Dr Mohammad Mehdi Kashani

About

Dr Mohammad Mehdi Kashani is an Associate Professor of Structural Engineering and the Department Director of Research at the University of Southampton. He earned his PhD in Structural/Earthquake Engineering from the University of Bristol in 2014, where he subsequently served as an Assistant Professor before transitioning to his current institution. As a Chartered Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers (CEng MIStructE) and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE), his work bridges the gap between advanced computational modelling and practical asset management, focusing heavily on the seismic performance, resilience, and service-life extension of ageing reinforced concrete infrastructure.

Prior to his academic career, he worked as a structural engineer at AECOM, contributing to major UK infrastructure designs including the London Cable Car and the Crossrail Elizabeth Line. Dr Kashani actively drives international structural standards as the Founder and Chair of the fib Working Party 1.1.7 on existing bridges. Furthermore, he leads significant multi-institutional initiatives, most notably serving as the Principal Investigator and consortium coordinator for the €1.05 million EU Horizon Europe MSCA REVIVE project. His high-impact research output has been widely recognized globally, earning him prestigious accolades such as the 2025 ICE John Henry Garrood King Medal and consistent placement on Stanford University's list of the World's Top 2% Scientists.

Academic qualifications

• PhD in Structural / Earthquake Engineering, University of Bristol, UK — Apr 2008 – May 2014
• MSc in Structural Engineering, University of Surrey, UK — Sept 2005 – Sept 2006
• BSc (Hons) in Construction Engineering, Shahid Rajaee University, Iran — Oct 2001 – Jul 2005

Research interests

• Infrastructure Asset Management: Assessment, monitoring, and service life extension of ageing reinforced concrete and metal railway bridges.
• Smart Infrastructure & Digital Twins: Application of Artificial Intelligence, data analytics, Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE), and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM).
• Seismic & Earthquake Engineering: Nonlinear structural behaviour, seismic performance of corrosion-damaged bridge piers, and inelastic buckling of reinforcement.
• Resilient & Bio-Inspired Design: Development of demountable, resilient structural systems inspired by the human spine for next-generation accelerated bridge construction.
• Sustainable Infrastructure: Utilization of low-carbon materials, advanced composite materials, and structural aluminium alloys for rehabilitation and design.

Latest publications

1. Ziliang Zhang, Saba Ghassemi, Geoff Watson, Stuart Moy, William Powrie, Mohammad M. Kashani (2026), A synthesised material model and statistical insights towards structure-scale assessment of wrought iron in historic railway underbridges. ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering. Accepted In Press.
2. Hossein Agha Beigi, Ehsan Ahmadi, Mohammad M. Kashani (2026), Seismic performance of post-tensioned segmental precast concrete shear walls integrated with pinned steel frames. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, (210) 110548. View record →
3. Evangelia Georgantzia, Hammed O. Aminulai, Duncan Crump, David Milne, Ali Masoudi, Timothy Lee, Martynas Beresna, Gilberto Brambilla, William Powrie, and Mohammad M. Kashani (2026), High-resolution distributed acoustic sensing for full-scale monitoring of an FRP-concrete composite bridge deck. Structures, (86) 111392.
4. Hailong Cao, Karl Minta, Hossein A. Beigi, Evangelia Georgantzia, Mohammad M. Kashani (2026), Experimental investigation of nonlinear stress-strain behaviour of various elastomeric materials under cyclic loading. Construction and Building Materials, (510) 145234. View record →
5. Saba Ghassemi, Ziliang Zhang, William Powrie, Mohammad M. Kashani (2025), Field testing and finite element model validation of ageing metal railway bridges with corrosion impact analysis. Structures, (82) 110813. View record →