Dr Christian Malaga-Chuquitaype

Summary

I am a researcher, engineer, and educator currently woking as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London where I lead the Emerging Structural Technologies Research Group. I am the Director of Undergraduate Admissions for the MEng in Civil Engineering and the Departmental Postdoc Champion. I am also Director of the MSc programme in Earthquake Engineering and organise the Structures Seminars.

My research is centred on improving the response of structures and structural systems to short-term and long-term stressors through emerging structural technologies. It spans the areas of structural mechanics, applied dynamics and structural design. I leverage innovative technological tools and state-of-the-art numerical and experimental techniques to provide solutions to a wide range of engineering questions. Of particular interest are engineering problems arising in extreme or hostile environments such as earthquake-prone areas and extra-terrestrial settings; including the development, design and implementation of passive, semi-active and other protective strategies – my group has made contributions in all these areas. A list of publications can be found in the tab above or in Scopus. My research has received several prizes including the Tso Kung Hsieh Research Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Structures Best Research Paper Prize from the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Unwin Prize from Imperial College London.

I hold a Bachiller en Ingeniería Civil from the Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (Peru), a MSc in Earthquake Engineering from the Rose School - Università degli Studi di Pavia (Italy), a MProf from the Université Joseph Fourier (France), and a PhD in Structural Engineering from Imperial College.

Having practiced for several years in large and small infrastructure projects in Latin America, I am continuously involved in specialised consultancy internationally, including providing expert advice on the causes of failure of major infrastructure projects. I also serve on a number of committees related to international code development and the advancement of engineering practice and I am the current deputy UK National Delegate to the International and European Associations for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE and EAEE).

Photo: The Emerging Structural Technologies Research Group

LINKS:

Scopus | Google Scholar | ResearchGate | GitHub

 

Teaching

I am engaged in teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and have contributed to courses internationally in Europe, Latin America, and the UK. I have received a Commendation for Excellence in Structural Engineering Education from the IStructE and students from my group have won many departmental and national awards. A more up to date page including the teaching material developed in the EmergStructTech Group can be found here. It is still work in progress but I plan to release as much of my teaching material as possible over there.

Videos & Media

• Disasters Engineered Episodes 7 & 8 (TV Series 2019, Discovery Channel)
• Mexico earthquake: Why did only some buildings collapse? (BBC) 
• VIDEO: Interview for HispanTV: Living with earthquakes
• What makes Mexico City so vulnerable to earthquakes? (Archinet)
• Seismic Shift: Is CLT the answer for earthquake zones? (The Possible, WSP Magazine)

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

More Publications