Theodoros Karavasilis is Full Professor of Steel Structures in the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Patras. He was born in Arta (1979). He holds an MEng (2002), MSc (2004) and a PhD (2007) from the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Patras. After completing his compulsory service in the Hellenic Army (2007), he served as Post-Doctoral Researcher in the ATLSS (Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems) Laboratory of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA (2007-2010), as Lecturer at the University of Oxford, UK (2010-2011), as Associate Professor at the University of Warwick, UK (2012-2015), and as Full Professor (Chair in Structures and Structural Mechanics) at the University of Southampton (2016-2018).

He has served as scientific coordinator for research projects worth more than €3.0 million (funding sources: EU, USA, China), is the author of more than 60 articles in scientific journals and numerous articles in international and national conferences, has a Scopus h-index of 30, is the author of two books on design of steel structures according to Eurocodes, and has supervised a large number of PhD/Post-doctoral researchers (5 hold academic positions in the UK while others work in global design firms, e.g. Atkins).

His research focuses on the numerical and experimental study of low-damage seismic-resistant steel structures with self-centering mechanisms and/or seismic energy dissipation devices. He has also carried out numerical and experimental research on conventional steel joints under progressive collapse conditions, steel fracture, design of steel structures against fire actions, and design of steel-concrete composite buildings and bridges for dismantling and reuse.

His research on seismic design of steel eccentric braced frames has been adopted by design standards in the USA (AISC) and Europe (Eurocode 8).

He has carried out under his full responsibility the structural design for a large number of real-life projects. He provides consulting services for structural design, seismic assessment and retrofit, and implementation of energy dissipation devices in Greece and abroad. His experience covers conventional buildings made of steel, reinforced concrete and other building materials, but also demanding projects such as lightweight metal footbridges, cable-suspension bridges, multi-storey buildings with visco-elastic dampers, and wind turbines. He has extensive experience in retrofit and seismic protection of existing reinforced concrete structures with steel frames and components.

He is a member of the scientific support team of the Greek Structural Code for Retrofit of Existing Vulnerable Buildings (KAN.EPE). He contributed to the development of guidelines for visual rapid seismic assessment of existing steel structures in Greece (OASP). He has also worked as a member of National Support Committees in the UK (EC8 with emphasis on seismic energy dissipation devices and EC3 with emphasis on steel connections).

For more information please visit the webpage: www.steel.civil.upatras.gr