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Daniel McCrum

Dr. Daniel McCrum

Lecturer / Assistant Professor

Dr McCrum has a degree in Civil Engineering from Trinity College Dublin (2005), an MSc in Structural Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Glasgow (2006) funded by Scottish Awards Agency Scholarship and a Postgraduate Diploma in Statistics from Trinity College Dublin (2010). Dr McCrum worked as a consulting structural engineer for a couple of years in Dublin prior to undertaking his PhD studies in Trinity College Dublin funded by an Irish Research Council Scholarship. After completing his PhD in 2012, Dr McCrum was appointed as a Lecturer in Structural Engineering in Queen's University Belfast. In 2017, Dr McCrum joined University College Dublin as an Assistant Professor in Structural Engineering. Dr McCrum is a chartered structural engineer with the Institution of Structural Engineers (2016).

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daniel.mccrum@ucd.ie +353 1 716 3214
Dr Samar Raffoul

Dr Samar Raffoul

Research Fellow

Dr Raffoul completed her BSc in Civil Engineering at the University of Balamand (2011), funded by the university merit scholarship, and her MSc in Structural Engineering at the University of Manchester (2012). She acquired her PhD at the University of Sheffield (2018), where she was also involved in two large European collaborative projects funded through FP7 and COST, respectively. In 2018, Dr Raffoul worked for 2 years at a cold formed steel manufacturing company as a KTP research associate, a collaborative role between industry and academia, to develop refined design solutions for modular frame design. She then worked at an offsite construction consultancy before starting her Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship at UCD in 2022. Dr. Raffoul’s research focuses on connection behaviour in modern methods of construction under accidental loading.

Sohini Mishra

Sohini Mishra

PhD Candidate

Ms. Sohini has completed a bachelor in engineering (BE, civil engineering) from the Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology (IIEST) in 2005 with a first-class honors degree. Sohini joined TATA consulting Engineers Ltd (TCE), a leading global consultancy organization in 2005, and worked there for 14 years as a senior structural engineer. She was particularly associated with the analysis and design of a wide variety of complex industrial structures with multifaceted functionalities. She delivered successfully 70+ industrial structures. Sohini received a “Value Award” for her significant contribution to the organization. Sohini also contributed to the research and development practice in TCE and her research on the ‘Flexible foundation of stacker reclaimer’ was published on the Company website. Sohini returned to academia in 2019 and completed her Master’s in Structural Engineering at University College Dublin (UCD) with a first-class honors degree.

Si-Hwa Heng

Si-Hwa Heng

PhD Candidate

Heng Si Hwa is a graduate of University College Dublin (UCD). He obtained his BSc Engineering Science and ME Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering degrees from UCD in 2018 and 2020, respectively. He is also a graduate structural engineer and research engineer of MJH Structural Engineers (MJHSE) in Blackrock, Co. Dublin. With MJHSE, he has participated in the design of the world tallest modular building, Ten Degrees situated in Croydon, London. Heng is also a student member of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) and the Steel Construction Institute (SCI). Heng is currently holding a 3 years scholarship from Irish Research Council (IRC) under the Employment-based Postgraduate Programme to investigate the robustness of modular buildings constructed using hot-rolled corner-supported modules in the event where critical gravitational load-bearing elements such as columns are severely damaged.

Yao Sun

Yao Sun

Assistant Professor

Dr Sun completed his BEng in Civil Engineering at Tongji University (2016), his MSc in Structural Engineering at Imperial College London (2017), and his PhD at Nanyang Technological University (2020), where he was also involved in a large Singaporean research project on composite structures funded by the Ministry of Education, Singapore. Upon completion of his PhD, Dr Sun was appointed as a Lecturer by Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. In 2022, he joined University College Dublin as an Assistant Professor in Structural Engineering. Dr Sun's research focuses on high-performance steel structures and modern construction methods.

Xuekang Guo

Xuekang Guo

Visiting Scholar

Xuekang Guo completed his bachelor’s degree of Civil Engineering from Henan University of Urban Construction in 2016. Xuekang continue his research career in Beijing University of Technology (BJUT) since 2017 during this time he got his Master degree and then move to his Ph.D. candidature. Xuekang’s research topic is the structural resistance of reinforced concrete shear walls against blast and progressive collapse. Funded by China Scholarship Council, he will join Dr Daniel McCrum’s research group for the next year (January 2023 to January 2024) as a visiting scholar, to proceed his topic under the guidance of Dr. Daniel McCrum (UCD) and Prof. Yi Li (BJUT).

Shuo Wang

Shuo Wang

Postdoctoral Researcher

Shuo Wang completed his BE in Civil Engineering at the Chan'an University (2017) and MEngSc in Structural Engineering at the University College Dublin (UCD) in 2018. He continued his PhD study at UCD and completed it in 2023. His research focuses on bridge health monitoring and bridge weigh-in-motion. After finishing his Ph.D., he currently is working on two projects funded through Construct Innovate and Enterprise Ireland on the modern method of construction (MMC): 1. current public and industry perception of MMC in Ireland, and 2. developing a new system for Standards, Testing, Certification, and Accreditation for MMC in Ireland.

Chanchal Sonkar

Chanchal Sonkar

Ramen Research Fellow

Dr Sonkar completed his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India (2011), and his M.Tech (2014) and Ph.D. (2021) in Structural Engineering from Academy of Scientific & Innovative Research, India. Dr Sonkar’s PhD focused on structural behaviour of cold-formed steel wall panels. He joined CSIR-Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee as a Trainee Scientist in 2012 and presently working as a Senior Scientist in Structural Engineering Group, CSIR-CBRI, Roorkee, India. Dr Sonkar has been awarded various grants as a principal investigator by the Ministry of Science and Technology, India to develop structurally and thermally efficient lightweight structures. He recently received a prestigious SIRE Fellowship from the Indian Science and Engineering Research Board, to visit School of Civil Engineering, UCD for six months as SIRE Fellow. Dr Sonkar is also an Associate Member – The Institution of Engineers (India).

Contact the Modern Methods of Construction Research Group

Newstead, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
T: +353 1 716 3214 | Location Map(opens in a new window)