C.E.E. Lecturer Sofia Gavridou Awarded

Los Angeles, March 2020 – Dr Sofia Gavridou from the Civil Engineering Department at UCLA was awarded a fellowship by the Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program (GDFP) to travel to Greece to work with Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) and Professor Evangelos Efthymiou on introducing concepts of TAll BUilding Structural Design in Greece (the “TABU” project).

Given the lack of experience with tall building construction in Greece, and the absence of relevant courses in curricula of Greek universities, the current state-of-knowledge on Structural Design of Tall Buildings is limited in Greece. The TABU project aims to introduce performance-based seismic design for Tall Buildings in Greece for the first time, and develop a framework for the practical implementation of such approaches. With Thessaloniki as her hometown and the Civil Engineering Department of AUTh being her alma mater, Dr Gavridou is excited to share her knowledge on the topic of Tall Building Structural Design, collaborate with her Greek peers, assist in expanding curriculum at AUTh, and contribute to the advancement of the Structural Engineering profession in Greece.

The TABU project is one of 37 projects that will pair 38 members of the Greek and Cypriot academic diaspora with higher education institutions and collaborators in Greece to work together on curriculum co-development, collaborative research, graduate and undergraduate research training and mentoring activities in the coming months.

The GDFP, now in its third year, is designed to enable brain circulation between Greek universities and universities abroad, strengthen capacity at the host institutions, and develop long-term, mutually-beneficial collaborations. It is funded by the Stravros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) and managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in collaboration with the Fulbright Foundation in Greece.