Hooding
Dr. Aman Karamlou joins AIR

Dr. Aman Karamlou, first PhD student graduating in
Dr. Bocchini's group, lands his dream job.

[January 2018]

During his PhD program, Dr. Aman Karamlou's research dealt with the probabilistic numerical modeling of civil infrastructure systems experiencing extreme events. In particular, Aman focused on bridges and transportation networks under seismic hazard. Aman’s dissertation presented a series of methodologies that, combined, form a general framework for the resilience analysis of individual structural components, structural systems, and entire infrastructure systems. The dissertation provided scientific advancements at multiple levels, but the two most important contributions were (1) a methodology to describe quantitatively how damage of small structural components propagates to loss of functionality of entire systems in the aftermath of an extreme event and (2) the first rigorous methodology to predict the (probabilistic) functionality recovery profile and its application to transportation systems damaged by an extreme event.

Aman's research is grounded in structural engineering, but goes well beyond the traditional boundaries of the field. In this sense, Aman's work was the prototype of what has become the Resilience Program at Lehigh University, which is at the forefront of the research in this field. For this reason, his publications and presentations at conferences quickly attracted the attention of many colleagues, and even before graduating Aman received three unsolicited offers for postdoctoral positions in some of the most renowned universities in the world. However, Aman was not interested in continuing his career in the academia, so he respectfully declined all the offers.

After graduation, Aman received job offers from multiple engineering firms in the USA, and he accepted one from the prestigious DeSimone Engineering, to work on some of the most interesting new buildings, hotels, and casinos in Las Vegas. However, his dream job was to continue his research on resilience and catastrophe modeling in a consulting firm that develops methodologies and software to improve these models. Only a handful of firms provide this type of services to large insurance companies and government agencies throughout the world, and AIR Worldwide is probably “the scientific leader and most respected provider of risk modeling software and consulting services”. It goes without saying that these positions are extremely competitive, probably more than academic jobs. Nevertheless, six months after Aman's graduation, such a position opened at AIR, Aman was interviewed, and received an offer. In January 2018, Aman has started his dream job.

If you want to follow Aman's example, consider joining our team.


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