BSc, MSc, DIC, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) specialising in structural earthquake engineering. Prior to joining PolyU, I was a President’s PhD Scholar at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London supervised by Professor Peter Stafford and Prof. Ahmed Elghazouli. My doctoral research specifically addressed developing a risk-based structural assessment framework for large-scale offshore structures under seismic and combined dynamic loading and investigating the seismic structural vulnerability of jacket-supported offshore wind turbines, which are increasingly deployed in seismically active offshore regions.
I hold an MSc from Imperial College London, and a BSc in Civil Structural Engineering from The German University in Cairo. I contributed to the EU-funded FAILNOMORE project at Imperial, developing design guidelines on the mitigation of progressive collapse in steel and composite building frames, while during my MSc at Imperial, my research work focused on developing a generalised phase-field model for fatigue crack growth in elastic–plastic steel components under low-cycle fatigue, relevant to extreme dynamic loading scenarios.
The main unifying thread of my work to date has been understanding how structures perform and fail under extreme conditions and using that understanding to inform better design and assessment practice. I am particularly interested in advance probabilistic assessment methods under extreme events, climate resilience of renewable energy infrastructure, experimental investigation of novel structural materials and systems in extreme conditions, and the development of computation numerical modelling tools to assess low-cycle fatigue fracture in structural members. I am very open to new collaborations. Please get in touch if you think I would be of value and you would benefit from my background and skills.
Honored to receive the EAEE Young Researcher Award for the paper: "Seismic Design of Steel Structures to the Second-Generation Eurocode 8" at the 18th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering in Berlin.
Our paper "Sensitivity of risk-based demand curves to analytical fragility function fitting using multiple-stripe analyses" has been published in Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Sep 2025 - Present
Imperial College London
Oct 2020 - Mar 2021
Imperial College London
2021 — 2025
Imperial College London
2019 — 2020
The German University in Cairo
2013 — 2018
Institute of Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK), University of Stuttgart
2017
Morocco
2024 — 2025
Imperial College London
2022 — 2025
Assisted as a Co-supervisor for the following:
Assisted in delivering the following modules:
The German University in Cairo
2018 — 2019
Assisted in delivering the following modules:
Peer Reviewer
Novelli, V., Freddi, F., Whitworth, M., Stokes, M., Belfoul, A., Esper, S., Vitale, R., Khalil, Z., Feldbrugge, M., Maaroufi, A., Shaimed, H., Skikra, H., Albuerne, A., Redaeli, M., Giardina, G., Adams, K., Gentile, R., Chian, S. C., Boulton, S. J., Jones, J., Milillo, P., Foroughnia, F., Putrino, V., and Black, J. (2023). "The 2023 M 6.8 Al Haouz, Morocco Earthquake: An Integrated Field and Remote Sensing Assessment of Landslides, Building and Heritage Damage, and Accessibility in the High Atlas Region". International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 145, 106400.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. (2026). "Sensitivity of risk-based demand curves to analytical fragility function fitting using multiple-stripe analyses". Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 55(9), 2121-2128.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. (2025). "Seismic risk-based assessment of acceleration demands on a reference 10-MW jacket-supported offshore wind turbine under combined horizontal and vertical excitations". Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 23(14), 6047-6081.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. (2025). "Risk-based structural seismic response assessment of large-scale jacket-supported offshore wind turbines". Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 54(8), 2044-2061.
Demir, A., Günay, S., Marinković, M., Dilsiz, A., Bektaş, N., Khalil, Z., Arslan, M. E., Altunisik, A. C., Caglar, N., Mosalam, K., and Sezen, H. (2024). "2022 Düzce, Türkiye earthquake: Advances in the past 2 decades, lessons learned, and future projections". Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 22(11), 5835-5862.
Khalil, Z., Elghazouli, A. Y., and Martínez-Pañeda, E. (2022). "A generalised phase field model for fatigue crack growth in elastic–plastic solids with an efficient monolithic solver". Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 388, 114286.
Demonceau, J.-F., Golea, T., Jaspart, J.-P., Elghazouli, A., Khalil, Z., Santiago, A., Santos, A. F., Simoes da Silva, L., Kuhlmann, U., Skarmoutsos, G., Baldassino, N., Zandonini, R., Bernardi, M., Zordan, M., Dinu, F., Marginean, I., Jakab, D., Dubina, D., Wertz, F., and Anwaar, O. (2021). Design Recommendations against Progressive Collapse in Steel and Steel-Concrete Buildings. First Edition. ECCS - European Convention for Constructional Steelwork. ISBN: 978-92-9147-172-0.
Elghazouli, A. Y. and Khalil, Z. (2026). "Seismic Design of Steel Structures to the Second-Generation Eurocode 8 – Key Changes and Developments". 18th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering (ECEE26), Berlin, Germany. [EAEE Young Researcher Award]
Vitale, R., Milillo, P., Loos, S., Giardina, G., Novelli, V., Freddi, F., Castellano, G., Vessio, G., De Marinis, P., Whithworth, M., Adams, K., Siau Chen Chian, D., Gentile, R., Redaelli, M., Amrouch, K., Albuerne, A., Belfoul, M., Stokes, M., Esper, S., Khalil, Z., Feldbrugge, M., Black, J., Maaroufi, A., Shaimed, H., Loudyi, D., Skikra, H., Aghraz, A., Ait Babahmad, R., Foroughnia, F., Putrino, V., Spacone, E., Fernando, N., Boulton, S., and Jones, J. (2025). "Advancing Post-Earthquake Damage Detection: Ground Validation and Deep Learning Approach from the 2023 M 6.8 Morocco Earthquake". AGU Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. (2025). "Seismic demands on large-scale jacket-supported offshore wind turbines using a risk-based approach". The International Colloquium on Stability and Ductility of Steel Structures (SDSS 2025), Barcelona, Spain.
Albuerne, A., Novelli, V., Freddi, F., Black, J., Esper, S., Khalil, Z., Giardina, G., Gentile, R., Vitale, R., Whitworth, M., Maaroufi, A., and Shaimed, H. (2025). "Retrofit of historic earthen constructions in Morocco using traditional materials: evaluation of impact of the Al Haouz earthquake". 14th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions (SAHC 2025), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. (2025). "Seismic Acceleration Demands in Jacket-Supported Offshore Wind Turbines". 10th International Conference on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering (COMPDYN), Rhodes, Greece.
Milillo, P., Voelker, B., Vitale, R., Tavakkoliestahbanati, A., Macchiarulo, V., Giardina, G., Novelli, V., Aktas, Y. D., So, E., Castelletti, D., Stringham, C., Galpern, J., Morrison, J., Khalil, Z., Black, J., Esper, S., Albuerne, A., Shaimed, H., Maaroufi, A., Gentile, R., and Freddi, F. (2024). "Low Latency Seismic Urban Damage Maps Using Post-Event High-Resolution SAR Imagery". AGU Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., USA.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. (2024). "Seismic Performance of Jacket-Supported Offshore Wind Turbines". 11th International Conference on Behaviour of Steel Structures in Seismic Areas (STESSA), Salerno, Italy. [Best Paper Award]
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. (2024). "Seismic Assessment of Jacket-Supported Offshore Wind Turbines". 18th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Milan, Italy.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. (2023). "Dynamic Characteristics of Jacket-Supported Offshore Wind Turbines". SECED 2023 Conference: Earthquake Engineering and Dynamics for a Sustainable Future, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Khalil, Z., Martínez-Pañeda, E., and Elghazouli, A. Y. (2021). "A phase-field approach for modelling cyclic fatigue-induced fracture in dissipative steel components". 17th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Sendai, Japan.
Khalil, Z. and El-Shennawy, A. (2019). "Design of SFRC according to FIB model code 2010 using simplified diverse embedment model (SDEM) as a design input". Proceedings of the Fib Symposium 2019: Concrete-Innovations in Materials, Design and Structures, Krakow, Poland.
Dilsiz, A., Gunay, S., Mosalam, K., Miranda, E., Arteta, C., Sezen, H., Fischer, E., Hakhamaneshi, M., Hassan, W., ALhawamdeh, B., Andrus, S., Archbold, J., Arslanturkoglu, S., Bektas, N., Ceferino, L., Cohen, J., Duran, B., Erazo, K., Faraone, G., Feinstein, T., Gautam, R., Gupta, A., Haj Ismail, S., Jana, A., Javadinasab Hormozabad, S., Kasalanati, A., Kenawy, M., Khalil, Z., Liou, I., Marinkovic, M., Martin, A., Merino, Y., Mivehchi, M., Moya, L., Pájaro Miranda, C., Quintero, N., Rivera, J., Romão, X., Camila Lopez Ruiz, M., Sorosh, S., Vargas, L., Velani, P., Wibowo, H., Xu, S., Yilmaz, T., Alam, M., Holtzer, G., Kijewski-Correa, T., Robertson, I., Roueche, D., and Safiey, A. (2023). "StEER-EERI: 2023 Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaras, Türkiye Earthquake Sequence Joint Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report (PVRR)". DesignSafe-CI.
Sezen, H., Can Altunisik, A., Emin Arslan, M., Caglar, N., Demir, A., Bektas, N., Dilsiz, A., Gunay, S., Khalil, Z., Marinkovic, M., Safiey, A., Alam, M., Kijewski-Correa, T., and Mosalam, K. (2023). "StEER 2022 Mw 6.1 Duzce, Turkey Earthquake Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report (PVRR)". DesignSafe-CI.
Burton, H., Dwima, S., Gho, D., Guan, X., Gunay, S., Gupta, A., Khalil, Z., Kusumayani, N., Marinkovic, M., Merino, Y., Nweke, C., Safiey, A., and Mosalam, K. (2022). "StEER: November 21, 2022, Indonesia, Mw 5.6 Earthquake Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report (PVRR)". DesignSafe-CI.
Fischer, E., Aldea, S., Archbold, J., Bantis, J., Bravo, M., Carrillo, J., Ceferino, L., Cheng, K., Cordero, D., Elkady, A., Guerrero, H., Günay, S., Hakhamaneshi, M., Heresi, P., Hoepfinger, C., Khalil, Z., Mathur, V., Martin, A., Metz, A., Mijic, Z., Miranda, E., Pajaro, C., Poulos, A., Ruiz, M., Sepulveda, C., Toraman, E., Wein, A., Wu, K., Zambrano, J., and Zhang, J. (Charlie). (2022). "EERI: Lugu, Taiwan September 18, 2022, Mw 6.9 Earthquake Preliminary Virtual Reconnaissance Report (PVRR)". DesignSafe-CI.
Alberto, Y., Chen, K., Cordero, D., Craun, Z., Diaz-Fanas, G., Fischer, E., Haro, A., Hassan, A., Hakhamaneshi, M., Kenawy, M., Khalil, Z., Martin, A., Nikolaou, S., Paul, N., Rodriguez-Nikl, T., Sadegh, J., Wang, M., Wibowo, H., Wu, K., and Fischer, E. (2020). "EERI Virtual Earthquake Reconnaissance Team (VERT): Phase 1 Response to M7.4 Crucecita, Oaxaca, Mexico Earthquake". DesignSafe-CI.
Fischer, E., Alberto, Y., Amini, M., Calderon, V., Carey, T., Chandrasekhar, D., Cordero, D., Craun, Z., Djima, W., Hamideh, S., Khalil, Z., Mcgowan, S., Saiyed, Z., Sheibani, M., Stahnke, L., Wang, M., Watson, M., Welliver, B., Wibowo, H., and Hakhamaneshi, M. (2020). "EERI Virtual Earthquake Reconnaissance Team (VERT): Phase 1 Response to M5.7 Magna Earthquake". DesignSafe-CI.
An overview of my ongoing and past structural engineering research initiatives.
Developing and implementing robust computational frameworks using phase-field methods to predict complex crack initiation and propagation paths in metallic structures subjected to cyclic loading.
Conducting risk-based structural seismic response assessments of large-scale (e.g., 10-MW) jacket-supported offshore wind turbines. This work involves evaluating acceleration demands under combined horizontal and vertical excitations, employing multiple-stripe analyses to construct reliable fragility functions.
Co-developed design guidance on mitigating progressive collapse risk in steel and composite building frames under exceptional events, as part of the RFCS-funded FAILNOMORE project involving partners across Europe.
As a member of the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT), I participated in a multi-disciplinary field investigation of the structural damage caused by the Mw 6.8 earthquake that struck Morocco in September 2023, utilizing remote sensing and fieldwork for damage assessments and retrofitting strategy development.
Complete list of journal articles, books, conference proceedings, and technical reports.
Novelli, V., Freddi, F., Whitworth, M., Stokes, M., Belfoul, A., Esper, S., Vitale, R., Khalil, Z., Feldbrugge, M., Maaroufi, A., Shaimed, H., Skikra, H., Albuerne, A., Redaeli, M., Giardina, G., Adams, K., Gentile, R., Chian, S. C., Boulton, S. J., Jones, J., Milillo, P., Foroughnia, F., Putrino, V., and Black, J.
International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 145, 106400, 2023.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y.
Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 55(9), 2121-2128, 2026.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y.
Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 23(14), 6047-6081, 2025.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y.
Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, 54(8), 2044-2061, 2025.
Demir, A., Günay, S., Marinković, M., Dilsiz, A., Bektaş, N., Khalil, Z., Arslan, M. E., Altunisik, A. C., Caglar, N., Mosalam, K., and Sezen, H.
Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 22(11), 5835-5862, 2024.
Khalil, Z., Elghazouli, A. Y., and Martínez-Pañeda, E.
Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 388, 114286, 2022.
Demonceau, J.-F., Golea, T., Jaspart, J.-P., Elghazouli, A., Khalil, Z., Santiago, A., Santos, A. F., Simoes da Silva, L., Kuhlmann, U., Skarmoutsos, G., Baldassino, N., Zandonini, R., Bernardi, M., Zordan, M., Dinu, F., Marginean, I., Jakab, D., Dubina, D., Wertz, F., and Anwaar, O. ECCS - European Convention for Constructional Steelwork, ISBN: 978-92-9147-172-0, 2021.
Elghazouli, A. Y. and Khalil, Z. 18th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering (ECEE26), Berlin, Germany, 2026.
[EAEE Young Researcher Award]
Vitale, R., Milillo, P., Loos, S., Giardina, G., Novelli, V., Freddi, F., Castellano, G., Vessio, G., De Marinis, P., Whithworth, M., Adams, K., Siau Chen Chian, D., Gentile, R., Redaelli, M., Amrouch, K., Albuerne, A., Belfoul, M., Stokes, M., Esper, S., Khalil, Z., Feldbrugge, M., Black, J., Maaroufi, A., Shaimed, H., Loudyi, D., Skikra, H., Aghraz, A., Ait Babahmad, R., Foroughnia, F., Putrino, V., Spacone, E., Fernando, N., Boulton, S., and Jones, J. AGU Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 2025.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. The International Colloquium on Stability and Ductility of Steel Structures (SDSS 2025), Barcelona, Spain, 2025.
Albuerne, A., Novelli, V., Freddi, F., Black, J., Esper, S., Khalil, Z., Giardina, G., Gentile, R., Vitale, R., Whitworth, M., Maaroufi, A., and Shaimed, H. 14th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions (SAHC 2025), Lausanne, Switzerland, 2025.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. 10th International Conference on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering (COMPDYN), Rhodes, Greece, 2025.
Milillo, P., Voelker, B., Vitale, R., Tavakkoliestahbanati, A., Macchiarulo, V., Giardina, G., Novelli, V., Aktas, Y. D., So, E., Castelletti, D., Stringham, C., Galpern, J., Morrison, J., Khalil, Z., Black, J., Esper, S., Albuerne, A., Shaimed, H., Maaroufi, A., Gentile, R., and Freddi, F. AGU Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., USA, 2024.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. 11th International Conference on Behaviour of Steel Structures in Seismic Areas (STESSA), Salerno, Italy, 2024.
[Best Paper Award]
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. 18th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Milan, Italy, 2024.
Khalil, Z., Stafford, P. J., and Elghazouli, A. Y. SECED 2023 Conference: Earthquake Engineering and Dynamics for a Sustainable Future, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2023.
Khalil, Z., Martínez-Pañeda, E., and Elghazouli, A. Y. 17th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Sendai, Japan, 2021.
Khalil, Z. and El-Shennawy, A. Proceedings of the Fib Symposium 2019: Concrete-Innovations in Materials, Design and Structures, Krakow, Poland, 2019.
Dilsiz, A., Gunay, S., Mosalam, K., Miranda, E., Arteta, C., Sezen, H., Fischer, E., Hakhamaneshi, M., Hassan, W., ALhawamdeh, B., Andrus, S., Archbold, J., Arslanturkoglu, S., Bektas, N., Ceferino, L., Cohen, J., Duran, B., Erazo, K., Faraone, G., Feinstein, T., Gautam, R., Gupta, A., Haj Ismail, S., Jana, A., Javadinasab Hormozabad, S., Kasalanati, A., Kenawy, M., Khalil, Z., Liou, I., Marinkovic, M., Martin, A., Merino, Y., Mivehchi, M., Moya, L., Pájaro Miranda, C., Quintero, N., Rivera, J., Romão, X., Camila Lopez Ruiz, M., Sorosh, S., Vargas, L., Velani, P., Wibowo, H., Xu, S., Yilmaz, T., Alam, M., Holtzer, G., Kijewski-Correa, T., Robertson, I., Roueche, D., and Safiey, A. DesignSafe-CI, 2023.
Sezen, H., Can Altunisik, A., Emin Arslan, M., Caglar, N., Demir, A., Bektas, N., Dilsiz, A., Gunay, S., Khalil, Z., Marinkovic, M., Safiey, A., Alam, M., Kijewski-Correa, T., and Mosalam, K. DesignSafe-CI, 2023.
Burton, H., Dwima, S., Gho, D., Guan, X., Gunay, S., Gupta, A., Khalil, Z., Kusumayani, N., Marinkovic, M., Merino, Y., Nweke, C., Safiey, A., and Mosalam, K. DesignSafe-CI, 2022.
Fischer, E., Aldea, S., Archbold, J., Bantis, J., Bravo, M., Carrillo, J., Ceferino, L., Cheng, K., Cordero, D., Elkady, A., Guerrero, H., Günay, S., Hakhamaneshi, M., Heresi, P., Hoepfinger, C., Khalil, Z., Mathur, V., Martin, A., Metz, A., Mijic, Z., Miranda, E., Pajaro, C., Poulos, A., Ruiz, M., Sepulveda, C., Toraman, E., Wein, A., Wu, K., Zambrano, J., and Zhang, J. (Charlie). DesignSafe-CI, 2022.
Alberto, Y., Chen, K., Cordero, D., Craun, Z., Diaz-Fanas, G., Fischer, E., Haro, A., Hassan, A., Hakhamaneshi, M., Kenawy, M., Khalil, Z., Martin, A., Nikolaou, S., Paul, N., Rodriguez-Nikl, T., Sadegh, J., Wang, M., Wibowo, H., Wu, K., and Fischer, E. DesignSafe-CI, 2020.
Fischer, E., Alberto, Y., Amini, M., Calderon, V., Carey, T., Chandrasekhar, D., Cordero, D., Craun, Z., Djima, W., Hamideh, S., Khalil, Z., Mcgowan, S., Saiyed, Z., Sheibani, M., Stahnke, L., Wang, M., Watson, M., Welliver, B., Wibowo, H., and Hakhamaneshi, M. DesignSafe-CI, 2020.
Recent professional announcements and acknowledgements.
Awarded by The European Association for Earthquake Engineering (EAEE) at the 18th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering in Berlin, Germany.
Started a new position as a Research Associate and Postdoctoral Fellow, assessing extreme loading risk on renewable energy infrastructure.
Received a £1500 grant from the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) under the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), UK.
Received the Best Paper Award in the Seismic Performance Assessment Category at the 11th International Conference on Behaviour of Steel Structures in Seismic Areas (STESSA) in Salerno, Italy.
Writing on structural engineering, disaster resilience, and some personal reflections.
