McGill Timber Structures Group
McGill-TSG
Principal Investigator
Matiyas A. Bezabeh
Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering
Ph.D., The University of British Columbia (2021)
M.A.Sc., The University of British Columbia (2014)
BSc., Addis Ababa University (2011)
Phone: 438-324-8337
Email: matiyas.bezabeh@mcgill.ca
Biography:
Professor Bezabeh specializes in the evaluation and design of timber and timber-hybrid structures for earthquakes and strong winds. Prior to joining McGill, he worked as a Scientist/Technical Coordinator at Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin (RWDI) Inc. At RWDI, he coordinated the technical teams tasked with finding solutions to challenges linked to the wind design of tall and complicated buildings. These solutions involved wind tunnel testing and dynamic structural analysis. He received his Ph.D. and M.A.Sc. from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, in 2021 and 2014, respectively. He developed a displacement-based seismic design guideline for a novel steel-timber hybrid structure as part of his M.A.Sc. project at UBC, which was funded by the NewBuilds network initiative. He spent four years as a visiting research student at Western University (formerly UWO) and conducted numerous wind tunnel studies at Western's WindEEE Dome and Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory (BLWTL). His doctoral work developed new performance-based wind design frameworks for tall buildings. The frameworks are included in the new Modeling Guide for Timber Structures and the second edition of Canada's Technical Guide for the Design and Construction of Tall Wood Buildings published by FPInnovations. He also spent a semester at Kyoto University developing closed-form solutions for the seismic response of self-centering structural systems through the Mitacs-JSPS Fellowship. At the World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE), he received the Young Scientist Excellence Award in 2018. He is currently a member of the ASCE's Performance-Based Wind Engineering Task Committee of the SEI Technical Activities Division.
Graduate Students
Mohammed S. Ibrahim
PhD Student
Mohammed earned a BS in Civil Engineering from Ain Shams University (ASU), Egypt, and an MS in structural and earthquake engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Mohammed served as a lecturer at UNR before joining McGill, and he holds practical experience as an EIT-certified structural engineer at Thyssenkrupp in Egypt and Thornton Tomasetti in New York. Mohammed's UNR research focuses on UHPC, resulting in publications and conference presentations. Actively engaged in extracurriculars, he led seismic design teams at ASU and UNR and currently chairs the EERI seismic design competition, shaping rules and judging international teams.
Research: Performance-based design of innovative timber-steel hybrid buildings under wind and earthquake multi-hazard loads
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Co-supervisor: Professor Colin Rogers
Email: mohammed.ibrahim3@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Mohammed S. Ibrahim
Ahmed Maky
PhD Student
Ahmed graduated from Aswan University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 2016. Then, he completed an Engineering Informatics Diploma at the Information Technology Institute in Cairo. He received his M.S. degree from the American University of Sharjah in 2023. During his master's program, he was involved in many research projects and published three papers. His passion is developing tools for computational design and BIM automation domains.
Research: A multi-hazard damage analysis framework for sequential seismic and thunderstorm loads on timber buildings.
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Co-supervisor: Professor Djordje Romanic (Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences).
Email: ahmed.maky@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Ahmed Maky
Meghan Egan
PhD Student
Meghan received her Bachelor's in Architectural Conservation and Sustainability Engineering, with high distinction, from Carleton University in Spring 2019. She has over 5 years of professional experience as part of a consulting engineering firm and received her Professional Engineer license for the Province of Ontario in May 2023. Meghan joined McGill-TSG in Fall 2024.
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Co-supervisor: Professor Luc Chouinard
Email: meghan.Egan@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Meghan Egan
Nahom K. Berile
PhD Student
Nahom received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Addis Ababa University in 2017 with high honors. He then completed two M.S degrees in Structural Engineering and Computational Physics, also from Addis Ababa University.
Research: Risk-based wind design of tall mass-timber buildings
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Email: nahom.berile@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Nahom K. Berile
Abebaw Abie Mekonnen
PhD Student
Abebaw graduated from Adama Science and Technology University with a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering (Structural Engineering) in 2013 and from Chungbuk National University with a master's degree in Computational Structural Engineering in 2019. He participated in several research projects during his master's program and published three papers. Abebaw joined McGill-TSG in the fall of 2023.
Research: Development, testing, and performance-based design of a novel timber-steel hybrid structural system
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Co-supervisor: Professor Colin Rogers
Email: abebaw.mekonnen@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Abebaw Abie Mekonnen
Kalkidan T. Shewandagn
PhD Student
Kalkidan completed her Bachelor studies in Civil Engineering with Distinction Honors from Addis Ababa University in 2018. She was then granted a scholarship to continue her post graduate studies at the same university in Structural Engineering, which she had completed in 2022.
Research: Development of a performance-based wind and seismic design framework for light-framed wood buildings on concrete podium
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Email: kalkidan.shewandagn@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Kalkidan T. Shewandagn
Huanru Zhu
PhD Student
Huanru received his Bachelor of Civil Engineering from McGill University in 2022 with Distinction. He received the MEUSMA award upon entrance to his M.Sci degree at McGill. His master’s thesis focused on the seismic performance assessment of post-tensioned rocking CLT shear wall buildings in high seismic zones. He starts his PhD at McGill TSG in 2024 Fall.
Research: Supplemental damping for tall mass timber buildings under multi-hazard
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Email: Huanru.zhu@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Huanru Zhu
Lei Liao
PhD Student
Lei Liao received his B.E. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Chang'an University and Hunan University, respectively. He joined McGill University in Winter 2024 as a Ph.D. student.
Research: Multi-hazard fragility and risk assessment
Supervisor: Professor Yazhou (Tim) Xie
Co-supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Email: Lei.Liao@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Lei Liao
Aya Risha
MSc Student
Aya Risha has received her Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering, with distinction, from Western University in 2022. During her time at Western, she participated in the undergraduate thesis course, where she submitted a paper to the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering and presented it at the CSCE Annual Conference in Whistler, BC. She received the City of London Design Competition Prize and the Bartlett Civil Design Achievement Award, both in 2021. Aya joined McGill-TSG in the fall of 2023.
Research: Feasibility study of hybrid timber-steel buildings
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Co-supervisor: Professor Colin Rogers
Email: aya.risha@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Aya Risha
Zijian (Jerry) Liang
MSc Student
Zijian (Jerry) Liang received his Bachelor's in Civil Engineering from McGill University with a Dean's Honour List in 2019. After graduation, Jerry joined NCK Inc., a structure design firm in Montreal, as the candidat à la profession d'ingénieur. He dedicated his professional structure analysis and design knowledge to several high-rise condominium projects in downtown Montreal. Jerry joined McGill-TSG in the winter of 2024.
Research: Numerical simulation and performance-based design of coupled cross-laminated timber (CLT) shear wall systems
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Co-supervisor: Professor Colin Rogers
Email: zijian.liang@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Zijian (Jerry) Liang
Sukhveer Singh
MSc Student
Sukhveer earned his Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from IIT Guwahati in 2023, with a minor in Electrical and Communication Engineering. His diverse project experience ranges from continuum damage modeling of concrete to market analysis for sustainable development.
Research: Wind reliability of tall mass timber buildings with moment resisting timber frames
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Email: sukhveer.singh@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Sukhveer Singh
Karim Basha
MSc Student
Karim holds a B.Sc. in civil engineering from Alexandria University class of 2017 with degree of honors. Karim also has professional experience in structural design.
Research:
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Co-supervisor: Professor M.A. Meguid
Email: karimeldin.basha@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Karim Basha
Ze Yu (Thomas) Dong
MSc Student
Ze Yu (Thomas) Dong completed his Bachelor's in Civil Engineering from McGill University in April 2024 with distinction. During his undergrad he was involved with the McGill Bridge Building Team, first as a regular member then later being promoted to Team Director. He also participated in the RISE Germany program in the summer of 2023 researching mechanized tunnelling logistics at Ruhr-University Bochum. Apon graduation he worked at AtkinsRéalis in the Bridges and Transport Division as a Candidat à la profession d'ingénieur (CPI). He joined McGill TSG in Fall 2024.
Research:
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Email: zeyu.dong@mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn: Ze Yu (Thomas) Dong
Undergraduate Students
Satria Rainville
Undergraduate Student
Project: Nonlinear analysis of U-shaped flexural plates used for energy dissipation in timber shear walls
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Theo Masurel
Undergraduate Student
Project: Wind tunnel test database analysis
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Simon Cleghorn
Undergraduate Student
Project: Development of numerical models of the lateral response of braced mass timber frames, validation of existing expressions for connection and system ductility
Supervisor: Professor Matiyas Bezabeh
Former Students
Huanru Zhu
MSc Student
Research: Performance-based seismic design of post-tensioned CLT shear wall buildings
Po-Yun Cheng
Undergraduate Student
Project: Development of a spring model for the nonlinear response history analysis of wood-frame on podium buildings