Carlos Sousa Oliveira, Retired Professor at IST Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Georesources (DECivil), received the “Professor Nicholas Ambraseys Distinguished Lecture Award” by the European Association for Earthquake Engineering (EAEE). The award is given every 2 years and aims to recognize and encourage outstanding contributions in the field of earthquake engineering in Europe.
According to the award winner, “this recognition is due to my contribution, since the beginning of the 1970s, to the development of Seismology and Seismic Engineering, at national and international level”. “These 50 years have been guided by: the permanent search for solutions to mitigate the damage of earthquakes; the constant participation in national and international organisations, namely the European Association for Earthquake Engineering, which now honours me with this award; the dissemination of knowledge and the promotion of youth participation in earthquake responses”, adds professor Carlos Sousa Oliveira.
The award ceremony will take place during the 37th General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission (ESC2021), which will take place on 23rd September. Professor Carlos Sousa Oliveira will give the lecture “The main developments of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering since middle 1700 ´s and the new challenges for a sustainable society”.
The scientific interests of professor Carlos Sousa Oliveira include structural dynamics, seismic engineering, and risks associated with natural disasters, with greater emphasis on the seismic activity. The professor highlights his several contributions over the years: “the first studies on instruments used to record the strong shaking of the Earth’s surface; the participation in the first Seismic Hazard maps; the collaboration with the SMART-1 network which, for the first time, analysed seismic arrays of nearby stations”.
Professor Carlos Sousa Oliveira also had a very active role in the search for “new low-cost technologies to register earthquakes and thus be able to monitor more places; as well as for the development of Earthquake early warning systems”.
His career was also marked by his constant interest in historical seismology. The professor developed several back-studies to better understand the seismicity in a particular area and its implications for the evolution of Seismic Scales – a topic that professor Carlos Sousa Oliveira will highlight during his lecture, at the ESC2021. “I have always been interested in measuring the in-situ dynamic characteristics in different types of Civil Engineering structures, which gave rise to a great amount of information”, says professor Carlos Sousa Oliveira.
Professor Carlos Sousa Oliveira is the author of numerous articles published in journals of great international prestige. He is associate editor of the Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering. He was chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 15th World Seismic Engineering Conference, held in Lisbon, in September 2012, which brought together more than 3500 experts.
In recognition of his work, the Portuguese Society of Seismic Engineering (SPES) created the “Carlos Sousa Oliveira” Award, which is delivered every two years, to the authors of the best article published in this field.
