Steel Structures
Earthquake Engineering
Research Interests:
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Seismic design, evaluation and rehabilitation of steel structures
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Cyclic stability, modeling, and design of steel columns
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Experimental methods in earthquake engineering
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Structural performance under extreme loading
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High-performance steel materials
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Seismic Risk and Loss Assessment
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Performance-based design
Gülen Özkula, PhD, MBA
Bio
WELCOME!
I'm thrilled to introduce myself! My name is Dr. Gulen Ozkula. I am an educator, civil engineer, mentor, and lifelong learner with a passion for global exploration and academic excellence.
In 2024, I joined the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of the District of Columbia as an Assistant Professor, following my tenure track at the University of Wisconsin, Platteville. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with honors from Manisa Celal Bayar University in Turkey and an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Eskisehir Anadolu University. To strengthen my language and business communication skills, I completed the Intensive Business English Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 2011, I earned my Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I went on to complete my Ph.D. in Structural Engineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 2017, with a focus on steel structures. At UCSD, I had the privilege of working under the guidance of Professor Dr. Chia-Ming Uang, conducting research on the seismic behavior of steel deep beam-columns.
Following my doctoral studies, I remained at UCSD as a postdoctoral researcher before returning to Turkey to serve as an Assistant Professor at Tekirdag Namik Kemal University. My commitment to continuous learning led me to a Visiting Professorship at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, further expanding my international academic experience. Since I firmly believe that every engineer should possess strong management and leadership skills, I pursued and completed an Executive MBA at Istanbul University in 2023. This experience has further enhanced my ability to integrate technical expertise with strategic business insight.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about me. I’m excited about the opportunities ahead and remain dedicated to advancing education, research, and mentorship. I invite you to explore my website, and I hope you find the content both informative and inspiring.
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Latest Publication
Classification and Identification of Buckling Modes of
Steel Columns under Cyclic Loading
Wide-flange columns are commonly used for the construction of special moment frames and braced frames. For special moment frames, design engineers routinely use deep sections to meet the stringent code-specified story drift limits in order to achieve economy in recent years. Columns with shallow and stocky sections are common for braced frame construction. Observation made from two recent experimental studies involving both deep and shallow columns under axial compression and cyclic drifts showed a variety of buckling modes. A classification with three cyclic buckling modes is proposed in this paper; subsets of each buckling mode are also presented. A parameter measuring the relative rotational restraint that the web provides to each flange is derived. After calibrating this parameter with the test results, a practical procedure that can predict the governing cyclic buckling mode is proposed.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
— Winston Churchill
“Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Risk being seen in all of your glory”
— Jim Carrey
From My Blog
Gülen Özkula
Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering (Structural Division)
University of the District of Columbia