Jean-Paul Pinelli, Ph.D.
Professor | Mechanical and Civil Engineering | Florida Tech
Melbourne, FL, UNITED STATES
Dr. Pinelli studies wind-structure interaction, hurricane field and lab experimentation, hurricane risk analysis and vulnerability models.
Areas of Expertise (8)
Storm Mitigation Measures
Insurance Loss
Data Management
Rain Interior Damage
Vulnerability Models
Risk Analysis
Hurricane-Structure Interaction
Post-Storm Cleanup
About
Dr. Jean-Paul Pinelli is a professor of civil engineering at Florida Tech. He graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and obtained his Master's and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering from Georgia Tech.
His original background is in seismic engineering, but after moving to Florida, he started investigating the effects of tornadoes and hurricanes on structures, and he founded and leads the Wind and Hurricane Impact Research Lab (WHIRL) at Florida Tech, where his research focuses on issues of wind and hurricane risk and mitigation.
He leads the engineering team of the Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model, which predicts insurance hurricanes losses in Florida. As such, he has published in the areas of hurricane vulnerability, risk modeling and interior and contents damage estimation, among other topics.
Dr. Pinelli is part of a team funded by NIST to develop a new generation of wireless instrumentation for characterizing wind pressures on structural and non-structural building components.
He is also a co-principal investigator in the NHERI cyberinfrastructure, DesignSafe-ci, funded by NSF where he leads the data use case team and has published papers on data management, related to risk modeling and disaster risk management.
Media Assets
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Media Appearances (4)
Florida Tech Professor Collaborates on DesignSafe, a Web-Based Natural Hazard Research Platform
Space Coast Daily online
2020-12-03
Florida Tech mechanical and civil engineering professor Jean-Paul Pinelli is collaborating with researchers...on DesignSafe, a web-based research platform that enables transformative research to protect human life and reduce damage during hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural hazard events. “I am excited that Florida Tech is a key player in this development effort, which is revolutionizing the way natural hazard scientists and engineers operate,” Pinelli said.
Florida Tech to study how Tropical Storm Isaias' winds impact Satellite Beach house
Florida Today print
2020-08-02
"We want to see the difference in wind profile as it goes from the beach to a suburban environment," said Jean-Paul Pinelli, a Florida Tech mechanical and civil engineering professor. "Our goal is to better understand the reaction between the hurricane winds and the structure. Most of the information that we have comes from wind tunnels. They are good — but they have limitations because they are scale models," Pinelli said.
Hurricanes Irma and Harvey have racked up billions in damages. Who pays?
CNN Business
2017-09-26
"If you have a structure which is damaged by both wind and [storm] surge, then you should get some coverage from both a private insurer and the NFIP," said Jean-Paul Pinelli, a professor of civil engineering and construction management at the Florida Institute of Technology.
Irma needed little hurricane fury to smash Orlando area
Orlando Sentinel print
2017-09-15
Jean-Paul Pinelli, director of Florida Institute of Technology's Wind and Hurricane Impact Laboratory, said Irma is likely to refuel the long-standing debate over power lines. "At least for the new buildings, they are much stronger and that's a good thing," he said.
Education (3)
Georgia Institute of Technology: Ph.D., Structural Engineering 1992
Dissertation: "Development of Energy Dissipating Cladding Connections for Passive Control of Building Seismic Response"
Georgia Institute of Technology: M.S., Civil Engineering 1984
University of Buenos Aires: B.S., Civil Engineering 1982
Links (5)
Selected Articles (10)
Modeling the Influence of Flood Mitigation Measures on the Vulnerability of Coastal Residential Construction
Natural Hazards Review2021
Enhancing Research in Natural Hazards Engineering Through the DesignSafe Cyberinfrastructure
Frontiers in Built Environment2020
Disaster Risk Management Through the DesignSafe Cyberinfrastructure
International Journal of Disaster Risk Science2020
Uncertainty Reduction Through Data Management in the Development, Validation, Calibration, and Operation of a Hurricane Vulnerability Model
International Journal of Disaster Risk Science2020
Testing and modeling of hurricane wind-driven rain water ingress, propagation, and subsequent interior damage in residential buildings
Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics2020
Vulnerability of Florida residential structures to hurricane induced coastal flood
Engineering Structures2020
Hurricane Michael in the Area of Mexico Beach, Florida
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering2020
Experimental Investigation of Wind-Driven Rain Propagation in a Building Interior
Journal of Structural Engineering2020
Characterization of Coastal Flood Damage States for Residential Buildings
ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems Part A Civil Engineering2019
The effects of extreme winds on atmospheric storage tanks
Reliability Engineering & System Safety2020
Languages (4)
- French
- Spanish
- Italian
- Portuguese
Affiliations (6)
- American Association for Wind Engineering : Member
- American Concrete Institute : Member
- American Society of Civil Engineers : Member
- American Society of Engineering Education : Member
- Earthquake Engineering Research Institute : Member
- French Society of Seismic Engineering, France : Member
Accomplishments (1)
Florida Tech Senate Award for Excellence in Research (professional)
2007
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