Samar Raffoul

Dr. Samar Raffoul is a Research Fellow at the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy at University College Dublin (UCD), where she holds a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. She is actively involved in the Modern Methods of Construction Research Group (MMCRG) and the Centre for Critical Infrastructure Research (CCIR), focusing on innovative and sustainable structural solutions.

Her educational background includes a BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Balamand (2011), an MSc in Structural Engineering from the University of Manchester (2012), and a PhD from the University of Sheffield (2018), where her research explored the use of waste tyre components in FRP-confined concrete.

Dr. Raffoul's research interests span modern methods of construction, structural robustness, composite design, constitutive modelling, and sustainable material development. She is particularly passionate about reducing environmental impact through the reuse of recycled materials such as rubber from end-of-life tyres, and optimizing structural systems for greater sustainability and resilience.

Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on material behavior under extreme conditions, including fire and accidental loading, as well as computational modeling for industrial processes. Key themes include embodied carbon in construction, cyclic behavior of rubberized concrete, post-fire performance of metal structures, and composite cold-formed steel-timber systems. She employs both experimental and numerical methods to advance structural design practices.

Her scientific recognition includes the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. Funded projects include the Horizon 2020 'Concatenation' project on modular construction robustness, the FP7 'Anagennisi' project on tyre reuse in concrete, and a UK KTP project on cold-formed steel systems.

Dr. Raffoul has advised on industrial design solutions through roles at Fusion Building Systems and Evolusion Innovation. She is a member of the Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, reflecting her engagement in academic development. While no formal students are listed, her work supports knowledge transfer to industry and broader engineering communities.

She is affiliated with key research groups: the Modern Methods of Construction Research Group (MMCRG) and the Centre for Critical Infrastructure Research (CCIR) at UCD, contributing to interdisciplinary efforts in resilient and sustainable infrastructure.