Chenzhi Ma, Ph.D.
I am a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, working on wildland–urban interface (WUI) fire risk analysis and fire spread modeling. In August 2026, I will join the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
I received my Ph.D. in Civil and Systems Engineering (Structural Engineering) from Johns Hopkins University in September 2025, advised by Prof. Thomas Gernay. My dissertation — “Advancing performance-based fire design through material behavior, structural modeling, and lifetime economic assessment” — developed integrated computational and economic frameworks for rational fire-safe structural design.
Prior to JHU, I earned an M.Eng. from Tongji University (2021) and a B.Eng. from Central South University (2018), both in structural engineering.
Research Interests
- Advanced thermal-mechanical finite element simulations
- Performance-based fire design and structural fragility assessment
- Material behavior under extreme conditions (fire, seismic)
- Lifetime economic and environmental impact assessment
- Wildland–urban interface (WUI) fire risk and spread modeling
- Structural resilience under multiple hazards
News
- [Aug 2026] Joining the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
- [Jun 2026] Invited as Guest Editor for Buildings special issue: Advanced Research on Structural Multi-Hazard Risk
- [Oct 2025] Started postdoctoral position at the University of Nevada, Reno
- [Sep 2025] Completed Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University
Selected Awards
- 2023 — Richard D. Hickman Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University
- 2021 — Outstanding Master Thesis Award, Tongji University
- 2018 — Outstanding Undergraduate Award, Central South University