Dr. Michalis Hadjioannou joined Protection Engineering Consultants as a Sr. Associate Engineer / Structural Analyst on June 1^st, 2015.  Michalis received his undergraduate degree from the National Technical University of Athens and is licensed to practice civil engineering in Cyprus (Scientific and Technical Chamber (ETEK)).  He received his MS and PhD from The University of Texas at Austin, with a dissertation entitled “Large-Scale Testing and Numerical Simulations of Composite Floor Slabs Under Progressive Collapse Scenarios”, a research study focused on quantifying the contribution of steel-concrete composite floor slabs in mitigating progressive collapse of steel structures. The research was supported by full-scale tests and high-fidelity finite element models were validated against the experimental results.  Michalis is experienced with the LS-DYNA, ADINA, PLAXIS, ABAQUS, and SAP2000 numerical analysis tools, and will be supporting PEC and our clients on both research and design efforts. Contact Michalis at 512-380-1988 x307 or mhadjioannou@protection-consultants.com.

Education

• Ph.D. in Civil Engineering | University of Texas at Austin | 2015
• M.S. in Structural Engineering | University of Texas at Austin | 2012
• B.S. in Civil Engineering | National Technical of Athens | 2010

Dr. Eddie O’Hare is the Director of Engineering Analytics at PEC, where he leads research and development efforts aimed at mitigating risks to people, systems, and mission-critical infrastructure from natural hazards, extreme accident scenarios, and hostile attacks. He has fifteen years of experience in advanced research, machine learning, computational modeling, and high-rate material testing, including the past ten years with PEC.

Eddie’s technical expertise spans deep learning, computer vision, multi-physics modeling and simulation, and the application of physics-based data science solutions to engineering challenges. His work focuses on understanding and predicting high-rate structural performance, with particular emphasis on buried detonation effects, impact phenomena, and high-temperature dynamic material behavior.

He has served as Principal Investigator for multiple government and industry programs. These include Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) projects that developed deep learning and computer vision techniques to characterize fragmenting warheads, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) efforts on high-rate high-temperature material characterization using nanosecond pulsed lasers and light-gas guns, and Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) programs focused on statistical modeling of building fragmentation under airblast loading.

Eddie has authored several engineering analytics software toolkits that have been applied in advanced testing and analysis environments. These include PyTrack, a computer-vision-based fragment tracking algorithm for 3D velocity and position characterization, and PEC Spectra, a signal analysis toolkit for extracting material properties from Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) data. He continues to integrate modern data-science techniques—such as Generative Adversarial Networks and physics-informed learning—into engineering workflows to bridge experimental and computational results.

Before joining PEC, Eddie completed his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees at The Pennsylvania State University, where his dissertation research focused on the behavior of concrete-filled tube through-beam connections subjected to varying load rates. He is a U.S. Navy veteran.

Contact Eddie at 512-380-1988 x313 or eohare@protection-consultants.com

Education

• Ph.D. in Civil Engineering | The Pennsylvania State University | 2015
• M.S. in Civil Engineering | The Pennsylvania State University | 2011
• B.S. in Civil Engineering | The Pennsylvania State University | 2009