Biography

Education:

  • Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, 2014
  • M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, 2010
  • B.S./M.Eng. in Civil Engineering (Summa Cum Laude), National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece, 2007

Academic Appointments:

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, 2016 – present
  • Assistant Professor, The Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 2014 – 2016

Graduated Students:

  • Brian Morales (MS – 2020)
  • Hussain AlShawaf (MS – 2020)
  • Karla Santacruz-Reyes (PhD – 2016 , co-advised with Professor George M. Filz, Virginia Tech) [currently: Faculty in Ecuador]
  • Evangelos Kontozoglou (MS – 2015) [currently: Parsons Brinckerhoff UK]

Honors and Awards

  • 2021-2026 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
  • 2021 Arthur Casagrande Professional Development Award, ASCE
  • 2018-2019 Wakeham Fellow
  • 2018 – Outstanding Reviewer Recognition, Elsevier Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering
  • 2017 – Greek International Woman Award in Science
  • 2016 – Outstanding Reviewer Recognition, ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and GeoEnvironmental Engineering
  • 2017 – Engaged Learning and Teaching Community at UC Davis
  • 2016 – Anonymous Thank A Teacher Letter (recognition program Virginia Tech)
  • 2016 – Teacher of the Week – Virginia Tech CIDER (Center for Instructional Develoment and Educational Research)
  • 2015 – W(H)YDOC Young Doctors in Geomechanics Fellow
  • 2015 – ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) ASCE Fellow
  • 2014 – Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Travel Award
  • 2014 – Graduate Student Travel Award, Dean’s Office, University of California, Davis
  • 2014 – Best Presentation Award – Geotechnical Graduate Student Society, UCD, Round Table
  • 2014 – Best Poster Award – Geotechnical Graduate Student Society, UCD, Round Table
  • 2013 – Fugro West Graduate Fellowship
  • 2013 – PEER Delegate – Travel Award for 10th Conference on Urban Earthquake Engineering
  • 2012 – Idriss Award for Excellence in Geotechnical Engineering
  • 2012 – Golden Key International Honor Society
  • 2011 – 2012 Gerondelis Scholarship
  • 2008–2011 International Fulbright Science and Technology Award
  • 2007 – Ippokleides Vogiatzopoulos Award (Top of NTUA class of 2007)
  • 2007 – Thomaideio Academic Award and Medal of Honor (Top of NTUA class of 2007)
  • 2007 – Nikolaou Ι. Kritikou Award (Top of NTUA class of 2007)
  • 2002-2003 –  Technical Chamber of Greece Scholarship for Excellence
  • 2005-2006 –  Technical Chamber of Greece Scholarship for Excellence
  • 2002–2003 – Excellence in Mathematics: C. Papakyriakopoulos Honor
  • 2003 – 2004 – Nikolaou Ι. Kritikou Scholarship
  • 2002–2003  Ioannis Chatsopoulos Honor for Excellence in Descriptive Geometry

Professional Affiliations

  • Engineer In Training – 151437, State of California
  • Licensed Engineer – Technical Chamber of Greece (Registration Number: 115349)
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Associate Member
  • American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), Professional Member
  • Geo-Institute (ASCE), Member
  • Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), Member
  • United States Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research (USUCGER), Member
  • United States Society on Dams (USSD)
  • Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) Association – Member
  • Seismological Society of America (SSA) – Affiliate Member
  • Association of Civil Engineers of Greece (SPME), Member
  • Greek Women in Engineering Association (EDEM), Member
  • Association for Women in Science (AWIS), Member
  • Geotechnical Graduate Student Society of UC Davis (GGSS), Alumni Member

Service

Professional Committee Service

  • Member (2016 – present) – Center for Biomediated and Bioinspired Geotechnics (CBBG) Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
  • Scientific Committee (2016 – present) – International Conference on Natural Hazards and Infrastructure (recurring) http://iconhic2016.com/conference
  • Member (2014-present) – ASCE Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics Committee
  • Member (2018-present) – Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Young Members Committee (YMC)
  • Secretary (2015) – Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Young Members Committee (YMC)
  • Corresponding Member (2014 – present) – Technical Committee TC203 on Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Associated Problems ISSMGE

Journal Reviewer

  • Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
  • Earthquake Spectra
  • Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering
  • Computers and Geotechnics
  • Canadian Geotechnical Journal
  • Geotechnique Letters
  • Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
  • Japanese Society of Civil Engineers – Soils and Foundations
  • Earthquakes and Structures
  • Geofluids
  • Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk

Research Proposal Reviewer

  • National Science Foundation
  • United States Geological Survey
  • METRANS Transportation Center (University of Southern California and California State University)

Conference Session Moderator / Organizer

  • Ziotopoulou, K., and Hu, J. Session Chair and Moderator “Underground Structures”, Performance Based Design III (PBDIII) Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, Vancouver, Canada, July 16-19.
  • Yniesta, S., and Ziotopoulou, K. Conference Minisymposium Chair and Organizer – “MS 63 Recent Advances in Constitutive Modeling for Geotechnical Engineering”, Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference, June 4-7, 2017, San Diego, CA.
  • Ziotopoulou, K., and Montgomery, J. Conference Session Chair and Organizer – Liquefaction Session Geofrontiers 2017, Orlando, FL.
  • Ziotopoulou, K. and Dashti, S. Conference Session Chair and Organizer – “Ground failure and liquefaction: Analysis and Effects on Structures and Lifelines”, International Conference on Natural Hazards and Infrastructure, June 28-30, 2016, Chania, Greece.
  • Ziotopoulou, K. Conference 5-in-5 Session Moderator “Soil Structure Interaction”, International Conference on Natural Hazards and Infrastructure, June 28-30, 2016, Chania, Greece.
  • Mackie, K. and Ziotopoulou, K. Conference Session Chair – “EMI-MS-37 Computational Modeling in Civil Engineering”, Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference, May 22-25, 2016, Vanderbilt University, TN.
  • Planning Committee – Meet the Leaders Event (April 6, 2016) – EERI 68th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
  • Session Moderator – Soil Structure Interaction – Soil / Tsunami, 10th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, July 21-25, 2014, Anchorage, Alaska.

University Service

@ University of California, Davis

  • Graduate Program Committee – Geotechnical Group Representative (Summer 2017 and on)

@ Virginia Tech

  • Faculty Advisor (January 2016-present) – XE (Chi-Epsilon) Honor Society at Virginia Tech
  • Faculty Advisor (January 2015-present) – Library Center for Geotechnical Practice and Research
  • Judge (April 24, 2015) – Civil and Environmental Engineering Research Day Poster Competition
  • Panel Member (August and October 2014) – Via Academic Preparation Program for Ph.D. Students looking for Faculty positions, Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
  • Guest lecturer (October 23, 2015) – ENGR 1014 Freshman Research Seminar “Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering: Research topics and opportunities for undergraduate involvement in research”
  • Guest lecturer (October 2, 2015) – “inVenTs Slush Rush” event with freshmen “Making connections with faculty in a casual setting and learning important networking skills”

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