Profile

Photo:

Gabriele Fiorentino

    • About Me:

      I am an Earthquake Engineer, and I am from Italy 🇮🇹. I live in Bristol with my wife and son. I love traveling and playing the guitar🎸.

      Me driving in the Outback – Australia!

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      I moved to Bristol in October 2020 with my wife, and in April 2021 we had a baby boy. We are originally from Rome (Italy), which is a very big city compared to Bristol!

      I love travelling and I have visited many European countries and a few outside Europe. I have played the guitar since I was 15 years old, but only at 30 I started taking lessons and starting buying good guitars (I own 4 guitars, two acoustic and two electric ones). It’s never too late to start!

      I also like going to the cinema and watch films, and I love reading Science Fiction and action/adventure novels. I have also a passion for bikes and I had been playing five-a-side football until I was 22 years old (and I was pretty good at it!)

       

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      I am a researcher in the field of Earthquake Engineering. Earthquakes are sudden movements of the Earth’s surface. When the movement is very strong, houses, buildings and bridges can be damaged and fall down. Earthquake Engineering studies how to build structures that can withstand these strong movements.

      In my career I have worked on different topics. I have studied dams (barriers to hold back water and form a lake, to use for drinking water or electricity production), I have carried on a research on the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I also have done research on the damage to small villages in Italy caused by the earthquakes that happened in 2016.

      Installing Instruments under the Tower of Pisa

      Building damage in Visso, Italy, after the earthquakes of October 2016

      Visit to a small dam in Piemonte Region, Italy

      Currently, I work at the University of Bristol on a project that aims to study the behavior of a particular type of bridges in earthquake-prone areas (areas of the Earth where the ground can shake very much).

      My Project, ASPIRE, is funded by the European Commission as a Marie Curie Fellowship

    • My Typical Day:

      I wake up early, I go to the university at 9 am, and I work at the computer at my desk, making figures and writing things. Then I have a quick lunch and I stay at the University until I finish what I have to do (6 pm – ish).

      Sometimes I work in the Lab when there is some experiment to carry out.

       

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      My working day is really different if I have to go to the Lab or not. The Earthquake Laboratory has a Shaking Table, which is used to “shake” things, like scaled models of real structures (houses, bridges and so on…). When I have to go to the Lab I spend most of the day there, and when the lab closes… I go to the office to finish working or to take some notes!

      When I don’t go to the Lab I work mostly in the office at the computer, trying to repeat the experiment with the computer.

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      I think I would spend the Prize money to have some funds to start a Pint of Science Team at the University of Bristol and organize some fun activities here in the city!

       

       

    My CV

    • Education:

      • High School “Terenzio Mamiani”, Rome, Italy
      • Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
      • University of Granada, Spain  (I spent 1 year there during my Master)

    • Qualifications:

      This is not my case as I have studied in Italy.

    • Work History:

      • In 2003 I worked one month in a pet store
      • 2016-2020: Postdoctoral researcher, Roma Tre University
      • 2020-present: Marie Curie Research Fellow, University of Bristol

    • Current Job:

      Marie Curie Research Fellow

    • My Interview

      • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

        Italian Earthquake Engineer and guitarist

        What did you want to be after you left school?

        Civil Engineer or Astrophysicist

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        The first year of high school was very hard, and I risked failing in one subject

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        I have many: Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Pearl Jam...

        What's your favourite food?

        I know it's a cliche for an Italian, but my answer is pasta

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        1. To be successful in my career 2. A trip to South America 3. Play the guitar like Jimi Hendrix

        Tell us a joke.

        A skeleton walks into a bar, and says "give me a beer... and a mop!"

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