Ravil Gizatulin is a first-year PhD student at UIC Barcelona School of Architecture. He was born in Russia and moved to Barcelona last autumn with his wife. He has always liked learning English, talking with foreigners, and traveling. “To move abroad is difficult, but fascinating, and I am glad that Barcelona is so hospitable to me,” he says. On 5 May, he participated in an event for PhD students at UIC Barcelona, Flash PhDay, where he could share his research. In this interview, we talk about his area of expertise, his PhD, and his time in Barcelona.
What did you present on the PhD day and how did you feel during the event?
At this event I presented a poster which briefly describes my topic and contains research objectives and expected results. When you work on your thesis and everything seems clear, it is good to show your ideas to new people who know nothing about it and to answer their simple, but at the same time important, questions. There were only a few architecture students at this event, and I was the only person studying structures, but it was interesting to know how many different research topics exist at UIC Barcelona. I hope we will have more of such networking events in the future.
Why did you choose to come to UIC Barcelona School of Architecture and to Barcelona?
I had never ever thought that I would live and work in Barcelona. A year ago, I lived more than 5000 kilometres from this place in a city full of snow during the winter. I just had a goal to start research as a PhD student at one of the European universities in autumn. I looked into different options, but in June I found an open position published by Professor Pedro Casariego Vales. I liked the area of his research and decided to apply for this position, and after two interviews I was selected as a PhD student and teacher at UIC Barcelona. The main reasons why I chose this school are: the area of research that is close to me, and the idea that UIC is an international school with many foreign students.
What is your academic and your professional background?
I studied for six years at the Industrial University of Tyumen in Russia. My study track concentrated on the construction of high-rise and multi-span buildings and structures. During my undergraduate degree I went on a study exchange in Finland and took part in the environmental summer programme in the US. After graduation, I was qualified with the specialisation of “Structural Engineer”. During my final two years of study, I had a part-time job in an oil and gas structures design company as an assistant engineer, and before arriving in Spain I worked full-time as a structural engineer in another firm.
What are you working on right now?
My research topic was mainly developed with Professor Pedro Casariego Vales, and it relates to my favourite construction material; steel. We work on cold-formed steel arch structures. Cold-formed steel sheets are usually used for covering roofs, but can also be used as a load-carrying structure. They are cheap and easy to install. Their application can be seen in storage and agricultural buildings. It does not look very interesting, but much of the material behaviour of cold-formed steel with corrugation has yet to be studied, and so there is no accurate calculation method for building design codes. This is why we are going to research it, with the aim of contributing to steel structure theory.
How has been your experience in UIC Barcelona School of Architecture so far?
In general I got the impression that UIC Barcelona was a small, cosy university where everyone knows each other and is always ready to help. Usually, I spend all my time in the Alfa building so I would describe the school as “homely”, but after Flash PhDay I saw how big the university is and how many different fields of study there are here. With regards to the School of Architecture, it seems that architecture students here can not only create beautiful buildings, but also do structural analysis. Students here are hard-working, and they have good engineering training with a lot of structural calculation classes.
What would you like to do in the future?
I only started my PhD study some months ago; in the near future I would like to find a partner company for conducting laboratory tests. Then, I am going to publish papers in journals, take part in conferences, and prepare my thesis paper. After completing my PhD I would like to combine working in a company with teaching, but I don’t know exactly where I will continue my professional path. It is possible that I will want to stay in Spain.
