Staff Directory


Leadership 

Arindam Chowdhury, PhD
Director and PI of NHERI WOW EF

chowdhur@fiu.edu
305-348-0518

Arindam is an expert in wind and structural engineering and has co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed journal publications. As a principal investigator, he has received more than $3.5 million in research funding from the National Science Foundation, NOAA, Florida Department of Emergency Management, Sea Grant Programs, Department of Energy, and the industry. Recipient of the National Science Foundation's prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Program Award (CAREER), Florida Sea Grant's Research to Application Award, and FIU President’s Council Worlds Ahead Faculty Award.

 

Peter Irwin, PhD
Consultant

peairwi@fiu.edu
305-348-2824

Peter is a renowned wind-engineering expert who comes to FIU with over 20 years of experience as a highly sought-after wind-engineering consultant. He spent 6 years with the National Research Council of Canada before moving into private engineering consulting with RWDI, Inc. He has done wind consulting for some of the most ambitious building projects on record, including the Petronas Towers (Malaysia), Taipei 101 (Taiwan) and Burj Khalifai (Dubai).

 

Amal Elawady, PhD
Co-PI of NHERI WOW EF

aelawady@fiu.edu
305-348-0256

Amal's academic background is in the field of structural and wind engineering. Her studies involve large-scale wind tunnel testing, wind effects analysis to examine structural response, and design of structures against extreme wind events. During the last few years, Amal was active in studying the response of power transmission infrastructure during downburst wind events. Her research aims at advancing the field of civil engineering for bettering structures' resiliency and sustainability against wind hazards

 

Seung Jae Lee, PhD
Co-PI of NHERI WOW EF

sjlee@fiu.edu
305-348-1086

Seung Jae's research interest is in computational engineering mechanics, and he works at the interface of multiple disciplines including structural, wind, geotechnical engineering, and scientific computing. His research aims to better understand the underlying mechanisms behind complex engineering scale phenomena through enhanced computational modeling and simulation capability. During the last few years, he has been active in studying the wind-induced dynamic effects on the façade performance.

 

Ioannis Zisis, PhD
Co-PI of NHERI WOW EF

izisis@fiu.edu
305-348-4869

Ioannis has been studying wind effects on the built environment for the past 8 years. His research focus is structural and environmental wind engineering. He has been using advanced experimental methods, including wind tunnel and full-scale monitoring techniques, to examine how residential and other structures react to extreme wind events. The outcomes of his research efforts are aiming at the development and improvement of national and international wind standards and building codes of practice.

 


Operations

Houssam Al Sayegh, M.S.
Research Specialist

halsayeg@fiu.edu
305-348-4392

Houssam joined the Wall of Wind program in 2022 as a graduate research assistant. As he progressed in his career, he gained extensive knowledge in wind engineering concepts and was involved in various projects while pursuing his ongoing PhD degree focused on wind effects on ballasted photovoltaic systems. Houssam has immense experience in the design, construction, instrumentation, and analysis of wind engineering-related projects.

 

Dejiang Chen, PhD
Research Specialist

dechen@fiu.edu
305-348-0397

Dejiang holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech University. His background is in the field of structural and wind engineering. He worked at an wind engineering company for over 10 years prior to joining the Wall of Wind Experimental Facility. He has extensive experience in meteorological data analysis, structural dynamic analysis, cladding pressure, pedestrian comfort, etc. He has been involved in wind engineering studies for many well-known projects worldwide.

 

James Erwin, M.S.
Research Specialist

jamerwin@fiu.edu
305-348-1942

James has been involved with the Wall of Wind program in various capacities since 2005, when he first began as an undergraduate research assistant. His subsequent M.S. research project focused on determining full-scale rooftop equipment wind loads with the 6-fan system. Since that time, he has continued to gain unique wind engineering experience at the Wall of Wind facility through his efforts as a full-time researcher, and later as a project consultant. Additionally, he has many years of experience teaching courses in physics and mathematics at the high school level.