Ken Elwood

Dr. Ken Elwood is an Honorary Affiliate Professor in the Structural & Earthquake Engineering department at the University of Auckland. He previously served as faculty at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and holds the MBIE Chair in Earthquake Engineering. He leads the QuakeCoRE Centre of Research Excellence, focusing on earthquake resilience. His work centers on seismic assessment of concrete/masonry buildings, performance-based design, and disaster resilience.

Education:

• PhD in Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley (2002)
• M.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1995)
• BASc, University of British Columbia (1993)

Research Interests: Dr. Elwood’s expertise spans seismic retrofit, nonlinear analysis, shake table testing, and earthquake disaster resilience. His studies address critical challenges in retrofitting non-ductile structures and enhancing building codes.

Professional Roles:

• Director of QuakeCoRE Centre of Research Excellence
• Member, Board of Directors of Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI)
• Chair, EERI Learning from Earthquakes Program

Publications: His recent work emphasizes post-earthquake functionality of infrastructure, seismic performance evaluation of concrete buildings, and probabilistic models for structural resilience. Key themes include Christchurch and Concepcion earthquake case studies, masonry wall behavior, and column confinement innovations.

Labs/Teams: Directs QuakeCoRE and collaborates with international researchers via EERI and ACI committees.