Katrin Beyer

Katrin Beyer is a Full Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), leading the Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics Laboratory (EESD) and serving as Dean of the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC). She also holds roles as Director of the Structural Engineering Group (GIS-GE) and President of the ENAC School Council.

• Education:
  • BSc in Civil Engineering (ETH Zurich, 2001)
  • Master’s in Earthquake Engineering (IUSS Pavia, 2003)
  • PhD in Earthquake Engineering (University of Pavia, 2007)

Her research focuses on the seismic behavior of unreinforced masonry structures, particularly historical buildings. She combines large-scale experimental testing, numerical modeling, and digital twinning to advance structural assessment methodologies. Recent work explores machine learning for crack detection and upcycling demolition waste into sustainable masonry systems.

Her publications reflect trends in: seismic risk mitigation, URM building fragility, image-based structural analysis, and innovative digital twin applications.

Beyer has advised over 25 PhD students and contributed to Eurocode 8 revisions. She led the ETH Domain’s CHF 15 million Open Research Data program and co-founded the startup SwissInspect for structural assessment technologies.