Michael Beer

Biography

Michael Beer is Professor and Head of the Institute for Computer Science in Civil Engineering at Leibniz University Hannover, Germany.  He is also Professor of Uncertainty in Engineering in the Institute for Risk and Uncertainty, University of Liverpool, on a part-time basis.  Dr Beer was the founding Director of the Institute for Risk and Uncertainty and Professor of Uncertainty in Engineering at the University of Liverpool from 2012 to 2015.  From 2014 to 2015 he was also the Academic Director of the EPSRC and ESRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantification and Management of Risk & Uncertainty in Complex Systems & Environments.  Since 2015, Dr. Beer is a Guest Professor at Tongji University, Shanghai, China.  Dr. Beer graduated with a Masters degree (Dipl.-Ing., 1995) and with a Doctoral degree (Dr.-Ing., 2001) in Civil Engineering from the Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden), Germany. As a Feodor-Lynen Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation Dr. Beer pursued research at Rice University together with Professor Pol D. Spanos in 2003/2004. At TU Dresden he worked as Research and Teaching Associate until 2007 when he was appointed as Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS). His research in NUS was specifically integrated in the Centre for Hazards Research and in the Centre for Offshore Research and Engineering. In 2011 Dr. Beer joined University of Liverpool in the initiative of expanding multi-disciplinary research in the areas Risk & Uncertainty.

Dr. Beer's research is in the field of both probabilistic and non-probabilistic approaches in uncertainty quantification in engineering with specific expertise in imprecise probabilities. He has developed a fuzzy probabilistic framework as a novel mathematical-engineering basis for generalised uncertainty quantification. Dr. Beer’s research possesses a multi-disciplinary character with ties to mathematics and computer science and with applications in civil, mechanical and offshore engineering. Special interest is devoted to the problem of rare and imprecise information in the realistic prediction of the behaviour and reliability of structures, materials and various mechanical/physical processes as well as in robust design of structures and systems. In the Institute for Risk & Uncertainty these developments are integrated into risk assessment across various disciplines.  The complexity and large size of the problems is addressed with concepts for efficient numerical simulation.  Dr. Beer has continuously led various research projects with focus on both theoretical developments and applications. He is partner and leader for large-scale research programs with a multi-million grant volume.

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Qualifications

  • Doctoral degree (Dr.-Ing.), 2001, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany

  • Masters degree (Dipl.-Ing.), 1995, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany

  • Technical Translator Russian - German for Civil Engineering, 1993, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany

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Honours & Awards

  • Certificate of Appreciation for extraordinary efforts towards organizing The Second International Conference on Risk and Uncertainty (ICVRAM-ISUMA) at the University of Liverpool, UK, 2014 awarded by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) - Council on Disaster Risk Management (CDRM), USA
  • CADLM PRIZE 2007 – Intelligent Optimal Design, 2007 awarded by CADLM France (Prof. Joseph Zarka) for the Journal paper “Designing Robust Structures – A Nonlinear Simulation Based Approach”, Computers & Structures, 2008, Vol. 86(10), pp. 1102–1122 (together with Dr. Martin Liebscher, DYNAmore GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany)
  • Feodor-Lynen Research Fellowship, 2002 awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation, Germany for a one-year research period at Rice University, Houston, TX, USA (2003/2004)
  • Kurt Beyer Award 2002 awarded by the Depts. of Civil Engineering and Architecture (Technische Universität Dresden) and by HOCHTIEF Construction AG, Germany for outstanding doctoral thesis
  • Wilhelm Gotthelf Lohrmann Medal, 1995 awarded by Technische Universität Dresden, Germany for excellent study achievement

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Keynote, plenary and special invited lectures

  • Conceptual Directions in Uncertainty Quanification Plenary Lecture, XXIV. European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL 2014), Wroclaw, Poland, September 14-18, 2014
  • Conceptual comparison of Bayesian approaches and imprecise probabilities Special Review Lecture (together with F.A. Diaz De la O), Twelfth International Conference on Computational Structures Technology (CST 2014), Napes, Italy, September 2-5, 2014
  • Uncertainty quantification: selected approaches Thematic Plenary Lecture, 5th Asia-Pacific Congress for Computational Mechanics & 4th International Symposium on Computational Mechanics (APCOM & ISCM 2013), Singapore, December 11–14, 2013
  • Computational Intelligence in Structural Analysis and Design Keynote Lecture, IEEE Symposium on Computational Intelligence for Engineering Solutions within the IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (IEEE SSCI CIES 2013), Singapore, April 16–19, 2013
  • Generalized models for uncertainty and imprecision in engineering Opening Keynote Lecture, 5th International Conference on Reliable Engineering Computing (REC2012), Practical Applications and Practical Challenges, Brno, Czech Republic, June 13–15, 2012
  • Coping with uncertainty and vague environments: mathematical models and engineering applications Keynote Lecture, Workshop: Actuarial & Financial Mathematics 2012: Theory & Applications, Institute for Financial and Actuarial Mathematics, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK, June 7, 2012
  • Imprecise Probabilities in Engineering Systems and Structures Plenary Lecture, Track 20 Applied Stochastic Optimization, Uncertainty and Probability, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition - IMECE 2011, Colorado Convention Centre & Hyatt Regency Denver, Denver, CO, USA, November 11-17, 2011
  • Robust Design via Explorative Data Analysis Keynote Lecture, Workshop on Risk, Reliability and Uncertainty, School of Engineering, University of Liverpool, UK, March 17-18, 2011
  • Non-traditional Prospects in the Simultaneous Treatment of Uncertainty and Imprecision Invited Special Lecture, First International Conference on Soft Computing Technology in Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering - CSC2009, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, September 1-4, 2009
  • Designing Robust Structures – A Nonlinear Simulation Based Approach presentation of the awarded Journal paper in Computers and Structures, CADLM INTELLIGENT OPTIMAL DESIGN PRIZE 2007, Workshop on Advanced Design Optimization of Materials, Structures and Mechanical Systems, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China, December 17–20, 2007

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Professional Activities

Professional Societies

  • Feodor Lynen Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation
  • Member, American Society of Civil Engineers, Charter Member of the Engineering Mechanics Institute
  • Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Member of the ASME Research Committee on Risk Technology
  • Member, International Association for Computational Mechanics
  • European Safety and Reliability Association
  • Member, European Association of Structural Dynamics, Technical Committee and Subcommittees “Theoretical, computational and experimental research” and “Updating and identification with experiments and inverse problems”
  • Member, German Association for Computational Mechanics

Editorships / Editorial Boards

  • Editor
    • Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering (Springer)
  • Associate Editor
    • International Journal of Reliability and Safety
    • ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering, Part B: Mechanical Engineering
  • Editorial Board Member
    • Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics
    • Structural Safety
    • Computers and Structures
    • Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing
    • International Journal of Computational Methods
    • International Journal of Earthquake Engineering and Hazard Mitigation
    • International Journal of Engineering under Uncertainty: Hazards, Assessment, and Mitigation
    • Transactions of the VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, Construction Series
    • Periodica Polytechnica Civil Engineering

Editorial Work

  • Special Issue “Recent Advances & Future Challenges in Computational Stochastic Dynamics”, Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, in progress (together with I. Kougioumtzoglou and A. Naess)
  • Special Issue “Engineering Analyses with Vague and Imprecise Information”, Structural Safety 2015, 52 (B), (together with E. Patelli)
  • Special Issue “Robust Engineering Solutions”, International Journal of Reliability and Safety, in progress (together with E. Patelli, E., I. Kougioumtzoglou and H.A. Jensen)
  • Special Issue “Uncertainty Quantification in Structural Analysis and Design” in honor of Professor Gerhart I. Schuëller for his life-time contribution in the area of Computational Stochastic Mechanics, Computers & Structures, 2013, 126 (1–2) (together with H.A. Jensen)
  • Special Issue “Imprecise probabilities - what can they add to engineering analyses?”, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 2013, 37(1–2) (together with S. Ferson)
  • Proceedings of the 5th Asian-Pacific Symposium on Structural Reliability and its Applications (APSSRA2012) “Sustainable Civil Infrastructures – Hazards, Risk, Uncertainty”, 2012, Research Publishing, Singapore (together with K.K. Phoon, S.T. Quek and S.D. Pang)
  • Special Issue “Robust Design – Coping with Hazards Risk and Uncertainty”, International Journal of Reliability and Safety, 2011/2012, Part 1: 5(3/4), Part 2: 6(1/2/3) (together with R.L. Muhanna and R.L. Mullen)
  • Special Issue “Data Mining in Engineering”, Integrated Computer-Aided Engineering, 2011,18(3) (together with R. Kruse and L.A. Zadeh)
  • Special Issue “Modeling and Analysis of Rare and Imprecise Information”, Structural Safety, 2010, Vol. 32(6) (together with K.K. Phoon and S.T. Quek)
  • Special Issue      “Uncertainties in Structural Analysis – Their Effect on Robustness, Sensitivity, and Design”, Computers & Structures, 2008, Vol. 86(10) (together with B. Möller)
  • Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Reliable Engineering Computing (REC2010) “Robust Design – Coping with Hazards, Risk and Uncertainty”, 2010, Research Publishing, Singapore (together with R.L. Muhanna and R.L. Mullen)

Organization of Conferences / Workshops

  • Chairman: Symposium on Computational Intelligence for Engineering Solutions (CIES) at the IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI), Cape Town, South Africa, December 7-10, 2015 (together with V. Kreinovich and R. Kruse)
  • Co-Chairman: International Probabilistic Workshop, Liverpool, UK, November 4-6, 2015
  • Chairman: Symposium Computational Intelligence for Engineering Solutions (CIES) at the IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI), Orlando, USA, December 9-12, 2014 (together with V. Kreinovich and R. Kruse)
  • Chairman, Second International Conference on Vulnerability and Risk Analysis and Management and Sixth International Symposium on Uncertainty Modeling and Analysis – ASCE-ICVRAM-ISUMA2014, Liverpool, UK, July 13–16, 2014 (together with I.S.-K. Au, J.W. Hall)
  • Local Committee Co-Chairman, 5th International Conference on Computational Methods – ICCM2014, Cambridge, UK, July 28–30, 2014
  • Chairman, UoL-CSU-GATECH Joint Research Workshop on Risk and Uncertainty, Liverpool, UK, November 7–8, 2013 (together with B.R. Ellingwood and J. Mottershead)
  • Chairman: Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence for Engineering Solutions (CIES) at the IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence (SSCI), Singapore, April 16-19, 2013 (together with V. Kreinovich and R. Kruse)
  • Secretary, 5th Asian-Pacific Symposium on Structural Reliability and its Applications 2012, Singapore, May 23–25, 2012 (together with K.K. Phoon, S.T. Quek and S.D. Pang)
  • Chairman, Workshop on Uncertainty and Risk Quantification, Liverpool, UK, December 23, 2011 (together with J. Mottershead)
  • Chairman, 4th International Workshop on Reliable Engineering Computing 2010 Robust Design – Coping with Hazards, Risk and Uncertainty, Singapore, March 3–5, 2010 (together with R.L. Muhanna and R.L. Mullen)

Scientific Committees and Boards of Conferences (recent)

  • Fourth International Conference on Soft Computing Technology in Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering - CSC2015
  • Fifteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing: Civil-Comp - CC2015
  • Program Committee of the 9th International Symposium on Imprecise Probability: Theories and Applications - ISIPTA'15
  • Scientific Committee of the 1st Symposium on Quantitative Finance and Risk Analysis - QFRA 2015
  • Scientific Committee of the 5th International Symposium on Geotechnical Safety and Risk - ISGSR 2015
  • International Scientific Committee of the 12th International Conference on Applications of Statistics and Probability in Civil Engineering 2015 –  ICASP12
  • Scientific Committee of the 1st International Conference on Uncertainty Quantification in Computational Sciences and Engineering – UNCECOMP 2015

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Teaching Areas

  • Mathematical Statistics and Probability Theory for Engineers
  • Structural Reliability
  • Engineering Mathematics
  • Statics and Mechanics of Materials
  • Structural Analysis

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Research Interests

  • Reliability, Risk and Hazard Analysis
  • Uncertainty Quantification
  • Imprecise Probabilities
  • Simulation Techniques for Processing Uncertainty
  • Robust Design

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Selected Publications

  1. Comerford, L.A.; Kougioumtzoglou, I.A.; Beer, M.; An artificial neural network approach for stochastic process power spectrum estimation subject to missing data, Special Issue: Engineering Analysis with Vague and Imprecise Information, Structural Safety, 2015, 52 (B), pp. 150–160

  2. De Angelis, M.; Patelli, E.; Beer, M.; Advanced Line Sampling for Efficient Robust Reliability AnalysisSpecial Issue: Engineering Analysis with Vague and Imprecise Information, Structural Safety, Structural Safety, 2015, 52 (B), pp. 170–182

  3. Liu, Y.; Lee, F.H.; Quek, S.T.; Beer, M.; Modified linear estimation method for generating multi-dimensional multi-variate Gaussian field in modeling material properties, Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, 2014, 38, pp. 42–53

  4. Beer, M.; Kougioumtzoglou, I.A.; Patelli, E.; Emerging Concepts and Approaches for Efficient and Realistic Uncertainty Quantification.  In: Frangopol, D.M.; Tsompanakis, Y. (eds.), Maintenance and Safety of Aging Infrastructure, Book Series “Structures & Infrastructures”, Vol 10, Chapter 5, 121–154, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, London, New York, Leiden

  5. Beer, M.; DiazDelaO, F.A.; Patelli, E.; Au, S.K.; Conceptual comparison of Bayesian approaches and imprecise probabilities. In: Topping, B.H.V.; Ivanyi, P. (eds.), Computational Technology Reviews 9, 2014, 1-29, Saxe-Coburg Publications

  6. Stein, M.; Beer, M.; Kreinovich, V.; Bayesian approach for inconsistent information, Information Sciences, 2013, Vol. 245, pp. 96–111.
  7. Beer, M.; Ferson, S.; Kreinovich, V.; Imprecise Probabilities in Engineering Analyses, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 2013, Vol. 37(1–2), pp. 4–29.

  8. Zhang, H.; Dai, H.; Beer, M.; Wang, W.; Structural reliability analysis on the basis of small samples: an interval quasi-Monte Carlo method, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 2013, Vol. 37(1–2), pp. 137–151.

  9. Rebner, G.; Beer, M.; Auer, E.; Stein, M.; Verified stochastic methods: Markov Set-Chains and dependency modeling of mean and standard deviation, Soft Computing, 2013, Vol. 17(8), pp. 1415–1423.

  10. Beer, M.; Kreinovich, V.; Interval or Moments: Which Carry More Information?, Soft Computing, 2013, Vol. 17(8), pp. 1319–1327.

  11. Beer, M.; Zhang, Y.; Quek, S.T.; Phoon, K.K.; Reliability analysis with scarce information: Comparing alternative approaches in a geotechnical engineering context, Structural Safety, 2013, Vol. 41, pp. 1–10.

  12. Zhang, M.Q.; Beer, M.; Koh, C.G.; Interval Analysis for System Identification of Linear MDOF Structures in the presence of Modeling Errors, ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 2012, Vol. 138(11),1326–1338.

  13. Jensen, H.A.; Beer, M.; Discrete-Continuous Variable Structural Optimization of Systems under Stochastic Loading, 2010, Structural Safety, Vol. 32(5), pp. 293–304.

  14. Beer, M.; Liebscher, M.; Designing Robust Structures - A Nonlinear Simulation Based Approach, Computers & Structures, 2008, Vol. 86(10), pp. 1102-1122.
  15. Spanos, P.D.; Beer, M.; Red-Horse, J.; Karhunen-Loéve Expansion of Stochastic Processes with a Modified Exponential Covariance Kernel, ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 2007, Vol. 133(7), pp. 773–779.

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