Biosketch

Prof Gideon van Zilj

Professor and Head Division: Structural Engineering & Civil Engineering Informatics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa

My early research interest in structural durability has remained strong throughout my career. With my education and research development, as well as early career work in structural and computational mechanics, my expertise lies in structural behaviour and integrity.

I personally play a leading role, in chairing an international committee on developing a framework for durability design with strain-hardening cement-based composites, an advanced cement-based construction material. Through this and other international collaboration, I have co-authored papers in leading journals with colleagues at several international institutions worldwide.

As full-time academic, I have fulfilled significant teaching, administrative and management tasks throughout my research career. My second consecutive three-year term as HOD of Civil Engineering has recently ended (December 2015), marked by significant growth in undergraduate students, staff and especially postgraduate enrolment and graduation rate. In 2015, my final year as HOD, 87 new postgraduate students enrolled, and 82 (including 10 PhDs) graduated. This has been a proud achievement, which I consider to be an ultimate contribution to sustainable infrastructure in terms of highly trained and skilled engineers delivered to the South African and international Industry.

I have gained recognition for my contributions as Fellow of the South African Academy of Engineering, member of the Board of Advisors of the International Association of Fracture Mechanics (FRAMCOS), member of the Educational Activities Committee of RILEM, invited speaker at several international conferences and workshops, regular reviewer for 20 leading international journals and member of more than 25 scientific committees of international conferences in my field, other research review panels (NRF, NSF), examiner of PhD dissertations at 8 national and international universities and Chairman of RILEM TC 240-FDS.

Awards for my work include the medals for the upcoming Researcher of the year 2006 and Lecturer of the year 2013, as well as Rector’s awards for research (2010) and general performance (2012-2015) at the Engineering Faculty of Stellenbosch University (SUN). I received the Dr. HWH West award for the best paper in Architecture/ Restoration/ Materials/ Historic Masonry at the 9th Canadian Masonry Symposium, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, 2001. More recently, the paper I wrote as first author in collaboration with 4 international laboratories was chosen as one of 10 outstanding papers in 2015 by the journal for Materials and Structures Board of Editors, for the paper entitled “Comparative testing of crack formation in strain-hardening cement-based composites (SHCC)”.