Professor Costas Georgopoulos CEng FHEA FCS FICE FIStructE

Development, Leadership and Management of Innovative Programmes: PG Course Director, developed MSc Structural design, leading structures team, three PG modules (flagship recruiting 60% of 70-80 students), Academic Chair of the School's Industrial Advisory Board, Leading the successful 2014 JBM (Joint Board of Moderators = ICE + IStructE + IHE + CIHT) accreditation of UG & PG programmes (Kingston); Lead the QA validation of ‘refreshed' integrated interdisciplinary BEng and ‘new' 4yr MEng with Industrial Experience both including modern Teaching & Learning Methods at Kingston;  Developed and delivered inspiring lectures to 35 Universities in the UK, Conceived and ran the Annual Student Design Competition in Structural Concrete adopted by 15+ HEIs (The Concrete Centre); Leading structures team, PG flagship module on Seismic Design (Portsmouth); Transforming teaching structures with enhancement from professional practice, PG Certificate in HE and FHEA (Napier Edinburgh).

Innovative Technology Enhanced Learning: Conceived and led the development of the Virtual Concrete Laboratory: a web-based learning tool allowing students to observe videoed testing in their own time followed by assessment, Led the development and enhancement of CALcrete: comprehensive suite of 16 e-learning modules – 200hrs of learning – for concrete materials, design and construction - £2m investment from Concrete Industry, best in the world (The Concrete Centre)

Leading Substantial Enterprise Activity: Developed a Strategy for Professional Practice and led implementation at School with the scope to be used at Faculty & University levels, key aspect CPD provision: first flagship CPD on Seismic Design ran successfully in Jan 15 (Kingston); Conceived, developed and managed 35 CPD courses for practitioners adopted by IStructE (The Concrete Centre)

Research in Teaching Conceptual Design: EU funded 3yr R&D (£50k of £1m project) called WINDS (Web-based Intelligent Design and tutoring System) with 34 HEIs that supports innovative teaching & learning conceptual design for students of Architecture, Structural Engineering and other construction disciplines in the learner-centred Virtual University (Portsmouth)

Qualifications and expertise

• Structural Engineering
• Sustainable Construction
• Advanced Concrete Design
• Conceptual Design
• Seismic Design to Eurocode 8
• Concrete Design to Eurocode 2
• Technology Enhanced Learning
• Forensic Engineering
• Sustainable Concrete Solutions
• Learning and Teaching

Undergraduate courses taught

• Civil and Infrastructure Engineering BEng (Hons)

Postgraduate courses taught

• Structural Design and Construction Management MSc
• Structural Design & Construction Management with Sustainability MSc

REF 2021: My book ‘Sustainable Concrete Solutions' published in 2014 by Wiley has already developed beneficial impact to academia and industry and, will be an impact case study for the next REF (over 600 copies sold in over 40 countries around the world in the first 2 years).  Evidence of national impact is the review in the ICE Civil Engineering Proceedings (Volume 168 Issue CE2 May 2015) "This book provides useful guidance to students, researchers, academics and practitioners of all construction disciplines. It is especially recommended to trainees preparing for their Institution of Civil Engineers professional review as it offers excellent background for that often-considered-problematic attribute of ‘sustainable development'. Evidence of international impact includes a review in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) journal ‘Performance of Constructed Facilities' (Volume 29, Issue 2, March/April 2015, IF=0.841): "This is a must-read book for designers, engineers, architects, researchers, planners, and students who advocate creating a sustainable built environment, because the author has keenly provided a very thorough, concise, engaging, and intriguing discussion within each of the five chapters. It covers all aspects of sustainability in concrete design, in a well-balanced fashion, adequately capturing the reader's attention to examine the advantages realised by embracing the concepts of sustainability. This book is an excellent resource"

Selected Publications

Georgopoulos C, Kong K H (2022), Examples for the seismic design of steel and concrete buildings to Eurocode 8', book for students, academics & practitioners, The Institution of Structural Engineers, ISBN 978-1-906335-54-0 (print), ISBN 978-1-906335-55-7 (pdf), pp 103, made available in over 100 countries in the world, February 2022

• Georgopoulos C. (2019) Essential Knowledge Text on Stress and Strain, book for practitioners / academics / students, the Institution of Structural Engineers (2019)

• Georgopoulos C., Minson A (2017), Sustainable Concrete Solutions for Buildings in the UK, review paper, Proceedings 6th Structural Engineers World Congress, Cancun, Mexico, 14-17 November 2017.

• Georgopoulos C., Minson A (2017), Sustainable Concrete Solutions in the UK, review paper, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, ‘Construction Materials' Journal. (abstract accepted)

Georgopoulos C., Minson A. (2014), Sustainable Concrete Solutions, book for students, academics and practitioners, Wiley Blackwell, Publishers, UK. ISBN: 978-1-119-96864-1, 256pp.

• Damdelen O., Georgopoulos C., Limbachiya M. (2014), Measuring thermal mass in sustainable concrete mixes, Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture, USA, Feb 2014, Volume 8, No 2, ISSN 1934-7359, pp. 2013-220

• Glass B. A., Dyer T., Georgopoulos C., Goodier C., Paine K., Parry T., Baumann H., Gluch P. (2013) Future use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) in civil engineering, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, ‘Construction Materials' Journal, May 2013, Volume 166, Issue 4, pp. 204-212.

• Georgopoulos C. (2013), The challenge of learning conceptual design of sustainable concrete-framed buildings at universities, Proceedings of 1st International Conference on Concrete Sustainability, Tokyo, Japan, 27-29 May 2013.

• Bostanci C. S., Limbachiya M., Georgopoulos C. (2013) Contribution of composite cements in reducing embodied CO2, Proceedings of International Conference on Sustainable Construction Materials & Technologies, Kyoto, Japan, 18-21 August 2013.

• Georgopoulos C. (2011), "Concrete research in support of the next Eurocode 2", the Structural Engineer, Journal of IStructE, 1 February 2011, Volume 89, Number 3, pp. 16-18.

• Georgopoulos C. (2008), "Supporting research and teaching of concrete in the UK", the Structural Engineer, Journal of IStructE, 1 April 2008, Volume 86, Number 7, pp. 41-44.

• Georgopoulos C. (2007), "Concrete research is needs driven", the Structural Engineer, Journal of IStructE, 4 December 2007, Volume 85, Number 23/24, pp. 24-26.

• Georgopoulos C. (2007), "Concrete takes the lead in sustainable construction", Civil Engineering Journal, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, May 2007, Volume 160, p. 53.

• Georgopoulos C. (2005), "Teaching Structural Design: the WINDS experience", the 8th UNESCO Int. Conference on Engineering Education, Kingston, Jamaica, 7-11 February 2005, pp. 337-341.

• Georgopoulos C. (2004), "Chapter 8 - Extracts from Eurocode 8: Design of structures for earthquake resistance", PP 1990: Guide to the Structural Eurocodes for students of structural design, British Standards Institution, ISBN O 580 4375 X, pp.8-1 to 8-47.

• Georgopoulos C., Lee B. (2003), "Windstorm Vulnerability Assessment of Tiled Roofs in the UK using a Damage Function based on Structural Reliability Analysis", the 11th International Conference on Wind Engineering, Lubbock, Texas, USA, 2-5 June, pp. 1503 -1510.

Qualifications and expertise

• Sustainable Concrete Solutions
• Seismic Design to EC8
• Advanced Concrete Design

Research student supervision

• Mr George Hopartean

Active Engagement with Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs): Member of the IStructE Council (elected by over 1000 members); Chair of IStructE Southern Branch, Vice-chair of the Academic Qualifications Panel, Member of Research Panel, Member of Education Panel (IStructE); Member of Structures Expert Panel (ICE); Founding Editor-in-chief of the ‘Forensic Engineering' international journal (ICE); Expert Member on EC8 of Seismic & Dynamic Events Panel (IStructE)

National & International Beneficial Impact on Sustainable Concrete Structures: Keynote address on ‘R&D in Concrete Technology' Concrete Society; Journal papers (see publications); Established network of 200 academics / researchers on concrete material & structures, Designed and ran four 2-day Concrete Communication Conferences and 1-day Research Symposium (The Concrete Centre); Author of book ‘ Sustainable Concrete Solutions' (Wiley); Technical evening presentations to practitioners for the IStructE (Newcastle, Southampton, Surrey, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.; Member of the Scientific Committee, review paper on Sustainable Structural Engineering in the UK at the 6th Structural Engineers World Congress, Mexico and lead a session at the 8th World Congress in Advanced Materials, Japan.

National & International Beneficial Impact on Earthquake-resistant Structures: State-of-the-art projects (Trident Submarine Refitting Facility at Rosyth & Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station, UK); Lecturer of research-informed practice-driven MSc modules on Seismic Design (Universities in the UK); Member of British Standard Institution (BSI) National Expert Committee for Eurocode 8: Seismic Design; Author of Chapter 8 of PP1990: Guide to Structural Eurocodes for Lecturers and Students Worldwide (BSI); Author of Expert Commentary to Eurocode 8 Plus on-line (BSI); Tutor of the unique 1-day CPD on Seismic Design to Eurocode 8 (ICE and IStructE Regional Groups); 2-day Master Class for Professors from University of Moscow (BSI); 2-day CPD course on Seismic Design (Institution of Engineers Singapore); Author of ‘Worked Examples of Seismic Design to EC8 – Part 1' an IStructE publication in progress.

My achievements as HoD in 2015-18 are summarised below:

NSS2017: Led the spectacular Improvement (from 71% in 2016 to 92% in 2017) KU=80% Sector=84%

Complete University Guide: Amazing improvement from 2015 and moving up three places from 2018 to 2019

Recruitment: Led the amazing recruitment for UG (+24% from last year and 9% above target) and encouraging for PG (similar to last year)

Professional Practice Strategy: teaching informed by professional practice; academics engaged in the development of their professional discipline; students enabled to fulfil professional employment.  In achieving these aims, we facilitate student placements; we participate in national and international student competitions; we train students for professional exams; we establish, develop and use student societies and alumni networks; we nurture relationships with industry for mentoring purposes; we have embedded professional employability into our curriculum; we provide continuous tutoring to our students (Personal Tutoring System) and support their academic skills (Academic Success Centre). Professional Practice is one of the essential pillars supporting our course design and delivery for an enhanced student experience.

Apprenticeships: Kingston University is the academic provider for London and the South working with other regional providers Coventry University, Leeds College of Building-University, Liverpool J Moores University, University of West of England & Solihull College and employers Arup, Atkins, Mott MacDonald, Ch2M Hill and Mouchel as part of the design group for the delivery of the employer-driven Advanced (Degree Level 6 – Integrating a JBM accredited BEng with IEng competences) Technician Apprenticeships in Civil Engineering programme under the Technician Apprenticeships Consortium (http://www.tacnet.org.uk/home/511). 100 apprentices have joined our DA Civil Engineering programme on a 1day-release basis from Jan 2018 with funding secured from the Government's apprenticeships levy 2017 & HEFCE support. First graduations in 2020.

Development and Validation of New Programmes: It was recognised that current provision at Kingston was outdated and needed to be refocused and reinvigorated to offer programmes with a clearer industry employer focus.  The refocused BEng in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering is designed to facilitate integrated teaching across the Faculty's Engineering provision e.g. with Mechanical Engineering that will be based on project-based inter-disciplinary work at all levels. In parallel, the opportunity was taken to embed latest developments in Teaching and Learning.  T&L sessions adopt a hybrid approach based on modern pedagogical principles. Active delivery of syllabus is used throughout dependent on individual module requirements. For any topics where a more formal didactic approach is deemed the most appropriate, the delivery still involves active participation by students, for example, working through exercises and/or using classroom response systems. Subject material and corresponding techniques are typically introduced via problem-centred learning approach to replace traditional lectures.   With regard to the new MEng with Industry Experience, this is a four-year integrated course with 1st, 2nd and 4th year at University and the 3rd  year in Industry on successful placement; it is designed to balance the traditional engineering science curriculum with industry-driven competencies in close collaboration with the Industry.  The distinctive feature of this MEng with Industrial Experience degree provision at Kingston University is that it provides a fast-track opportunity to obtain a degree. During the one year placement students will gain valuable real world, industrial experience and further develop their employability skills.

ICE's Academic Partner: This partnership will provide Kingston and its students a bridge to industry;  ICE will help to prepare students for industry, working with the employability team to support student career and employment activity;  ICE will provide students with access to ICE IPD Online tool so they can start to record their professional development, giving them a head-start when they seek employment; ICE events, cutting-edge knowledge resources and local employer contacts will give students a taste of professional life and the world of civil engineering.  Arranged free ICE Training for academic staff to become Chartered Engineers