Biography
Dr Evzen Korec is a researcher in the Mechanics of Materials Lab. Born and raised in Prague, and fascinated by applied mathematics and civil engineering, he attended the Czech Technical University in Prague, where he graduated in Structural and Transportation Engineering. There he had the privilege of being supervised by Prof. Milan Jirásek, a great and enthusiastic mentor who inspired him to study mechanics.
Evzen's Master's thesis was completed in the group of Prof Garth Wells at the University of Cambridge and concerned the mathematical methods to enforce contact boundary conditions in the exascale problem of a simulated working jet engine. He then had the privilege of pursuing PhD research in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London, where he was supervised by Prof Emilio Martínez-Pañeda, Prof Hong S. Wong and Prof. Milan Jirásek and worked on the mathematical modelling of corrosion-induced cracking in reinforced concrete.
Research Interests
- Computational modelling to optimise concrete crushing
- Mathematical modelling of the chemo-mechanical degradation of engineering materials, especially corrosion-induced cracking of reinforced concrete
- Phase-field fracture modelling
Research Projects
The multi-institutional Safe, Sustainable and Swift Reconstruction of Ukraine (S3RU) project aims to recycle rubble from the Russian invasion of Ukraine into low-energy and low-carbon building materials.
Research Groups
Related Academics
Scholarships, Awards and Prizes
12/09/2023 - Best Oral Presentation Award. 42nd Annual Cement and Concrete Science Conference. Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3).
09/2020-04/2024 - Presidentʼs PhD Scholarship. The most competitive PhD scholarship at Imperial College London awarded on the basis of academic excellence and research potential. 50 scholarships are available in total, with approximately 13-19 granted each year. Full funding for tuition fees (home and international), annual stipend and consumables fund.
16/12/2020 - Prof Babuška Prize, undergraduate and graduate (MEng, PhD) category. Award recognising my Masterʼs thesis among the best research projects in the Czech Republic in computational mechanics. Prize founded in 1994 at the instigation of Prof Ivo Babuška (one of the fathers of finite element methods), given by the Czech Society for Mechanics and the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists.
26/04/2018 - Academician Bažant Prize. Engineering mechanics prize in honour of Prof Bažant for CTU civil engineering bachelor/masterʼs students.
02/12/2016 & 17/05/2019 - Rektorys Award. Competition in applied mathematics in honour of Prof Rektorys for all students (bachelor/masterʼs/PhD) of CTU. Awarded on two occasions: 2016 and 2019. Submitted projects: Tensile and compressive buckling of Timoshenko beam (2016) and An improved model for torsion of elastic beams with thin-walled closed cross section (2019).
10/06/2015 & 14/06/2018 - Vyčichlo Award. Competition in applied mathematics in honour of Prof Vyčichlo for CTU civil engineering bachelor/masterʼs students. Awarded on two occasions: 2015 and 2018. Submitted projects: Numerical solution of ODEs with random inputs (2015) and Variationally Based Description of an Elastic Beam Under General Loading (2018).
2014 - Award of the Year 2014 of The Learned Society of the Czech Republic for high school students. The Learned Society is an association of distinguished scholars of the Czech Republic, similar to the Royal Society in the UK.
2013 - MERKUR prize 2013 (Česká hlavička). The 'Česká hlavička' competition is the high school level branch of the 'Czech Head' competition. The ‘Czech Headʼ is generally considered to be the most prestigious prize for science and research recognizing outstanding scientists in the Czech Republic.
