Biography

Dr. Tony Yang is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of British Columbia (UBC). He received his B.Sc. (2001) and M.Sc. (2002) from the University of Buffalo, New York, and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006.

Dr. Yang is a preeminent leader in structural and earthquake engineering, acclaimed for his ground-breaking innovation in performance-based design, structural simulation and testing, robotic inspection and construction, and high performance, carbon-neutral and resilient infrastructure. He has led many large research projects, collaborated with many leading engineering firms worldwide and made significant impacts to the national and international codes. His exceptional leadership and mentorship have inspired and trained numerous highly qualified personnel. His outstanding achievements earned him numerous coveted national and international awards.

Dr. Yang has been actively involved with the industry and code development nationally and internationally. He is one of the 19 voting members of the standing committee for earthquake design (SC-ED), which is responsible for writing the seismic design provision for the 2020 & 2025 National Building Code of Canada (NBCC). In addition, he has also been an active member of 14 other Technical Committees in Structural and Earthquake engineering including CSA-S16 (Canadian Steel Building Code) and Canadian Construction Material Centre (CCMC) – Structural Scheme Committee.

Dr. Yang has published over 250 technical papers, books, technical reports and patents. He has served the role of associate editor, regional editor, guest editor, and editorial board member of multiple high-impact journals in his field. This includes the editorial board member of the Computer-aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Journal, a journal recognized to have the highest impact in interdisciplinary studies in civil engineering.

Dr. Yang leads UBC Smart Structures, a research group dedicated to advancing innovative and sustainable solutions in structural and earthquake engineering.

Research Interests

• Advanced numerical simulation and experimental testing
• Innovative structural components and systems
• Advanced robotic construction
• AI-empowered structural monitoring
• Seismic design of steel, concrete, timber, masonry, and composite structures
• Performance-based design

Courses

CIVL 231 Structural Mechanics

CIVL 505 Earthquake Engineering

CIVL 511 Advanced Topics in Steel Structures

CIVL 598A Innovative Structural Systems

Awards & Recognitions

• 2020, EGBC Meritorious Achievement Award, Engineers & Geoscientists British Columbia Canada
• 2019, Technology Award, New Zealand Concrete Society, New Zealand
• 2019, Sandy Cormack Award, New Zealand Concrete Society
• 2016, Best Journal Paper, Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings
• 2015, Outstanding Paper Award, 12th North American Masonry Conference
• 2014, H.A. Krentz Research Award, Canadian Institute of Steel Construction
• 2011, Kwang-Hua Professor, Kwang-Hua Foundation, Shanghai, China

Publications

• K. J. Elwood, Baradaran-Shoraka, M., and Yang, T. Y., “Collapse probability of existing concrete buildings: the evolution of seismic rehabilitation”, in Performance Based Seismic Engineering – Vision for an Earthquake Resilient Society, Springer, In Press.
• T. Y. Yang, Li, T., Tobber, L., and Pan, X., “Experimental and numerical study of honeycomb structural fuses”, Engineering Structures, vol. 204, p. 109814, 2020.
• A. Arabzadeh, Hizaji, R., and Yang, T. Y., “Experimentally studying and development of curved STM to predict the load capacity and failure mode of fixed-ended RC deep beams”, Structures, vol. 23, pp. 289 – 303, 2020.
• T. Y. Yang, Dashlejeh, A. Amani, Arabzadeh, A., and Hizaji, R., “New model for prediction of ultimate load of prestressed RC deep beams”, Structures, vol. 23, pp. 509 – 517, 2020.
• H. Amini Tehrani, Bakhshi, A., and Yang, T. Y., “Online jointly estimation of hysteretic structures using the combination of central difference Kalman filter and Robbins–Monro technique”, Journal of Vibration and Control, vol. 17, no. 4, p. 107754632092560, 2020.
• X. Xie and Yang, T. Y., “Performance Evaluation of Chinese High-Speed Railway Bridges Under Seismic Loads”, International Journal of Structural Stability and Dynamics, vol. 2032341112959246520082, no. 05, p. 2050066, 2020.
• X. Pan and Yang, T. Y., “Postdisaster image‐based damage detection and repair cost estimation of reinforced concrete buildings using dual convolutional neural networks”, Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, vol. 3530, no. 52, pp. 495 – 510, 2020.
• M. Amin Sadeghi, Yang, T. Y., ço, ício, and Pan, S., “Seismic design and performance evaluation of controlled rocking dual-fused bridge system”, Engineering Structures, vol. 212, p. 110467, 2020.
• T. Y. Yang, Atkinson, J., Tobber, L., Tung, D. P., and Neville, B., “Seismic design of outrigger systems using equivalent energy design procedure”, The Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings, vol. 29, no. 10, 2020.
• V. Reza Gharehbaghi, Nguyen, A., Farsangi, E. Noroozinej, and Yang, T. Y., “Supervised damage and deterioration detection in building structures using an enhanced autoregressive time-series approach”, Journal of Building Engineering, vol. 30, p. 101292, 2020.
• Z. – K. Cai, Wang, Z., and Yang, T. Y., “Cyclic Load Tests on Precast Segmental Bridge Columns with Both Steel and Basalt FRP Reinforcement”, Journal of Composites for Construction, vol. 23, no. 3, p. 04019014, 2019.
• Y. Li, Jiang, H., and Yang, T. Y., “Damage Deformation of Flexure-Yielding Steel-Reinforced Concrete Coupling Beams: Experimental and Numerical Investigation”, Advances in Civil Engineering, vol. 201914314323, no. 331, pp. 1 – 15, 2019.
• T. Y. Yang, Sheikh, H., and Tobber, L., “Influence of the Brace Configurations on the Seismic Performance of Steel Concentrically Braced Frames”, Frontiers in Built Environment, vol. 5662411931353138, 2019.
• T. Li, Yang, T. Y., and Tong, G., “Performance‐based plastic design and collapse assessment of diagrid structure fused with shear link”, The Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings, vol. 284345, no. 632, p. e1589, 2019.
• B. R. Robazza, Yang, T. Y., Brzev, S., Elwood, K. J., Anderson, D. L., and McEwen, W., “Response of slender reinforced masonry shear walls with flanged boundary elements under in-plane lateral loading: An experimental study”, Engineering Structures, vol. 190, pp. 389 – 409, 2019.
• H. Etebarian, Yang, T. Y., and Tung, D. P., “Seismic Design and Performance Evaluation of Dual-Fused H-Frame System”, Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 145, no. 12, p. 04019158, 2019.
  W. Guo, Wu, J., Hu, Y., Li, Y., and Yang, T. Y., “Seismic performance evaluation of typical dampers designed by Chinese building code”, Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, vol. 18134241241138141391118252953130142715031403641, no. 241556435387448810, pp. 433 – 446, 2019.
• T. Y. Yang and Zhang, H., “Seismic Safety Assessment of Base-Isolated Buildings Using Lead-Rubber Bearings”, Earthquake Spectra, vol. 353, no. 3, pp. 1087 – 1108, 2019.
• Z. Lu, Zhou, Y., Yang, T. Y., and Papalou, A., “Special Issue: Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures under Extreme Loads”, Sustainability, vol. 11, no. 12, p. 3292, 2019.
• T. Y. Yang, Tung, D. P., and Li, Y., “Equivalent Energy Design Procedure for Earthquake Resilient Fused Structures”, Earthquake Spectra, 2017.
• T. Y. Yang, Tung, D. P., Li, Y., Lin, J. Yuan, Li, K., and Guo, W., “Theory and Implementation of Switch-based Hybrid Simulation Technology for Earthquake Engineering Applications”, Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, vol. 46161283835934368525, no. 14914, pp. 2603 – 2617, 2017.
• T. Y. Yang, Tung, D. P., and Li, Y., “Design and Validation of Fused Truss Moment Frames”, 2nd Huixian International Forum on Earthquake Engineering for Young Researchers. Beijing, China, 2016.
• T. Y. Yang, Xie, X., Lin, J. Y., Li, Y., and Tung, D. P., “Theory and Application of Innovative Hierarchical Control Framework”, 5th SECE. Xian, China, 2016.
• T. Y. Yang, Tung, D. P., and Li, Y., “Performance-based Plastic Design and Evaluation of Linked Column Frames”. 2015.
• T. Y. Yang, Tung, D. P., and Li, Y., “Seismic Design of Novel Steel Resilient Structures”, 8th International Conference on Behaviour of Steel Structures in Seismic Areas. Shanghai, China, 2015.
• M. Baradaran-Shoraka, Yang, T. Y., and Elwood, K. J., “Seismic Loss Estimation of Non-Ductile Reinforced Concrete Buildings”, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 297-310, 2013.
• T. Y. Yang, “Seismic performance assessment procedure for new and existing buildings”, in Seismic risks analysis and management of civil infrastructure systems, Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing, 2013.
• T. Y. Yang, Stojadinovic, B., and Moehle, J., “Demonstration of a Practical Method for Seismic Performance Assessment of Structural Systems”, Earthquake Spectra, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 811-829, 2012.
• T. Y. Yang, Moehle, J., Bozorgnia, F., Zareian, F., and Wallace, J. W., “Performance assessment of tall concrete core-wall building designed using two alternative approaches”, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, vol. 41, no. 11, pp. 1515-1531, 2012.
• T. Y. Yang, Konstantinidis, D., and Kelly, J., “The Influence of Isolator Hysteresis on Equipment Performance in Seismic Isolated Buildings”, Earthquake Spectra, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 275-293, 2010.
• T. Y. Yang and Schellenberg, A., “Using nonlinear control algorithms to improve the quality of shaking table tests”, 9th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering. Toronto, Canada, July 25-29, 2010, 2010.
• T. Y. Yang, Moehle, J., Stojadinovic, B., and Der Kiureghian, A., “Performance evaluation of structural systems: theory and implementation”, ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 135, no. 10, pp. 1146-1154, 2009.
• G. Mosqueda, Yang, T. Y., and Stojadinovic, B., “Assessment of experimental errors in hybrid simulation of seismic structural response”, in Hybrid Simulation Theory, Implementation and Applications, AK Leiden, Netherlands: Taylor & Francis Group, 2008.
• T. Y. Yang, Stojadinovic, B., and Moehle, J., “Hybrid simulation of a zipper-braced steel frame under earthquake excitation”, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 95-113, 2008.
• F. Bozorgnia, Campbell, K., Luco, N., Moehle, J., Naeim, F., Somerville, P., and Yang, T. Y., “Ground motion issues for seismic analysis of tall buildings: a status report”, Structural Design of Tall Buildings, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 665-674, 2007.

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