CSIC Special Seminar - Dr Els Verstrynge

Dr Els Verstrynge will present a special CSIC Seminar on the stability assessment of heritage constructions using non-destructive techniques (NDT) and monitoring systems.

Els Verstrynge will be visiting us in Cambridge on the 18th August 2014 and will be delivering a 40 minute presentation, followed by a 20 minute discussion, in the Oatley 1 meeting room from 12.45 to 2pm.    The lecture will first focus on the challenges in stability assessment of heritage constructions and the opportunities in applying non-destructive techniques (NDT) and monitoring systems in support of the assessment process. This assessment process is performed at different scales from the material’s micro structure to meso and macro scale tests and on to the level of the monument. For all levels, examples of advanced NDT and SHM will be illustrated. Focus will be on acoustic emission (AE) -based techniques and their application on masonry structures. The results of an experimental study for the development of an AE-detecting fiber optic sensor will be highlighted.

Els Verstrynge graduated as an engineer-architect at KU Leuven, Belgium in 2006.  Her PhD focused on “long-term behaviour of monumental masonry constructions, involving monitoring, modelling and probabilistic evaluation”.

Since 2010, she has been a post-doctoral researcher in the Building Materials and Building Technology Division of KU Leuven.