associate Professor University of Michigan |
 Prof. Bryant Nielson (2005) Professor of Practice Clemson University |  Prof. Bassem Andrawes (2005) Associate Professor UIUC |  Dr. Davide Fugazza (2005) Sales Engineer ANSYS Wavre Belgium |
 Dr. Susendar Muthukumar (2003) Senior Associate Walter P Moore Austin, TX |  Prof. Eunsoo Choi (2002) Professor Hongik University Korea |
