Dr Andrés Alonso Rodriguez is a Lecturer in Structural Engineering at the Catholic University of the North, in Antofagasta Chile. He holds a diploma in Civil Engineering from the Pontifical Xaverian University of Bogotá, Colombia, graduating as the best of his cohort. His main interest is exploring ways to make infrastructure more resilient and sustainable through the development of early warning systems and novel modular and prefabricated solutions that allow for quick reconstruction in the aftermath of natural catastrophes.
Also, he obtained MSc degrees in Civil Engineering from Los Andes University in Bogotá, Colombia; and in Earthquake Engineering for ROSE School, the earthquake engineering and engineering seismology programme of the graduate school in understanding and managing extremes, of the school of superior studies of the University of Pavia IUSS), Italy.
Then he was awarded a scholarship to complete a PhD at ROSE School, where he developed simplified models with closed-form solutions to assess the response of building to strong motion, under the guidance of Professor Eduardo Miranda of Stanford University. In his pursuit of resilient an sustainable infrastructure he is optimizing the use of high-environmental impact construction materials; developing methods for improving the understanding of the structural behaviour of complex systems; and, exploring the use of Big-Data and closed-form solutions to formulate digital twins that ease the real-time management of infrastructure while tracking potential natural risks originating on its surroundings.
