Dr Mohammad Heidarzadeh is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering specializing in Coastal Engineering at the Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering of the University of Bath (UK). Dr Heidarzadeh is the Secretary General of the International Tsunami Commisson (ITC) affiliated to the IUGG (International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics) who was elected for this position in July 2019 in Canada. He is an international scientist/engineer on large earthquakes, tsunamis, storms and their effects on infrastructure. Dr Heidarzadeh is an expert on Global-Challenge Researches on extreme geo-environmental hazards worldwide and is the PI (Principal Investigator) of the GCRF (Global Challenge Research Fund) project with Indonesia on earthquakes and tsunamis, a Co-I of another GCRF project with India on tsunamis, a Co-I of a project with Dominica (Caribbean Sea) on storms, and a Co-I of a project on Indonesia future tsunami risks. Dr Heidarzadeh is a global expert on infrastructure as he has been involved in the design and construction of several mega-infrastructure such as coastal sea-walls, embankment dams, double-curvature concrete dams and underground metro structures. Dr Heidarzadeh is on the Editorial Board of several international well-known journals including: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (JMSE) [Impact Factor = 1.8]; Sustainable Marine Structures (SMS) [IF = N/A]; Frontiers in Earth Science [IF= 2.9]; and acts as a Guest Editor for Geoscience Letters [SNIP = 1.2]. Having published 61 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, Dr Heidarzadeh is among most active world scientists/engineers. See full list of his articles with links to pdf files here (click here).
Dr Heidarzadeh’s main research areas are:
Coastal Engineering, Tsunami, Earthquake, Landslide, Storm Surge, Dam Engineering
Dr. Heidarzadeh received his BSc, MSc and PhD, all in Civil Engineering in 2002, 2004 and 2009, respectively. His PhD major was Coastal Engineering with a PhD dissertation on the analysis of earthquake and tsunami hazards on coastal infrastructures. His major research interest is interactions of coastal structures and communities with extreme coastal geo-environmental hazards such as tsunamis, storm surges, earthquakes and landslides. Over the past 17 years, Dr Heidarzadeh has contributed to the understanding and analysis of numerous extreme coastal disasters worldwide; especially in Indonesia, Philippines, Oman, Japan, the Caribbean Sea, Ecuador, Mexico, the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey, Iran, Greece, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. He has published 85 peer-reviewed articles in world’s most prestigious journals (Ocean Eng, GRL, GJI, BSSA, Coastal Eng J, PAGEOPH, Nat Hazards, Int J Civil Eng) along with over 100 conference presentations.
Dr Heidarzadeh is also a visiting Assistant Professor at the Earthquake Research Institute of the University of Tokyo (Japan). He is the recipient of several international awards and fellowships and was elected as a Secretary General of the International Tsunami Committee (ITC) affiliated to IUGG in July 2019 in Canada. Dr Heidarzadeh is a fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in Japan, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UNESCO (UN), the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO) in UK and a fellow of the European Commission.
Dr Heidarzadeh has extensive engineering experiences and was involved in the design and construction of a number of world-class mega infrastructures while working as a senior consulting engineer with Mahab International Consulting Engineering Company (Iran) and the Port and Airport Research Institute (Japan). These projects include extension of Coastal Seawalls, Mega-Embankment Dams and Reservoirs, Underground Tunnels and Metro Infrastructures. Involvement in such mega-infrastructures has given Dr Heidarzadeh the capability of understanding the complexities of infrastructures development projects and the associated complicated engineering problems. Some of these complex problems faced during these engineering projects have been outlined in his international peer-reviewed journal articles; click here for details.
Dr Heidarzadeh is an outstanding engineering lecturer through his constructivist teaching philosophy which combines theory and practice in his teaching of engineering materials. His engineering lectures are well supported by his tremendous engineering practical experience which attracted many students in the UK and overseas. Dr Heidarzadeh has achieved the highest teaching qualifications in the United Kingdom and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in the UK.
Research projects and grants:
PI: GCRF project “Building earthquake and tsunami resilience in Indonesia”. Value: £495K. Funder: Royal Society UK. Time: 2019-2021.
Co-I: Lloyds’ project “Future Indonesian Tsunamis: Towards End-to-end Risk quantification (FITTER)”. Value: £440K. Funder: Lloyds, UK. Time: 2019-2022.
Co-I: NERC project “Hurricane Maria and Dominica: geomorphological change and infrastructure damage surveys“. Value: £51K. Funder: NERC UK. Time: 2018-2019.
Co-I: GCRF NERC project “Tsunami risk for the Western Indian Ocean: steps toward the integration of science into policy and practice“. Value: £172K. Funder: NERC UK. Time: 2017-2018.
PI: BRIM project “Understanding the contribution of cascading effects during storms to the vulnerability of UK coastal transport infrastructures”. Value: £20K. Funder: BRIM/EPSRC UK. Time: 2018.
PI: JSPS project “A comprehensive analysis of the twin Indonesian tsunamis in September and December 2018”. Value: £5.2K. Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Time: 2019.
PI: GBSF project “Interaction of earthquake and typhoon hazards: intensification of the damage from September 2018 Hokkaido earthquake due to the heavy rainfall from Typhoon Jebi”. Value: £4K. Funder: Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation (GBSF). Time: 2019.
Co-I: M2D project “Potential large tsunami hazards associated with landslide failure along the West coast of India: from uncertainties to planning decisions“. Value: £25K. Funder: Models to Decisions (M2D), NERC/EPSRC/ESRC. Time: 2018.
Media activities, TV interviews and inquiries:
Dr Heidarzadeh is an international expert on tsunamis, earthquakes, storms (hurricanes) and infrastructures (dams, reservoirs, bridges, buildings, roads, tunnels) and has contributed to several news articles from various media in Japan, Germany and UK and has appeared on live TV interviews over years. He has appeared on live TV and Radio interviewes with BBC, Sky-News, Euro-News, LBC, and ALJAZEERA. Dr Heidarzadeh’s comments and interviews on the effects of natural hazards on infrastructure and built environment has been cited thousands of times in various worrld media. For media inquiries and asking for interviews, please send an email to Dr Heidarzadeh [mohammad.heidarzadeh@brunel.ac.uk] detailing the name of your newspaper/TV and a brief context.
Some of Dr Heidarzadeh’s past interviewes and news coverage are listed below with links to the interview videos:
– Live TV interview with BBC TV on 12th October 2019 about the effects of Super Typhoon Hagibis in Japan. Video file of the interview is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xjj6a4a693c9jya/6-Live-TV-Typhoon-Hagibis-Dr-Heidarzadeh.MOV?dl=0
– Live TV interview with Euro-News TV on 1st August 2019 about the failure of the Whaley Bridge dam in the UK. Link to the interview is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zfuq324iad1f0hz/5-Euro-News-1st-Aug-2018-Live-TV-Dr-Heidarzadeh.jpg?dl=0
– Live TV interview with Sky-News TV on 2nd August 2019 about the Whaley Bridge dam incident and emergency in the UK. Video file of the interview is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wifi5xn0rszrfrj/4-Sky-News-Whaley-Bridge-Dam-2nd-August-2019-Dr-Heidarzadeh.MOV?dl=0
– Live TV interview with BBC TV on 1st October 2018 about the September 2018 Sulawesi tsunami (Indonesia). Video file of the interview is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jh2k2jr34cdrchy/1-Heidarzadeh-BBC-TV-World-News-Oct%202018.3gp?dl=0
– Live TV interview with AL-JAZEERA on 25th January 2019 about the failure of tailing dam in Brazil. Video file of then interview is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ycz3qg1p0mfre2/2-Heidarzadeh-Al-Jazaeera-TV.mp4?dl=0
– TV Interview with Brunel channel about tsunami generation and tsunmai warning system with emphesis on the 2018 Indonesia tsunami. Video file of then interview is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jfxn1v0z41dw8gc/3-Heidarzadeh-Brunel-Univ-Channel-Tsunami-warning-sytem.mov?dl=0
– Interview with Nature News about the 2018 Sulawesi tsunami (Indonersia). The article is here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01544-5
– Interview with Brunel channel about tsunami hazards in Indonersia. The link is here: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Major-geological-survey-hopes-to-make-Indonesia-more-resistant-to-deadly-tsunamis
– Interview with BBC about the 2018 Sulawesi tsunami (Indonesia). The link is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45711190
– Interview with Express about the December 2018 Anak Krakatao volcano tsunmai. The link is here: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1064891/krakatoa-anak-krakatau-volcano-collapse-tsunami-indonesia-sunda-strait-java-sumatra
– Interview with CNN-Indonesia about the 2018 Sulawesi tsunami (Indonesia). The link is here: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/teknologi/20181218100638-199-354499/ilmuwan-inggris-bantah-tsunami-palu-akibat-saluran-bawah-laut
– Interview with PreventionWEB about the tsunami hazards in Indonesia.The link is here: https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/64767
Available PhD position and Post-doc jobs:
An EPSRC-funded PhD opportunity is availbel for application. This is open to home students which means applicants must have been resident in the UK for 3 or more years, not wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full time education, to receive the studentship. This opportunity is open to both BSc and MSc graduates. Potential students should send their CVs to Dr Heidarzadeh along with a one-page summary of their past research works (either BSc or MSc project summary).
Applicants who are not home students are also encouraged to apply for PhD positions; other sources of funding will be explored by collaboration with the students.
Education
PhD: Civil Engineering (Coastal & Hydraulic Engineering), 2009, The University of Tehran, Iran.
MSc: Civil Engineering (Hydraulic Structural Engineering), 2004, The University of Tehran, Iran.
BSc: Civil Engineering, 2002, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.
Experience
2022-… Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, UK
2017-2022 Department of Civil & Environmental Eng., Brunel University London, London, UK
2016-2017 Port and Airport Research Institute (PARI), Yokosuka, Japan
2013-2016 Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Japan
2012-2013 University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
2011-2012 Dept. of Civil Engineering, Tarbiat Modares Univ., Tehran, Iran
2011 Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Japan
2011 Centro Tecnológico del Mar – Fundación CETMAR, Vigo, Spain
2005-2011 Mahab International Consulting Engineering Company, Iran
2008 National Oceanography Center, Univ. of Southampton, UK
2008 Dept. of Geology & Oceanography, Univ. of Bordeaux, France
Full Publication List
http://www.oceanblogs.org/earthquakeandtsunami/full-publication-list/