Susumu (Sam) KONO

Professor

Professor S. Kono received his M.S. in structural engineering from Kyoto University in 1989 and his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 1995. After working as a bridge engineer in California for a year, he became an assistant professor at the Dept. of Civil and Building Engineering at the Toyohashi University of Technology in 1996. In 1998, he moved to Kyoto University as an assistant professor of structural engineering, and he became an associate professor in 2002. He has been a professor at the Institute of Innovative Research at the Tokyo Institute of Technology since 2012.

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Mission

Our research group aims to contribute to society by making structures resilient against various disturbances such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and wind. Research topics cover seismic assessment, seismic retrofit, performance-based design, and low-damage systems using precast and prestressed concrete structures. We look forward to working with people interested in concrete structures.

Research Interests
Professor Kono’s primary research areas involve the experimental investigation of reinforced and prestressed/precast concrete structural systems subjected to earthquake loadings. His interests include the performance-based design of reinforced concrete, damage control, or zero damage design using prestressed/precast concrete. His current research topics include the following: (1) damage evaluation/control of RC structures to improve the performance-based design, (2) low damage system using precast/prestressed concrete technology, and (3) study on shear transfer mechanism of reinforced concrete members.

Professional Society Membership

  • Architecture Institute of Japan (AIJ)
  • Japan Concrete Institute (JCI)
  • Japan Prestressed Concrete Institute (JPCI)
  • Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI)
  • American Concrete Institute (ACI)
  • American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE)

Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology
(Urban Disaster Prevention Research Core)
(Office is #301 in Building G5 at Suzukake campus)
Nagatsuta 4259, Mail Box #G5-1,
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Midori, Yokohama, 226-8503, Japan
Tel/Fax:+81-45-924-5384
Email: kono.s.ae*m.titech.ac.jp (Change * to @ when you send emails.)

Trevor Zhiqing YEOW

Specially appointed assistant professor

Dr. T. Yeow received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2017. He worked as a Research Engineer at Quake Centre (since superseded by Building Innovation Partnership) during the final year of his PhD studies and then as a Postdoctoral Researcher under QuakeCoRE at the University of Canterbury following his graduation. In 2018, Dr. Yeow joined the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute as a Project Researcher under the Tokyo Metropolitan Resilience Project from 2018 to 2022, then as a JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow from 2022 to 2024. Dr. Yeow joined Kono Laboratory as a Specially Appointed Assistant Professor in April 2024.
Research Interests
Dr. Yeow’s primary research areas are related to understanding dynamic behavior and evaluating the seismic resilience of structural systems. His current interests include dynamic stability of irregular structures, structural health monitoring, seismic loss estimation, damage fragility of structural and non-structural elements, and the socioeconomic impacts of natural disasters. His current research topics include (1) a mechanics-based approach for deriving damage fragility functions for reinforced concrete structural elements, (2) detection of pile damage using accelerometer readings, (3) seismic response of multistory buildings with unbalanced strength and stiffness, and (4) improvement and application of structural health monitoring techniques.
Past accolades:
  • 2022 JAEE Annual Meeting – Excellent Presentation Award (Paper title: “Deformation mode-dependent safety limit estimation for buildings without sensors on some floors: research outline”)
  • 2014 NZSEE Conference – Best Research Paper (Paper title: “Preliminary experimental verification of current content sliding modeling techniques”)
  • 2012 NZSEE Conference – Research Scholarship
  • 2011 PCEE Conference – Best Oral Paper (Paper title: “Dynamic stability and design of cantilever bridge columns”)
Professional Society Membership
  • Architectural Institute of Japan (AIJ)
  • Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering (JAEE)
  • Japan Concrete Institute (JCI)
  • Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI)

Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology
(Urban Disaster Prevention Research Core)
(Office is #303 in Building G5 at Suzukake campus)
Nagatsuta 4259, Mail Box #G5-1,
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Midori, Yokohama, 226-8503, Japan
Tel/Fax:+81-45-924-5329
Email: yeow.t.aa*m.titech.ac.jp (Change * to @ when you send emails.)

Yuki HAYAKAWA

Secretary
 

　Ms. Yuki Hayakawa has been a secretary since 2013. Yuki communicates with students and visitors with her excellent language skills and hospitality.

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Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology
(Office is #310 in Building G5 at Suzukake campus. )
Nagatsuta 4259, Mail Box #G5-1, 
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Midori, Yokohama, 226-8503, Japan
Tel/Fax:+81-45-924-5329
Email: hayakawa.y.ah*m.titech.ac.jp (Change * to @ when you send emails)