Professor Iman Hajirasouliha

School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering

Professor of Structural Engineering

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i.hajirasouliha@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 5710
Room C109c, Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)

Full contact details

Professor Iman Hajirasouliha
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Room C109c
Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

Iman Hajirasouliha is Professor of Structural Engineering and Leader of the Earthquake Engineering Group (EEG). He obtained his PhD from Sharif University of Technology, one of the top technical universities in the Middle East. After being a Lecturer in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Science and Culture for two years, he was awarded a prestigious Individual Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship at the University of Sheffield in 2008. Subsequently, he joined the University of Nottingham as a Lecturer in Structural Engineering in 2010. He then returned to the University of Sheffield as a Lecturer in Structural Engineering in 2012 and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2015 and Professor in 2022.

Iman has over 20 years of research and consultancy experience in the fields of steel structures, lightweight modular systems, earthquake engineering, performance-based design, structural optimisation, and novel strengthening techniques, leading to over 150 refereed journal papers and 100 conference publications in these areas. He has been Principal or Co-investigator of around £3M UK and EU funded projects at the University of Sheffield (total funding around £10M). Iman has been recognised as one of the world's top 2% scientists in his field since 2020 according to the database published by Stanford University and Elsevier.

My research aims to develop more resilient, cost effective and environmentally friendly buildings and infrastructures by using novel structural systems and advanced optimisation techniques.

Professor Iman Hajirasouliha

Iman is currently an Associate Editor of Practice Periodical on Structural Design & Construction (ASCE), and Frontiers in Built Environment (Earthquake Engineering Section) and serves on the editorial boards of several other international journals in the area of Structural Engineering. He is regularly invited to join scientific committees, chair sessions and present keynote papers in the main conferences in his field. He is also a member of several national and international technical committees and research networks, including fib Task Group 6.6 on “Retrofitting of Precast Structures in Seismic Areas”, fib Task Group 7.6 on “Resilient structures”, and IABSE Task Group 1.1 on “Improving Seismic Resilience of Reinforced Concrete Structures”.

Research interests

Iman has extensive research experience in cold-formed steel (CFS) structures, earthquake engineering, performance-based optimisation, energy dissipation devices, novel strengthening techniques, progressive collapse, and soil-structure interaction.

His research into practical design guidelines for engineers has led to the development of novel performance-based optimum design methodologies for structural engineers to produce more resilient buildings and infrastructure at minimum costs and environmental impacts.

Publications

Journal articles

Research group
  • Steel & Composite Structures
  • Earthquake Engineering Group
  • Concrete Structures 
Grants

View all research projects

  • Principal Investigator (2023-2025)."Hybrid Lightweight Structural Systems for Low-Cost Housing (HYLIGHTS)", £378,000 (total grant £1,105,500), EPSRC EP/W027267/1
  • Principal Investigator (2022-2024). Marie Curie Fellowship on “New Generation of Lightweight Steel Elements for Sustainable Resilient Construction (LightSteel)”, £204,000, Horizon Europe (Fellow: Dr Adil Dar)
  • Principal Investigator (2021-2023). EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship on “Adaptive resilient cold-formed steel structural systems for modular construction”, £116,000, EPSRC (Fellow: Dr Mohammad Mojtabaei)
  • Co-Investigator (2019). "Tracking post-earthquake reconstruction in Nepal: Addressing Civil Engineering and Policy Implementation Challenges", £39,300, Research England
  • Principal Investigator (2017). Newton Fund Researcher Links -Workshop Grant on “Seismic Loss, Rehabilitation and Post-earthquake Crisis Management of Critical Infrastructure”, £43,200, British Council
  • Principal Investigator (2016-2018). Marie Curie Fellowship on “Innovative Retrofitting for Substandard Construction (IRESCO)”, £158,300, European Commission-Horizon 2020 (Fellow: Dr Georgia Thermou)
  • Co-Investigator (2016-2018). British Council Institutional Links on “Earthquake Risk Assessment and Rapid Response Framework for Industrial Zones”, £75,000, Newton Fund
  • Co-Investigator (2016-2019). "Rapid Earthquake Risk Assessment and Post-Earthquake Disaster Management Framework for Substandard Buildings in Turkey”, £118,300, EPSRC EP/P010016/1
  • Co-Investigator (2016). Newton Fund Researcher Links –Workshop Grant on “Seismic Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies for Existing Buildings and Structures”, £46,200, British Council
  • Principal Investigator (2014-2015)."Performance-Based Optimisation of Novel Lightweight Steel Frame Systems for Rapid, Economical and Sustainable Construction", £101,000, EPSRC EP/L019116/1
  • Co-Investigator (2013-2017). "Innovative Reuse of All Tyre Components in Concrete (Anagennisi)", £521,240 (total grant £3,240,000), European Commission- FP7
  • Co-Investigator (2013-2017). COST Action TU1207 on "Next Generation Design Guidelines for Composites in Construction", £378,000, European Commission- FP7
  • Co-Investigator (2013-2017). MC ITN European Network for "Durable Reinforcement and Rehabilitation Solutions (endure)", £525,000 (total grant £3,870,500), European Commission- FP7
  • Principal Investigator (2011-2012). "Resilience of multi-storey structures under extreme loading conditions”, £47,800, Early Career Research and Knowledge Transfer grant, University of Nottingham
Professional activities and memberships
  • Associate Editor of International Journal of Earthquake and Impact Engineering (IJEIE)
  • Associate Editor of Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction (ASCE)
  • Associate Editor of Frontiers in Built Environment (Earthquake Engineering Section)
  • Member of the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib) Task Group 6.6 " Retrofitting of Precast Structures in Seismic Areas"
  • Member of the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib) Task Group 7.6 "Resilient structures"
  • Member of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), Task Group 1.1 “Improving Seismic Resilience of Reinforced Concrete Structures”
Potential PhD offerings

Performance-based Optimisation Of Energy Dissipation Systems

This proposed project will lead to the development of practical procedures for the optimum design of added dissipation systems in framed structures. The proposed design method will be based on a novel optimisation technique that has been introduced by Dr Iman Hajirasouliha and successfully used for seismic design and strengthening of different structural systems. The work will involve analysis, design and computer modelling.

Seismic Strengthening Of RC Using External Lateral Post-tensioning

The project will investigate this technique both experimentally and analytically and develop models for its application in vulnerable buildings.

Novel Cold-formed Steel Structural Systems For Multi-storey Buildings

The main aim of this research is to enhance strength and ductility of CFS structural systems (elements and connections) to increase their resistance and overall safety under extreme loading events, through the development of special connections and high-performance dual wall-frame systems.

If you're interested in one of these projects, or would like to self-propose a project, please contact Iman at i.hajirasouliha@sheffield.ac.uk. Current PhD opportunities in the department can be viewed here.

Links

Structural Engineering & Materials Discipline