Vlatka Rajčić HR

https://www.grad.unizg.hr/
Fra Andrije Kačića-Miošića 26 | 10000 Zagreb

Vlatka Rajčić is a structural civil engineer. She graduated in 1991, obtained her Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in 1996 (before Bologna system), and earned her Ph.D. in 2000 after defending her doctoral thesis, "Characteristics of the composite structures timber-lightweight concrete," at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Zagreb. During her studies, she was awarded the Rector's Award several times. She has been teaching at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Zagreb since 1992. Since 2007, she is a Full Professor and Scientific Advisor at the University of Zagreb. She is the Chair of the Timber and Lightweight Structures Department and was the Head of the Structural Department at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Zagreb from 2009 to 2024. Currently, she lectures on Timber Structures I & II and Lightweight Structures (Aluminium, Structural glass, and Membrane structures) at the graduate level, as well as Artificial Intelligence in Civil Engineering, Wood Composites, and Structural aspects of Cultural Heritage protection at the postgraduate level. She started working on design projects as an associate immediately after graduating and obtained her license as a certified engineer from the Croatian Chamber of Civil Engineers in 1995. She is also a licensed reviser (auditor) for timber structure design projects in Croatia since 2012. She has been the responsible designer for more than 70 structures with large spans or complex structural systems. As a designer, she is guided by the priority of minimizing environmental impact, which has resulted in 90% of her designed structures being timber structures. Maximum effort is made to use bio-based materials for both structural and insulating purposes. She is interested in achieving structural forms with minimum energy levels (biomimicry), optimizing dimensions, and enabling the disassembly, reuse, or maximum recycling of structures. In the project proposed for the award, for example, old glass prisms are ground and used for terrazzo floors. She has participated in a large number of international scientific projects and initiatives, always striving to connect and apply the results of her scientific research to actual design projects. Several recent examples of scientific projects she has led include: 1. VETROLIGNUM – The design concept involves the mechanical interaction of timber and glass load-bearing large-panel members without sealing or glued glass-to-timber surfaces. Laminated glass-infilled timber frames are recognized as a new generation of transparent structural members with significant load-carrying capacity (particularly for enhancing the earthquake resistance of framed systems), offering energy-efficient and cost-effective solutions (which have been recognized and cited by the global engineering firm Arup). 2. Development of a modular house using innovative hollow timber elements – The use of laminated timber elements with varying percentages of internal holes to reduce self-weight, allowing for easy handling without the need for heavy machinery. 3. ECO-WOOD Structures – Fully sustainable timber construction elements without glue or metal fasteners - the topic of the total possibility of the reuse and recycle of dowel laminated timber (DLT) with the use of the “welded” dowels by melting lignin during build in process of the dowel. 4. H2020 INCEPTION – Dedicated to advancing 3D modeling and Building Information Modeling (BIM) for Cultural Heritage. Backed by the EU Horizon 2020 program, it developed open-standard Semantic Web platforms to make heritage data interoperable and globally accessible. In her work, she tried to involve students in the real design projects as much as possible, so in cooperation with pro-Holz Austria, EBRD, Federal Ministry Republic of Austria, HolzClusterSteiermark, she co-organized five Masterclass programs where students worked on renovation and extension projects, vertical and horizontal densification of urban areas, and the design of new buildings, using CLT or glue-laminated wood. The work was done on real buildings or construction plots located in Graz, Vienna, Zagreb, and Bohinj. She also held a series of seminars for certified engineers. Regarding her membership and functions in scientific and professional institutions, she is active in several Technical Mirror Committees within the Croatian Standardization Institute for the harmonization of Croatian standards with European norms: Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Timber structures, Adhesives, Aluminium structures, and Structural glass. She chairs the committees for Timber structures and Structural glass. She is/was the Management Committee (MC) member representing Croatia for several COST Actions: E29 (Innovative Timber & Composite Elements/Components for Buildings), E55 (Modelling of performance of Timber Structures), TU0701 (Improving of quality of suburban building stocks), TU0905 (STRUCTURAL GLASS - Novel design methods and next-generation products), TU0601 (Robustness of Structures), FP1004 (Enhance mechanical properties of timber, engineering wood products and timber structures), FP1101 (Assessment, Reinforcement and Monitoring of Timber Structures), TU1207 (Next Generation Design Guidelines for Composites in Construction), FP1402 (Basis of Structural Timber Design - From Research to Standards), TU1303 (Novel structural skins: Improving sustainability and efficiency through new structural textile materials and designs), TU1403 (Adaptive Facades Network), Horizon 2020 TU1402 (Quantifying the Value of Structural Health Monitoring), Horizon 2020 CA17107 (European Network to connect research and innovation efforts on advanced Smart Textiles - CONTEXT), CA18203 (Optimizing Design for Inspection - ODIN), CA19139 (Process-based models for climate impact attribution across sectors), and COST Action CA20139 (Holistic design of taller timber buildings), through which she has acquired extensive knowledge and fostered strong collaborations. In the context of administrative collaboration between the JRC Ispra and DG ENTR of the European Commission, she was part of the expert team for the preparation of pre-normative research and European norms for the use of glass products in buildings. She is a member of INTER, secretary of the Croatian Technology Platform and an active member of ECTP and E2B. She contributed to the following documents: Strategic Research Agenda 2010-2030 and Vision 2010-2030 for the Focus Area Cultural Heritage, where she led HG 1 (Education, training and Ethics) and HG6 (Dissemination) at the ECTP level. She is a member of the Management Board of IAESE (International Association for Experimental Structural Engineering), Shanghai, China; a member of IABSE; and was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Croatian Civil Engineering Institute (IGH) from 2011 to 2015. She is registered on the expert list of CORDIS (www.cordis.eu) and has evaluated project proposals for calls such as H2020 Marie Curie, H2020 nZEB, H2020 EEB, FP7-EeB.NMP, and FP7-NMP – LARGE2. She was awarded by the Croatian Association of Civil Engineers - HSGI for the mentor of the best doctoral thesis in the Republic of Croatia, for the period 2022 - 2023, prize for the best scientific researcher for the 100 years anniversary of the Faculty of Civil Engineering Zagreb, special recognition of the DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung e. V. a for the work on new Eurocode 10 "Design of glass structures" and awards for several best cited papers in journals.