FacilityStructural Engineering Laboratory

Santiago Pujol is Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Canterbury. Prior to moving to New Zealand, he was Professor of Civil Engineering at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University. His experience includes: earthquake engineering, evaluation and strengthening of existing structures, response of reinforced concrete to impulsive loads and earthquake demands, instrumentation and testing of structures, and failure investigations. He is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), and member of ACI committees 445 (Torsion and Shear), 314 (Simplified Design), 133 (Disaster Reconnaissance), and 318R (High-Strength Reinforcement). He is also member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), associate editor of Earthquake Spectra, and founder of datacenterhub.org (a site funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and dedicated to the systematic collection of research data). He received the Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research from ACI, the Educational Award from Architectural Institute of Japan, and the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize from ASCE.

Tim’s research focusses on improving the fundamentals of seismic design, assessment and retrofit for structural and non-structural elements and systems. He has been leading national research projects related to Next Generation Infrastructure, Resilient Buildings and Low-damage Design. Tim uses experimental testing and loss-assessment techniques to demonstrate the performance of different engineering design and retrofit strategies and enjoys developing new technologies and systems that improve seismic performance. His research includes examination of medium-rise and tall commercial buildings, bridges and more recently, housing. He has a particular interest in the use of base-isolation and energy dissipation to enhance the seismic performance of buildings and building contents. Tim has considerable consulting experience and enjoys collaborating with industry.