The GCE gives his warmest welcome to Dr Ryan Hoult, who joined the GCE team in early August. Dr Hoult flew in from Melbourne, Australia, together with his enthusiasm and passion for research on structural systems for earthquake loading. In particular, Dr Hoult’s primary research focus is on the seismic assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) core walls.
Dr. Hoult is an enthusiastic and prolific researcher who now joins Prof João Almeida and the team at GCE as part of the recently awarded Incentive Grant for Scientific Research – MIS funding provided through the F.R.S – FNRS. Dr Hoult and the team will conduct some large-scale testing on reinforced concrete U-shaped walls subjected to different combinations of torsion and flexure. RC U-shaped walls are embedded in millions of buildings internationally and provide the lateral resistance of a building from wind and earthquakes. The information provided by conducting these experiments will help develop design guidelines that can be implemented in future building codes to help create a more robust building stock internationally.
During his stay, Dr Hoult will also participate in several teaching and student supervision activities. Dr Hoult will give a research seminar on his past research during the month of September.