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Williams

Martin Williams

BSc PhD Brist, MA Oxf, FICE, FIStructE
Tutor in Engineering; Professor of Engineering Science

I studied civil engineering at Bristol University in the 1980s, then worked as a structural design engineer for a few years before taking up my current appointment in 1989. Besides being a tutor at New College, I currently head the civil engineering section of the Department of Engineering Science, and am an elected member of Council, the University’s governing body.

Teaching

Within College I teach structures, mechanics and mathematics to the first and second years. In the Engineering Science Department, I lecture on core mechanics topics in the early years of the course and on the structural parts of the civil engineering options in the later years.

Research Interests

My research is on the dynamics of structures; I aim to understand the causes of problematic or damaging vibrations, and to design, test and validate methods of reducing them. Examples include buildings subjected to large earthquakes, and structures such as footbridges and grandstands which may experience synchronised crowd loading. I'm also developing an interest in the performance and preservation of historic structures, particularly from ancient Rome.

Selected Publications

  • Reconfiguring practice: the interdependence of experimental procedure and computing infrastructure in distributed earthquake engineering. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 368, 4073-4088, 2010 (with G. de la Flor et al).
  • Grandstand simulator for dynamic human-structure interaction experiments. Experimental Mechanics, 50, 825-834, 2010 (with A. Comer, A. Blakeborough).
  • Evaluation of yielding shear panel device for passive energy dissipation. Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 65, 260-268, 2009 (with R. Chan, F. Albermani).
  • Statistical model of crowd jumping loads. Journal of Structural Engineering, 134, 1852-1861, 2008 (with J. Sim et al).
  • Operator splitting method for real-time substructure testing. Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, 35, 293-314, 2006 (with B. Wu et al).

Telephone Number: 01865 273102

Email: martin.williams@eng.ox.ac.uk

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