About Prof. Pere ROCA

Pere Roca is a Professor of the School of Civil Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya since 2000, where he carries out his activity as lecturer, researcher and consultant on building structures.

His research work encompasses subjects such as structural analysis, non-destructive and minor-destructive inspection techniques, structural monitoring, seismic evaluation, and strengthening techniques applied to different structural materials and typologies. He has been working on both experimental and advanced computational analysis techniques applied to masonry structures. A significant part of his research effort has been devoted to the development of criteria and tools for the conservation and restoration of monuments and historical structures.

He is co-editor of the International Journal of Architectural Heritage since 2007. He is an active member of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Analysis and Restoration of Structures of Architectural Heritage (ISCARSAH), which he chaired during 2005-2008.

He was invited as expert member of ISO TC98 / SC2 /WG6 and contributed to the development of an Annex on Heritage Structures for the revised version of ISO standard 138622 on Assessment of Existing Structures. He was the creator in 1995 of the international conference series on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions, having acted as co-organizer of several editions, and is a permanent member of its Advisory Committee.

Prof. Roca has been involved in a high number of research projects. He has coordinated a large number of Spanish research projects and has also acted as local coordinator at UPC of three European research projects. He has been consultant in over 100 case studies on existing and historical structures, including Romanesque and Gothic churches and cathedrals, monasteries, medieval bridges and Modernist buildings. He has collaborated in the study of 9 UNESCO World Heritage sites.

About Technical University of Catalonia, Spain

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), founded in 1971, is a technical university offering courses at any level (BS, MS and Ph.D.) in Engineering (Mechanical, Civil, Computer), Architecture, Applied mathematics, Economics and Health Sciences. It has two main campuses in the city of Barcelona and five additional ones scattered in the Catalan territory.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DECA) at UPC is devoted to teaching, research, development, innovation and technology transfer in scientific and technological fields related to Civil Engineering. DECA houses 21 research groups, among which is the Analysis and Technology of Structures and Materials group (ATEM).

The ATEM research group, carries out research and technology transfer in the field of analysis, design and construction of civil engineering structures. The scientific activity of the group is focused on the analysis and design of structures through the development of conceptual and numerical models, and the execution of complex large-scale laboratory tests. The objective is to evaluate the safety, functionality and durability of structures under static, dynamic, and environmental actions. The investigated structures range from buildings and transport infrastructures to historical heritage constructions, off shore structures for wind energy harvesting and other types of civil engineering structures. ATEM offers consultancy to national and international companies and professionals, by developing new products (novel materials, construction details, advanced analysis software), innovative experimental procedures and technical solutions for structural engineering.

ATEM has devoted significant effort to the study and conservation of the architectural heritage. The activity related to this field covers education, research and practical studies of conservation and repair applied to real cases. The main research lines are devoted to the mechanical characterisation of masonry, experimental and numerical modelling, non-destructive testing, monitoring and strengthening technologies.