Ph.D. Filip Gurkalo

Filip Gurkalo is a passionate and experienced lecturer and researcher in civil engineering with over six years of experience. He is highly interested in developing new teaching methods to accelerate the learning process among students whose first language is not English, and he keeps up to date with the latest trends and developments in his field. Filip is an author and contributor to a number of papers in journals and conference proceedings, covering topics such as earthquake-resistant structures, soil-structure-fluid interaction, reinforced concrete structures, mechanical properties of rocks, and natural disasters.
Filip holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK, where his research investigated the analysis of innovative slit-reinforced concrete shaft design in elevated water tanks in seismic regions. He also holds an MSc in Construction Management and a BEng in Civil Engineering (First Class) from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Filip began his academic career as a Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, Henan, China, where he worked as a Lecturer in Civil Engineering. Here, he delivered lectures, seminars, and practical classes to groups of 10–120 Chinese and international students on topics including engineering mechanics, structural theory, design of reinforced concrete structures, design of steel and timber structures, civil engineering construction, and finite element analysis. He also prepared course materials such as syllabuses, homework assignments, experiments, and handouts to help students and performed activities such as designing, building, testing, and analyzing models to understand the theory better.
In 2020, Filip was promoted to Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Henan Polytechnic University, where he actively engages in research and publications in reputable journals. He has also promoted a learning environment for students whose first language is not English by initiating, facilitating, and moderating activities.