Doctor Sheida Afshan

Dr Sheida Afshan is an Associate Professor in Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil Maritime and Environmental Engineering at University of Southampton. She leads an active research group of PhD and post-doctoral researchers conducting impactful research in the area of structural engineering and materials. She teaches a range of structural engineering modules covering both structural analysis and design and supervises undergraduate and post-graduate MSc projects.

My research lies in the areas of structural engineering and materials for applications in infrastructure and energy sectors with special emphasis on resilience, sustainability and decarbonisation. A number of my research outputs have had major impact in the development of national and international structural design codes of practice. Through close collaborations with key industrial partners and structural code development committees, the ongoing research activities of my group at Southampton continues to inform future design standards through enabling the use of high performance metallic materials in infrastructure and energy sectors.

My research has been funded by a variety of funding bodies including UKRI EPSRC, Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Civil Engineers and a number of industry collaborators. In 2022, I was awarded the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship for my research on ‘Stainless steel hydrogen storage for net-zero maritime transportation’ investigating the material challenges for liquid hydrogen fuel storage and transportation to facilitate the much needed rapid transition to an energy system underpinned by the hydrogen economy.

I serve as reviewer for national and international research funding bodies including UKRI EPSRC, RAEng and the Portuguese Research Council FCT. I hold External Examiner positions at the University of Birmingham for UG Civil Engineering programmes (2019-2023) and South Bank University London for Structural Engineering subject area (2022-2026).

I am a chartered member of both the Institution of Civil Engineers (MICE) and the Institution of Structural Engineers (MIStructE) and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). I serve as a UK representative member of the European Committee for Eurocode 3 – Part 1.4 (CEN/TC250/SC3 WG4 Evolution of EN 1993-1-4 - Stainless steel) since 2015.