Curriculum vitae

Amr Ghanem, Ph.D.

Structural Engineer & Multi-Hazard Resilience Researcher

aghanem@hawaii.edu · Honolulu, Hawaiʻi · ORCID 0000-0002-1855-5421 · amr-ghanem.github.io

Last updated 1 September 2026

Experience

2023–Present

Associate Researcher

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa · Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

Multi-hazard assessment, risk mitigation, and applied AI in structural engineering.

Continuing research programme in multi-hazard vulnerability and risk mitigation
Applications of AI and deep learning to structural assessment
Ongoing collaboration producing peer-reviewed output alongside full-time practice

2023–Present

Advanced Structural Designer and Analyst

Martin, Chock & Carden, Inc. · Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

Design and analysis of buildings, bridges and infrastructure.

Design and development of advanced structural systems for buildings, bridges and infrastructure projects
Static, dynamic and finite element analyses to determine load capacities, stresses and deflections
Evaluation of structural behaviour and performance of existing and proposed designs
Design drawings, specifications and reports to applicable standards and regulations

2019–2023

Research Assistant

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa — Structures Lab · Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

Multi-hazard vulnerability assessment, structural health monitoring and risk mitigation. Advisor: Do-Soo Moon.

Built the fragility analysis tool computing probability of failure under earthquake and tsunami loading via nonlinear dynamic analysis
Derived a quantitative index for comparing fragility curves across structural systems
Long-term structural health monitoring of aging bridges using smart sensors, static and dynamic
Deep-learning crack detection and classification in reinforced concrete via image processing
Shoreline stabilisation study using sand savers to reduce erosion through wave reflection and energy dissipation
Sustainable green lightweight concrete assessment

2019–2023

Research Mentor & Structure Seminar Coordinator

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa — Structures Lab · Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

Led graduate and undergraduate students through laboratory research projects
Coordinated departmental research seminars and international research presentations

2017–2019

Research Assistant

Cairo University — Structures Lab · Giza, Egypt

Seismic behaviour of eccentrically braced steel frames. Advisors: Sherif A. Mourad, Maha M. Hassan.

Parametric study computing the seismic reduction factor for eccentrically braced steel frames using nonlinear static pushover and time-history analyses

2018–2019

Structural BIM Coordinator / Specialist

Cosmos-E Engineers & Consultants · Egypt

Integrated project datasets across design office, change management and risk analysis disciplines
Delivered BIM training and technical support across engineering disciplines
Projects: H.B. Fuller adhesives factory; Jolie Ville International Congress Center; Ghabbour Auto manufacturing facility

2016–2018

Structural Design Engineer

Cosmos-E Engineers & Consultants · Egypt

Steel structure design to AISC and Eurocode
Value engineering to reduce material quantities while maintaining required safety
Projects: Al Nouran beet sugar plant and refinery; Suez Steel melt shop and rolling mill; Porto October Boulevard and Stanley buildings; El-Sewedy cement plant

Education

2019–2023

Ph.D., Civil Engineering — Structural

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa · Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

Integrated Framework for Multi-Hazard Resilience Assessment of Infrastructures

Advisor: Do-Soo Moon

East-West Center Student Affiliate, 2019–2023

Credential ID 2306-UKD3-AAM7

2016–2019

M.Sc., Structural Engineering

Cairo University · Giza, Egypt

The Effect of the Height of the Structure on the Seismic Reduction Factor of Eccentric Braced Steel Frames

Advisors: Sherif A. Mourad and Maha M. Hassan

2011–2016

B.Sc., Civil Engineering

Cairo University · Giza, Egypt

Graduated with Honors (Cum Laude)

Licensure and certification

2020Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) — NCEES · ID 20-881-70
2016Revit Structure 2015 Certified Professional — Autodesk · ID 00450646

Funded research

Projects worked on, with the role held on each. Not principal investigator on any of them.

2021–2022Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center (U.S. DOT) (PSR-21-71) — Integrated hazard vulnerability assessment and mitigation framework for transportation infrastructures. Research assistant.
2019–2023Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation — Long-term structural health monitoring of aging bridges using smart sensors. Research assistant.
2020–2022Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation — Shoreline stabilisation using sand savers to reduce erosion through wave reflection and energy dissipation. Research assistant.
2021–2023King Saud University (RSP-2021/264) — Assessment of sustainable green lightweight concrete. Co-investigator.

Teaching

Spring 2022CEE 370 — Mechanics of Solids — Instructor, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa · 95 students
Spring 2022CEE 370L — Mechanics of Materials Lab — Instructor, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa · 60 students
Fall 2022CEE 696 — Earthquake Engineering — Teaching Assistant, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Spring 2022CEE 675 — Structural Dynamics — Teaching Assistant, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Spring 2021CEE 484 — Structural Loads — Teaching Assistant, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Spring 2020CEE 381 — Structural Analysis — Teaching Assistant, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Invited lectures

Fall 2022Multi-hazard fragility assessment of reinforced concrete infrastructures — invited lecture, Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST)
Spring 2021CEE 484 — IBC seismic provisions — invited lecture, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Fall 2018IEDM 601 — BIM Standards and Applications — invited lecture, Cairo University

Honours and awards

2022Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award — University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, College of Engineering
2021, 2022Hawaii Asphalt Paving Industry Scholarship — Hawaii Asphalt Paving Industry
2022Resesio — 2nd place, UH Venture Competition (~$19,400 cash and in-kind) · Summer Startup Launchpad, 2022 cohort
2020, 2021Everett E. Black Scholarship — UH Mānoa College of Engineering
2021National Conference on Earthquake Engineering Grant — Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
2021Model-C — 1st place, UH Breakthrough Innovation Challenge ($5,000)
2020Structural Engineers Association of Hawaii Scholarship — SEAOH
2016German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Research Fellowship — Universität Stuttgart

Publications

Journal articles

Abdelhafeez, M., Park, H., Sherif, M., Ghanem, A., & Moon, D.-S. (2026). “Effects of tsunami wave and bathymetric parameters on hydrodynamic forces and structural fragility” Journal of Building Engineering, 118, Article 115077. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2025.115077
Alqahtani, F. K., Sherif, M., Abdelhafeez, M. H., Ghanem, A., & Shafaay, M. A. (2025). “Toward sustainable inclusive construction: A comprehensive life cycle assessment of disability needs requirements in civil engineering projects” Journal of Disability Research, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.57197/JDR-2024-0118
Alqahtani, F. K., Sherif, M., Abdelhafeez, M. H., Ghanem, A., Shafaay, M. A., & Alkahtani, B. N. (2025). “Enhancing accessibility for people with disabilities through upgrades in construction facilities in Saudi Arabia: A quantitative assessment” Journal of Disability Research, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.57197/JDR-2024-0114
Alqahtani, F. K., Sherif, M., Ghanem, A., Abdelhafeez, M., & Shafaay, M. A. (2025). “Optimizing accessibility utilizing simulation-based framework for efficient resource allocation and scheduling for disability-friendly utilities” Scientific Reports, 15(1), Article 25318. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08221-w
Sherif, M. A., Ghanem, A. M., Abdelhafeez, M. H., Jung, D., Kim, D.-J., & Moon, D.-S. (2025). “Fragility curve-based resilience index for structural vulnerability assessment in hazard analysis” Smart Structures and Systems.
Alqahtani, F. K., Sherif, M., Ghanem, A., & Abdelhafeez, M. (2025). “Inclusive crowd evacuation modeling under heterogeneous mobility constraints” Scientific Reports, 15(1), Article 35337. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-19403-x
Ghanem, A., Lee, Y.-J., & Moon, D.-S. (2024). “Seismic vulnerability of reinforced concrete frame structures: Obtaining plan or vertical mass irregularity from structure use change” Journal of Structural Engineering, 150(3), Article 04023243. https://doi.org/10.1061/JSENDH.STENG-12440
Alqahtani, F. K., Sherif, M. A., & Ghanem, A. M. (2023). “Green lightweight concrete utilizing sustainable processed recycled plastic aggregates: Technical, economic and environmental assessment” Construction and Building Materials, 393, Article 132027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.132027
Alqahtani, F. K., Sherif, M. A., Ghanem, A. M., & Abotaleb, I. S. (2022). “Assessment of sustainable green lightweight concrete incorporated in new construction technologies” KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 26(12), 4942–4959. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-022-2353-x
Ghanem, A., Hassan, M., & Mourad, S. (2019). “Assessment of seismic behavior of eccentric braced steel frames” International Journal of Advances in Structural and Geotechnical Engineering, 3(1), 103–113. https://doi.org/10.21608/asge.2019.271010

Conference papers

Sherif, M., Ghanem, A., Abdelhafeez, M., & Moon, D. (2022). “Indexing seismic fragility curves of skewed reinforced concrete bridges” 12th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (12NCEE), Salt Lake City.
Abdelhafeez, M., Ghanem, A., Sherif, M., Park, J., & Moon, D. (2022). “Non-destructive structural condition assessment method using multi-sensor fusion” 12th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (12NCEE), Salt Lake City.
Abdelhafeez, M., Ghanem, A., & Sherif, M. (2022). “Probabilistic fragility analysis of reinforced concrete structures under tsunami hydrodynamic loads of the ASCE 7 standard” Ports 2022, 488–497. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784484395.049
Ghanem, A., Sherif, M., Abdelhafeez, M., Lee, Y.-J., & Moon, D. (2022). “Relationship between seismic redundancy and failure likelihood for mass-eccentric reinforced concrete frame structures” 12th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering (12NCEE), Salt Lake City.
Ghanem, A., & Moon, D. (2021). “Seismic fragility assessment of skewed reinforced concrete bridges” 17th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (17WCEE), Sendai, Japan. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.13978.82882
Ghanem, A., Moon, D., & Lee, Y. (2021). “Seismic fragility surface of irregular reinforced concrete frame structures” 17th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (17WCEE), Sendai, Japan. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10623.38562

Preprints

Ghanem, A., Moon, D.-S., & Lee, Y.-J. (2021). “Seismic vulnerability assessment of skewed reinforced concrete bridges” Engineering Archive. https://doi.org/10.31224/osf.io/cy5pj
Ghanem, A., & Moon, D.-S. (2021). “Seismic fragility analysis of 3D vertical irregular reinforced concrete structures” Engineering Archive. https://doi.org/10.31224/osf.io/zn9uh

Dissertation and thesis

Ghanem, A. (2023). “Integrated framework for multi-hazard resilience assessment of infrastructures” University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11462.24646
Ghanem, A. (2019). “Effect of the height of structures on the force reduction factor of eccentric braced frames” Cairo University. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.19309.33765

Technical reports

Sherif, M., Ghanem, A., Moon, D.-S., & Cho, C. (2022). “Integrated hazard vulnerability assessment and mitigation framework with mixed reality for transportation infrastructures” Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center / METRANS, PSR-21-71.

Technical skills

AnalysisNonlinear dynamic analysis · Fragility analysis · Finite element analysis · Pushover analysis · Time-history analysis · Structural dynamics
HazardsSeismic · Tsunami · Multi-hazard · ASCE 7 · IBC seismic provisions · Resilience assessment · Hazard assessment · Mitigation planning
ProgrammingPython · MATLAB · Simulink · Deep learning · Image processing
SoftwareSAP2000 · Zeus-NL · Autodesk Revit · Advance Steel · Navisworks · AutoCAD
Design codesAISC · ACI · Eurocode · ASCE 7 · IBC

Professional affiliations

Structural Engineers Association of Hawaii (SEAOH) · Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) · American Society of Civil Engineers / Structural Engineering Institute (ASCE/SEI) · American Concrete Institute (ACI) · Egyptian Engineers Syndicate