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Department of Mechanical Engineering
Student sits at workstation and looks at laptop. © Aliona Kardash​/​TU Dortmund

Prof. Dr. Hector Jensen and Dr. Danko Jerez Deliver Guest Lectures on Advanced Simulation and Optimization Techniques for Stochastic Structural Dynamics

© CRE
Professor Hector Jensen and Assistant Professor Danko Jerez from Santa Maria Technical University, Chile, presented their recent work on identification and optimization problems in structural dynamics under uncertainty.

The CRE had the pleasure of hosting Prof. Dr. Hector Jensen and Dr. Danko Jerez from Santa Maria Technical University, Valparaiso, Chile, between 23.06.25 and 27.06.25. On the 25th of June 2025, the two researchers delivered insightful lectures focused on modern probabilistic methods for the modeling and optimization of structural dynamical systems.

Prof. Hector Jensen addressed the session with a talk titled “On the use of reliability methods and Hamiltonian Monte Carlo for complex identification problems in structural dynamics.” His presentation addressed the challenge of solving complex Bayesian model updating problems by integrating structural reliability methods with Hamiltonian Monte Carlo sampling. The subset simulation technique was employed to reframe Bayesian updating as a conditional sampling task. By simulating trajectories of auxiliary systems and applying the Metropolis Hastings rule, the approach efficiently explores complex parameter domains. Prof. Jensen illustrated the performance of the method with test problems and applications involving nonlinear structural dynamics.

Following this, Assistant Prof. Danko Jerez delivered a lecture on “Designing Under Competing Objectives: An Approach for Multi objective Reliability Based Optimization of Structural Dynamical Systems under Stochastic Excitation.” His talk focused on multi objective design challenges where objectives such as safety and cost are inherently conflicting. Dr. Jerez introduced a compromise programming approach for solving such problems, utilizing a two-phase sampling technique that sequentially explores the feasible and optimal design spaces. Application examples demonstrated how the method yields flexible and practical trade-off solutions under stochastic excitation, offering a viable tool for real-world engineering design problems.

About the speakers

Prof. Dr. Hector Jensen is a Professor of Civil Engineering at the Santa Maria Technical University, Valparaiso, Chile, and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile. He is a Mathematician Civil Engineer from the University of Chile, and he received his PhD in Applied Mechanics from the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Pasadena, USA. His research interests include Computational Stochastic Mechanics, Advanced Simulation Methods, Robust and Reliability-Based Optimization, Risk and Sensitivity Analysis, Fuzzy Analysis, Finite Element Analysis, Dynamic Sub-structuring, and Bayesian Model Updating. He has been visiting professor in several American and European universities, including University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), University of Michigan (UM), University of Innsbruck, etc. He has published numerous journal and conference papers, as well as book chapters in areas of his expertise. In addition, a book that deals with the application of reduced-order models to complex simulation-based problems has been published by Springer in 2019 (Sub-Structure Coupling for Dynamic Analysis: Application to Complex Simulation-Based Problems Involving Uncertainty). He is preparing a new book related to the Reliability, Sensitivity and Optimization of Linear Structural Systems under Stochastic Gaussian Excitation based on Advanced Simulation Techniques. He has been invited to give lectures, keynotes, semi-plenary and plenary lectures in a number of universities and international conferences. He is member of the editorial board of several journals, and he has been guest editor of different Journals, including Computers and Structures, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing and Reliability Engineering and System Safety. He is also member of the scientific committee of many international conferences and reviewer of different journals. In 2018 he was selected by the Recruitment Program of High-end Foreign Experts of the State Administration of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. He is listed among the top 2% scientists globally by the Stanford/Elsevier ranking list in Civil Engineering and Applied Mathematics.

Dr. Danko Jerez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Federico Santa María Technical University, Valparaíso, Chile. He earned his Ph.D. from Leibniz University Hannover, Germany (2023), and holds a six-year Diploma and an M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Federico Santa María Technical University (2019). His research focuses on uncertainty quantification in civil engineering, with emphasis on methodologies such as reliability and sensitivity analysis, Bayesian model updating, and optimization under uncertainty, with applications grounded in computational stochastic mechanics. His work has contributed to studies in reliability-based optimization and model updating of structural dynamical systems, performance assessment of water distribution networks, and optimal placement of soil soundings for shallow foundation design. He has authored several journal articles, conference papers, and a book chapter, and serves as an Early-Career Editorial Board Member for the journal Computers & Structures.

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