Dr Mehdi Kashani

At the University of Southampton, I teach and lead modules in structural engineering and earthquake engineering at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. My teaching is closely informed by my research and professional practice in bridge engineering, structural dynamics, and infrastructure resilience.

My current and recent teaching includes:

• Earthquake Engineering (CENV6134) – MSc and Part 4 MEng
  Lead lecturer and module designer, covering seismic hazard, structural dynamics, performance-based seismic design, and nonlinear analysis, supported by laboratory and numerical modelling sessions.

• Integrated Design (CENV3015) – BEng/MEng
  Module lead, supervising multidisciplinary student design teams and providing specialist guidance on structural and bridge engineering design, with emphasis on real-world constraints and professional practice.

In addition, I contribute to teaching and supervision across structural analysis, reinforced concrete design, and infrastructure-related design projects, and I regularly integrate case studies from my research, industry collaborations, and large-scale experimental testing in the National Infrastructure Laboratory.

Dr Kashani is an Associate Professor of Structural and Earthquake Engineering and the Deputy Director of Research in the Department of Civil, Maritime, and Environmental Engineering (CMEE) at the University of Southampton. A member of the Infrastructure Research Group, his work advances the use of cutting-edge computational and experimental methods for assessing and improving the performance of civil infrastructure under extreme loading, environmental degradation, and other natural or human-induced hazards.

Dr Kashani joined the University of Southampton as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in 2017 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2018. Before moving to Southampton, he was a Lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Bristol, where he also earned his PhD in 2014. In 2013, he was a visiting scholar at the University of Washington, collaborating with Prof Laura Lowes. He holds an MSc in Structural Engineering from the University of Surrey, where he specialised in probabilistic modelling of chloride-induced corrosion of reinforced concrete, and a BSc (Hons) in Civil Engineering from Shahid Rajaee University in Tehran.

Alongside his academic career, Dr Kashani has substantial industry experience, having contributed to several major civil engineering projects. Notably, he was part of the structural design team for the award-winning London Olympic Cable Car (Emirates Airline), which received the Institution of Structural Engineers Award for Infrastructure and Transportation Structures in 2013. He served as an external specialised consultant to Jacobs Engineering (2014-2017), advising on the structural performance assessment and remaining life estimation of ageing railway and highway bridges in the UK.

Dr Kashani has an extensive research portfolio, with more than 80 peer-reviewed journal publications, over 50 international conference papers, and multiple book chapters and technical reports. His expertise spans large-scale static and dynamic structural testing, nonlinear modelling, structural vulnerability analysis, and the residual life prediction of ageing infrastructure systems. He is the founder and chair of the fib Working Party 1.1.7 on performance evaluation and service-life extension of existing bridges and serves on fib Task Group 3.1. His corrosion assessment models have been incorporated into major international design and assessment documents, including fib Model Code 2020 and Bulletin 111 (2024).

His research aligns closely with global infrastructure priorities related to resilience, sustainability, and climate adaptation. He has successfully supervised 12 PhD researchers and seven postdoctoral associates and has secured significant external funding from UKRI, Horizon Europe, and major industry partners such as Network Rail and National Highways.

Dr Kashani’s work is deeply connected with the National Infrastructure Laboratory (NIL), whose world-leading facilities enable advanced large-scale testing and integrated geotechnical–structural research. He is committed to expanding NIL’s role in driving collaborative, multidisciplinary projects that address the urgent challenges of climate resilience, net-zero transition, and the long-term performance of critical infrastructure.