Pierfrancesco Cacciola, an Italian/British national, is a national high-level talent and full professor at the College of Civil Engineering, Fuzhou University. Formerly a reader at the University of Brighton (UK), he held key leadership roles including Head of Civil Engineering Programme, Subject Leader, Head of the Division of Built Environment and Civil Engineering, Interim Head of the School of Environment and Technology, and Leader of the Sustainable & Resilient Engineering Research Group. He has served as an international doctoral thesis examiner for institutions in the UK, France, Italy, and beyond. His research and teaching expertise spans structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, and vibration control. He is the inventor of the Vibrating Barrier (ViBa) technology for the non-invasive seismic protection of existing structures. He has been member of the Editorial Board of several International Conferences and has published 100+ contributions in scholarly monographs and conference proceedings.

PhD in Structural Engineering, University of Catania, Italy (2002) . Final dissertation: Stochastic analysis of structures with passive control systems (in italian)

MEng (equiv: 5 years course) in Civil-Structural Engineering, University of Messina, Italy (1998) “Laurea in Ingegneria Civile indirizzo Strutture” . Final dissertation: Stochastic seismic analysis of structures consistent with a given response spectrum (in italian)

Full Professor, Fuzhou University, China, 2025-

Reader, University of Brighton,  UK, 2020-2025

Principal Lecturer, University of Brighton, UK, 2013-2020

Senior Lecturer in Structural Design, University of Brighton, UK, 2009-2013

Research Fellowship: Modeling cyclic behavior of soils via Finite Element codes, University of Messina, Italy, 2007-2009

Research Fellowship: Theoretical and experimental analysis of structures under random loadings, University of Messina, Italy, 2002-2006

Civil Engineering Subject Leader (Sept 2017 -Sept 2020)

Head of the Division of the Built Environment and Civil Engineering (Sept 2016 - Sept 2017)

Interim Head of the School of Environment and Technology (Feb 2016- August 2016)

Head of the Division of the Built Environment and Civil Engineering (Sept 2014- Feb 2016)

Responsible for the successful accreditation of the Civil Engineering Programmes March 2013

Leader for the development and validation of new courses in BEng and MEng Civil Engineering with Construction Management, and MEng Civil with Environmental Engineering, December 2012

Course Leader: Civil Engineering Programmes (2013-2014)

Course Leader: Civil Engineering Programmes Level 6 and 7 (2012-2013)

Course Leader: Civil Engineering Programmes Level 5 (2010-2012)

China

Numerical methods in Engineering

UK

Random Vibrations of Structures

Dynamics of Structures

Structural and Stress Analysis

Computational Mechanics

Design of Structures

Italy

Precast Structures

Seismic Analysis of Structures

Structural and Stress Analysis

a) Deterministic and random vibrations of linear and non-linear systems

b) Stochastic modelling of the seismic action

c) Structural identification and health monitoring of vibrating structures

d) Soil-Structure interaction and Structure-Soil-Structure interaction

e) Vibration Control of Existing Structures

Externally funded

Damage detection methodology identifying damaged wads through the measurement of the dynamic response of the historical ceiling” (PI) , BRITE project, -European Union - European Regional Development Fund (July 2022 – Jan 2023): “

Preserving Egypt's Cultural Heritage from Earthquake Damage through Vibrating Barriers (ViBa), AHRC-SNF, (Co-PI) – July 2019 –December 2021

Assessing effect of LOcal SubSoil VARiability and Uncertainty in SSI, NUGENIA+, FP7 European project “co-funded (Co-PI), April 2015-September 2016.

Vibrating Barriers for the control of seismic waves (ViBa), 1st January 2013-31st December 2014. (PI), EPSRC

Modélisation Probabiliste des Phénomènes Naturels (MODNAT) granted by l’Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), France, 1st October 2012 – 31st December 2015 (project partner).

University of Brighton funds

Environmentally controlled vibration testing facility, ATE QR initiatives, School of Architecture, Technology and Engineering, 2022, (PI)

Climatic Environmental Chamber, Development of a 4.2mx5.2mx4m Environmental Chamber able to control room temperature ranging between -40°C to +60°C and humidity up to 70%rh at 20°C funded by the UKRI World-Class Laboratories, 2022, (Co-PI)

Concrete 3D printer, Potterbot Scara V4, SETRIF, School of Environment and Technology, 2019, (Co-I)

Laser Vibrometer Facility , SETRIF - School of Environment and Technology, , 2018, (PI).

Dynamics of Structures Laboratory Early Career Research grant (ECRRIF), School of Environment and Technology, 2011, (PI).

Shake Table facility, Early Career Research grant (ECRRIF), School of Environment and Technology, 2009, (PI).

National Scientific qualification as full professor in the Italian higher education system, in the call 2021/2023 (Ministerial Decree n. 553/2021 and 589/2021) for the disciplinary field of 08/B2 – Structural mechanics. (Academic Recruitment Field 08/B - Structural and geotechnical engineering, according to the national classification) -6th Feb 2023 -.  

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK, 2012

The Young Researcher Fellowship Award for exemplary research in computational mechanics” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. June, 17, 2003

Member of the Editorial Board: The Eighteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing 27-29 August, 2025, Cagliari, Italy.

Member of the Editorial Board: The Twelfth International Conference on Engineering Computational Technology, Prague, Czech Republic, 4-6 September 2024

Member of the Editorial Board: Fourteenth International Conference on Computational Structures Technology, Montpellier, France, 23-25 August 2022.

Member of the Editorial Board: "The Sixteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing (CC2019) " Riva del Garda, Italy, 16-19 September, 2019

Member of the Editorial Board: Thirteenth International Conference on Computational Structures Technology, Sitges, Barcelona, Spain, 4-6 September 2018.

Member of the Scientific Committee of “The Eight international Conference on Computational Stochastic Mechanics", Paros, Greece, June 10-13, 2018.

Member of the Editorial Board: "The Fifteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing (CC2015) " Prague, 1-4 September, 2015

Member of the Scientific Committee of “The Seventh international Conference on Computational Stochastic Mechanics", Santorini, Greece, June 15-18 2014

Member of the Editorial Board: "The Twelfth International Conference on Computational Structures Technology (CST2014) " Naples, Italy, 2-5 September, 2014

Member of the Editorial Board: "The Fourteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing" Cagliari, Italy, 3-6 September, 2013

Member of the Editorial Board: "The Thirteenth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing" Chania, Crete, Greece, 6-9 September, 2011

Member of the Scientific Committee of “The Sixth international Conference on Computational Stochastic Mechanics", Rhodes (Rodos), Greece, June 13-16, 2010

Member of the Editorial Board: “The Twelfth International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing” Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 1-4 September 2009

Member of the Editorial Board: “The Eleventh International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing” St. Julians, Malta, 18-21 September 2007

[1] Tsioulou O., Lampropoulos A., Cacciola P,  Development of High-Strength Aerogel Concrete, Materials, 2025, 18.

[2] Cacciola P, Deodatis G, Enhancing the variability of simulated random processes using the spectral representation method, Engineering Structures, 2024, 321

[3] Cacciola P,  Mayfield RS, Rapid screening of fibrous plaster ceilings health status using a laser Doppler vibrometer, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers– Engineering, History and Heritage, 2024, 177(4): 132-146

[4] Xue J, Mao S, Cacciola P, Contento A, Lampropoulos A, Nicolaides D, Petrou MF, Yang Z, Briseghella B, Experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of fiber orientation methods on the mechanical performance of UHPFRC, Construction and Building Materials, 2024, 448: 138184

[5] Frost P & Cacciola P, Rocking of rigid non-symmetric blocks standing on a horizontally-moving compliant base. Engineering Structures, 312, [118245], 2024.

[6] Frost P & Cacciola P, Dynamic cross-interaction between two adjacent rocking blocks , Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering , 2024 , 178 [108483], 2024

[7] Frost P & Cacciola P, Rocking of rigid blocks standing on a horizontally-moving compliant base. International Journal of Nonlinear Mechanics, 153, [104416], 2023

[8] Cacciola, P., Shadlou, M., Ayoub, A., Rashed, Y., & Tombari, A. (2022). Exploring the performances of the Vibrating Barriers for the seismic protection of the Zoser pyramid. Scientific Reports, 12, [5542 (2022)]

[9] Cacciola, P., Calio', I., Fiorini, N., Occhipinti, G., Spina, D. & Tombari, A., Seismic response of nonlinear soil‑structure interaction systems through the Preisach formalism: the Messina Bell Tower case study, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 2021, //doi.org/10.1007/s10518-021-01268-w.

[10] Cacciola, P. & Tombari, A., Steady state harmonic response of nonlinear soil-structure interaction problems through the Preisach formalism, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 44, 106669, 2021

[11] Tombari, A. & Cacciola, P., Toward the definition of a novel response spectrum for the urban environment, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering. 143, 106631, 2021.

[12] Cacciola P and Tombari A., A stochastic ground motion model for the urban environment, Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, 59, 103026, 2020

[13] Cacciola P, Tombari A. and Giaralis A., An inerter-equipped vibrating barrier for non-invasive motion control of seismically excited structures, Structural Control and Health Monitoring, e2474, 2019

[14] Tombari, A., Espinosa Garcia M., Alexander, NA. and Cacciola, P. Vibration control of a cluster of buildings through the Vibrating Barrier Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 101,219-236, 2018

[15] Colajanni, P, Cacciola, P, Potenzone, B, Spinella, N and Testa, G, Non linear and linearized combination coefficients for modal pushover analysis, Ingegneria Sismica. pp. 93-112, 2017

[16] Tombari A, Zentner I and Cacciola P Sensitivity of the stochastic response of structures coupled with vibrating barriers, Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, 44, 183-193, 2016.

[17] Cacciola P and Tombari A. Vibrating Barrier: a novel device for the passive control of structures under ground motion, Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 2015

[18] Cacciola P, Garcia Espinosa M, Tombari A. Vibration control of piled-structures through structure-soil-structure-interaction. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering. 2015 77:47–57.

[19] Cacciola, P., D'Amico, L. and Zentner, I. New insights in the analysis of the structural response to response-spectrum-compatible accelerograms Engineering Structures, 78. pp. 3-16. ISSN 0141-0296, 2014.

[20] Cacciola P. and Zentner I., Generation of response-spectrum-compatible artificial earthquake accelerograms with random joint time-frequency distributions, Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, 28, 52-58, 2012

[21] Cacciola P., Muscolino G., Versaci C., Deterministic and stochastic seismic analysis of buildings with uncertain-but-bounded mass distribution, Computers and Structures , 89(21-22) pp 2028-2036, 2011.

[22] Cacciola P., Maugeri N., Muscolino G., Structural identification through the measure of deterministic and stochastic time-domain dynamic response, Computers and Structures, 89 (19-20), 1812-1819, 2011.

[23] Cacciola P and Deodatis G, A method for generating fully non-stationary and spectrum-compatible ground motion vector processes. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 31(3), 351-360, 2011.

[24] Cacciola P., and Muscolino G., Reanalysis techniques in stochastic analysis of linear structures under stationary multi-correlated input Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, 26 (1). pp. 92-100, 2011.

[25] Cacciola P., A stochastic approach for generating spectrum compatible fully nonstationary earthquakes Computers and Structures, 88 (15-16). pp. 889-901, 2010

[26] Cacciola P., and Muscolino G., Stochastic analysis of large structural systems under fully non-stationary input IOP Conference Series. Materials Science and Engineering, 10 (012201). Online Journal, 2010.

[27] Cacciola P., Maugeri N., Muscolino G., A modal correction method for non-stationary random vibrations of linear systems, Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics, 22, 170-180, 2007

[28] Benfratello S., Cacciola P., Impollonia N., Masnata A., Muscolino G.,  Numerical and experimental verification of a technique for locating a fatigue crack on beams vibrating under Gaussian excitation, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 74, 2992-3001, 2007

[29] Spanos P.D., Kontsos A.and Cacciola P., Steady-State Dynamic Response of Preisach Hysteretic Systems, Journal of Vibrations and Acoustics, 128(2), 244-250, 2006

[30] Cacciola P., Colajanni P., Muscolino G., A modal approach for the evaluation of the response sensitivity of structural systems subjected to non-stationary random process, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering , 194, 4344-4361, 2005

[31] Cacciola P., Impollonia N., Muscolino G., A dynamic reanalysis technique for general structural modifications under deterministic or stochastic input, Computers and Structures, 86, 1076-1085, 2005

[32] Spanos P. D., Cacciola P. and Redhorse J., Random vibration of SMA systems via Preisach formalism, Nonlinear Dynamics, 36, 405–419, 2004.

[33] Spanos P. D., Cacciola P., Muscolino G., Stochastic averaging of Preisach hysteretic systems, Journal of Engineering Mechanics (ASCE), 130( 11), pp. 1257-1267, 2004.

[34] Cacciola P., Colajanni P., Muscolino G., Combination of Modal Responses Consistent with Seismic Input Representation, Journal of Structural Engineering (ASCE), 130(1),  pp. 47-55, 2004.

[35] Cacciola P., Impollonia N., Muscolino G., Crack detection and location in a damaged beam vibrating under white noise, Computer and Structures,  81, 1773-1783, 2003.

[36] Muscolino G., Ricciardi G., Cacciola P., Monte Carlo Simulation in the stochastic analysis of non-linear systems under external stationary Poisson white noise input, Intenational Journal of Nonlinear Mechanics , 38, (8), 1269-1283, 2003.

[37] Cacciola P., Muscolino G., Dynamic response of a rectangular beam with a known non-propagating crack of certain or uncertain depth, Computers and Structures, 80, (27-30) 2387-2396. 2002.