Mihaela Anca CIUPALA

Dr Mihaela Anca Ciupala

Reader

Resilient Built Environment, and Intelligent Technologies Research groups

Department of Engineering & Construction , School Of Architecture, Computing And Engineering

Dr Mihaela Anca Ciupala is a Reader in Structural Engineering and a European Union (EU) Marie Curie Research Fellow.

Dr Ciupala is an active researcher and a committed lecturer. Dr Ciupala’s interdisciplinary research currently spans the areas of structural engineering, environmental engineering, and applied digital science. Her work is currently focusing on structural seismic damage assessment and sustainable seismic retrofitting of buildings, and the application of AI in structural and sustainability solutions. Dr Ciupala has been an active PhD supervisor in the above interdisciplinary research areas. As an educator, Dr Ciupala has been teaching a broad range of engineering subjects related to civil/structural engineering, mechanical engineering, mechatronics, and railway engineering.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Earthquake Engineering and Safety of Structures, Technical University "Gh Asachi" Iasi, Romania (1999)
  • MEng Honours in Civil Engineering, Technical University "Gh Asachi" Iasi, Romania; Faculty of Civil Engineering and Building Services (1991)
  • MBA in General Management, University of East London, UK (2009)

Areas Of Interest

  • Structural seismic damage assessment and sustainable seismic retrofitting solutions for buildings
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cyber Physical Systems for structural engineering and sustainability applications
  • Construction of narratives and communication of new perspectives on engineering and sustainability
  • Sustainable built environment and communities
Mihaela Anca CIUPALA

OVERVIEW

Dr Anca Ciupala obtained her five-year degree in Civil Engineering (Honours) and her PhD from the University of Technical University "Gh Asachi" Iasi, Romania.  She was awarded the EU Marie Curie Individual Research Fellowship, University of Sheffield, UK (2001-2003).

Dr Ciupala has 30 years of research and consultancy experience in the areas of earthquake engineering, structural design and materials, and FRP composites for construction. Her interests and experience have been extended to interdisciplinary work, including environmental engineering, and digital science and analytics.  

Dr Ciupala has published more than 50 papers and book chapters.  She has been contributing to multi-partner EU and UK Research Council-funded projects.  Dr Ciupala has been an active Associate researcher of the Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) at UEL since its inception, playing an instrumental role in the development of the postgraduate research degrees capacity and the research activity of the institute. She regularly reviews research grant proposals for Europe and national research councils of the UK.

Dr Ciupala was the Research Degrees Leader (RDL) and chair of the Research Degrees Sub-Committee (RDSC) in the School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering (2007-2023).  She is the Sustainability Champion in the School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, and she has served in other numerous School and University committees, playing an active role to date.

Dr Ciupala is eager to take her interdisciplinary work further to narratives and communication of new perspectives on engineering and environmental subjects, and the educational perspective of disaster resilience in the build environment, in conjunction with Extended Reality Technology, and other innovative arts and creative industries.

External roles

 

  • Guest editor for international journals
  • Reviewer of  international journal manuscripts
  • PhD examiner
  • Member of EU  COST Action TU1207 "Next Generation Guidelines for Composite Reinforcements"
  • Member of the fib T5.1; International Federation for Structural Concrete, Task Group 5.1. on "FRP (Fibre Reinforced Polymer) Reinforcement for Concrete Structures" , working party "Strengthening by FRP"
  • Expert evaluator for EU   Horizon Europe, EU Horizon 2020, and UK research proposals
  • Expert monitoring of EU Horizon 2020 research projects.

CURRENT RESEARCH

  • Structural seismic damage assessment and sustainable seismic retrofitting solutions for buildings
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cyber Physical Systems for structural engineering and sustainability applications
  • Sustainable built environment and communities

PhD supervision

Current:

  • Structural Seismic Damage Assessment using Deep Learning (Director of Studies) 2022 - date
  • A framework towards financing sustainable social housing in developing countries: A case of Ghana (Second supervisor) 2021 - date
  • Understanding construction industry constraints and their impact on project productivity (Second supervisor) 2020 - date
  • A Framework for the evaluation of environmental sustainability in the oil-rich Niger Delta (Second supervisor) 2020 - date
  • Can community participation rebalance housing land rights?  Case of Kinshasa in Democratic Republic of Congo (Director of Studies) 2018 - date

 Completed:

  • Data Quality Management in Large-Scale Cyber-Physical Systems (Director of Studies) 2021
  • An Investigation into the treatment and modelling of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) Air Pollution Control (APC) residues (Second supervisor) 2019
  • A novel use for oil-contaminated drill cuttings in the manufacture of lightweight aggregate (Second supervisor) 2018
  • An investigation into the relationship between post occupancy behaviour and energy efficiency in residential buildings (Director of Studies) 2017
  • Management and creation of Open Mosaic Habitat for invertebrate conservation (Second supervisor) 2018 
  • An investigation into the sustainable design of green roofs in relation to their hydrological performance (Director of Studies) 2016
  • Brownfield-inspired green infrastructure: a new approach to urban biodiversity conservation (Second supervisor) 2016
  • Hygrothermal performance of hemp based thermal insulation materials in the UK,  (Director of Studies) 2014
  • Influence of macro and micro structure on static and dynamic characteristics of peat soil (Second supervisor) 2011
  • Novel Uses of Vegetable Oil in Asphalt Mixtures (Second supervisor) 2011
  • Moisture movement in prehydrated geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) (Second supervisor) 2008

 

Dr Ciupala is welcoming PhD applications in the areas of:

  • Applied Artificial Intelligence to Structural and Environmental Engineering; 
  •  Structural Health Monitoring using machine / deep learning; 
  • Data-driven sustainable seismic retrofitting solutions;
  • Extended Reality Technology in Sustainable Engineering and Construction.

Other research topics are welcome. 

The impact of Dr Ciupala's interdisciplinary research has been reflected in her consultancy work and her contribution to REF2021.

PUBLICATIONS

Journal papers (selection)

  •  
  • Time-Series Clustering for Sensor Fault Detection in Large-Scale Cyber-Physical Systems, (2022) Alwan, A., Brimicombe, A., Ciupala, M.A.,  Ghorashi, S., Baravalle, A., Falcarin, P., Computer Networks, Elsevier, ISSN: 1389-1286 , volume 218
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2022.109384
  • Data quality challenges in large-scale cyber-physical systems: A systematic review (2022)  Alwan, A., Ciupala, A., Brimicombe, A., Ghorashi, S., Baravalle, A., Falcarin, P., Information Systems, Elsevier, ISSN 0306-4379, volume 105,      https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2021.101951
  • An ecomimicry design approach for extensive green roofs (2019) Nash, C., Ciupala, M.A., Gedge, D., Lindsay, R. and Connop, S., Journal of Living Architecture. 6 (1), pp. 62-81, DOI:10.46534/jliv.2020.06.01.062
  • Loh, E.W.K., Wijeyesekera, D.C., Ciupala, M.A. (2017) A new method for estimating the moisture content and flexibility of polymerised bentonite clay mat, Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, Taylor's University, School of Engineering, Malaysia, 12(8), ISSN: 1823-4690
  • Loh, E.W.K., Wijeyesekera, D.C., Ciupala, M.A. (2016) Moisture desorption studies on polymer hydrated and vacuum extruded bentonite clay mat; Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 138, issue 12, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME); ISSN: 0022-1481.
  • Newport, D., Pruteanu, M. (2016) Quasi steady state and dynamic hygrothermal performance of fibrous Hemp and Stone Wool insulations: Two innovative laboratory based investigations, Building and Environment, vol. 95, 391-404, Elsevier, ISSN: 0360-1323, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.10.006 
  • Garcia, R., Pilakoutas, K.,  Hajirasouliha, I., Guadagnini, M., Kyriakides, N., Ciupala, M.A. (2015) Seismic retrofitting of RC buildings using CFRP and post-tensioned metal strips: shake table tests, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, pp. 1-27, Springer, ISSN: 1573-1456, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-015-9800-8 
  • Latif, E., Ciupala, M.A., Wijeyesekera, D.C., Newport, D. (2015) Hygrothermal performance of a composite hemp insulation in timber frame wall panels with and without vapour barrier, Building and Environment, Elsevier, ISSN: 0360-1323, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.04.025 
  • Nash, C., Clough, J., Gedge, D., Newport, D., Ciupala, M.A., Connop, S. (2015) Initial insights on the biodiversity potential of biosolar roofs: A London Olympic Park green roof case study, Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution, Taylor & Francis, ISSN: 2224-4662; http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/15659801.2015.1045791
  • Latif, E., Ciupala, M.A., Wijeyesekera, D.C. (2014) The comparative in situ hygrothermal performance of hemp and stone wool insulations in vapour open timber frame wall panels, Construction and Building Materials, vol. 73, pp. 205-213. Elsevier, ISSN: 0950-0618, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.09.060
  • Latif, E., Tucker, S., Ciupala, M.A., Wijeyesekera, D.C., Newport, D. (2014) Hygric properties of hemp bio-insulations with differing compositions, Construction and Building Materials, vol. 66, pp. 702-711. Elsevier, ISSN: 0950-0618, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.06.021
  • Garcia, R., Hajirasouliha, I., Guadagnini, M., Helal, Y., Jemaa, Y., Pilakoutas, K., Mongabure, P., Chrysostomou, C., Kyriakides, N., Ilki, A., Budescu, M., Taranu, N., Ciupala, M.A., Torres, L., Saiidi, M. (2014) Full scale shaking table tests on a standard RC building repaired and strengthened with post-tensioned metal straps. Journal of Earthquake Engineering, 18(2), pp. 187-213. Taylor and Francis, ISSN 1363-2469, https://doi.org/10.1080/13632469.2013.847874
  • Wijeyesekera, D.C., Loh, E.W., Diman, S.F., Lim, A.J., Zainorabidin, A.B., Ciupala, M. A. (2012)  Sustainability study of the application of geosynthetic clay liners in hostile and aggressive environments, Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA) International Journal of Sustainable Development, vol. 5, issue 7, pp. 81-96, Ontario International, ISSN: 1923-6654.
  •  

Book / proceeding chapters

 

  • An Open Source Software Architecture for Smart Buildings, Alwan, A, Ciupala, M.A.,   Baravalle, A., Falcarin, P, Intelligent Systems Conference 2018, 6-7 September 2018, London, UK, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01057-7_14
  • Garcia, R., Hajirasouliha, I., Pilakoutas, K., Helal, Y., Jemaa, Y., Guadagnini, M., Petkovski, M., Mongabure, P., Ciupala, M.A., Kyriakides, N., Chrysostomou, C., Ilki, A., Saiidi, M. S., Torres, L., Taranu, N., Budescu, M. (2013)  Chapter 11 - Shake table tests on deficient RC buildings strengthened using post-tensioned metal straps, seismic evaluation and rehabilitation of structures, Geotechnical, Geological and Earthquake Engineering, 26(11), pp. 187-202. Springer, ISBN 978-3-319-0045.

 

Peer-reviewed conference papers (selected)

 

SELECTED RESEARCH GRANTS/ FUNDING

  • Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) Networking grant; Strengthening housing resilience in Turkey: sustainable strategies for seismic retrofitting decisions; University of East London, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey (January 2021 - November 2022), UEL Lead partner/PI
  • Cyber-Physical Systems in the smart built environment, UEL funded Undergraduate Internship, June - Nov 2019 
  • Modular Design in the UK and China - Towards Zero-Carbon Mass Customised Housing; University of East London, Tongji University, China (March 2022 - December 2023); Co-PI
  • Sustainable Retrofitting Solutions, UEL funded Undergraduate Internship (Nov 2021 - Feb 2022)
  • Research on Visual Datasets of structural damage in buildings, UEL funded Graduate Internship (Nov 2021 - Feb 2022)
  • Advances in smart composite materials (synthetic and natural fibre reinforced composite materials) for civil engineering applications, University of Michigan, Mechanical Engineering Dept, USA ; Visiting researcher (July - August 2019)
  • Data Integration of large-scale sensor node networks, UEL funded PhD Research Internship at Thingful Ltd, UK (April -June 2019)
  • Cyber-Physical Systems in the smart built environment, UEL funded Undergraduate Internship, June - Nov 2019
  • Environmental Internet of Things (IoT),  Monnit wireless temperature sensors for real-time monitoring, UEL Impact Fund (April 2019), PI
  • Sustainable Engineering Education in Secondary Schools using Innovative Advanced Technology (sustainable engineering solutions /design of sustainable green roofs using information visualisation), School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering (ACE) and School of Arts and Creative Industries (ACI) (May - Oct 2016), PI
  • Seismic Strengthening of deficient reinforced concrete (RC) buildings using ductile post-tensioned metal strips, Seismic Engineering Research Infrastructure for European Strategies (SERIES), EU Framework Programme 7 (2010-2012); UEL research lead/partner
  • EU Marie Curie Research Fellowship (2001-2003), PI.

PRESS MEDIA

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MODULES

  • EG7033 Structural Dynamics and Stability
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  • EG7030 Applied Research and Engineering Practice; dissertation supervision
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  • EG7010 Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering