Faculty Directory

Education background

• Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, 2018
• M.S. in Structural Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China, 2013 
• B.S. in Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China, 2009

Service at University Level 

• University Senate as a Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty Representative for the A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland, 2023-present

Member of Professional and Scientific Associations

• UL Standards Technical Panel for STP 1709, Rapid Rise Fire Tests of Protection Materials for Structural Steel, 2023-present
• ASCE/SEI Fire Protection Committee, 2021-present
• Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SPFE), 2021-present
• International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS, MAC member), 2021-present
• International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib), 2021-present
• National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), 2020-present
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2015-present

• Probabilistic structural fire engineering
• Fire forensics 
• Fire safety of mass-timber buildings
• Smart firefighting
• Impact of fire on civil infrastructure
• Fire-related multiple hazards

• Enhancing WUI Fire Assessment through Comprehensive Data and High-Fidelity Simulation
• Impact of wind on fire dynamics in mass-timber compartments
• Impact of architectural finishes on fire patterns

ENFP405/ENFP621 Structural Fire Protection

Journal Articles (Students from my group highlighted in Italics)

• Pengkun Liu, Shuna Ni, Stanislav I. Stoliarov, Pingbo Tang, “Automated Image-Based Identification and Consistent Classification of Fire Patterns with Quantitative Shape and Spatial Relationship Anal-yses”, Developments in the Built Environment, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dibe.2025.100612

• Ning Liu, Siavash Jafarzadeh, Brian Y. Lattimer, Shuna Ni, Jim Lua, Yue Yu, “Harnessing large language models for data-scarce learning of polymer properties”, Nature Computational Science, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-025-00768-y

• Rebekah Schrader, Shuna Ni, Nicholas Dow, Joseph Willi, Matthew DiDomizio and Gavin Horn, “Experimental Study of Heat Transfer through Windows Exposed to an External Heat Flux”, Fire Technology, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-024-01685-8

• Qi Wang, Xuchuan Lin, Shuna Ni, Jiangrong Zhong, Ning Yang, “A procedure to simulate spread of post-earthquake fire in urban area considering seismic damage to buildings”, Natural Hazards, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-024-06778-9

• Ikwulono David Unobe, Andrea Lucherini, Shuna Ni*, Thomas Gernay, Ranjit Chaudhary, Ruben Van Coile, “State of The Art and Reference Methodology for the Estimation of Fire Costs in Buildings”, Fire Technology, March 24th, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-024-01561-5

• Ruben Van Coilea, Andrea Lucherinia, Ranjit Kumar Chaudhary, Shuna Ni, Ikwulono David Unobed, Thomas Gernay, “Cost-Benefit Analysis in Fire Safety Engineering: State-of-the-Art and Reference Methodology”, Safety Science, Vol. 168, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2023.106326

• Ikwulono David Unobe,  Shuna Ni, “Impact of Vehicle Fire Exposure on Polymer Concrete Overlays”, Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 407, 2023,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.133284

• Chuangang Fan, Wenxin Zeng, Ao Jiao, Hao Chen, Rongwei Bu, Weiguang An, Shuna Ni. “Critical velocity for tunnel fires with fire sources both inside and outside a tunnel”, Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 141, 2023.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103931

• Thomas Gernay, Shuna Ni, David Unobe, Andrea Lucherini, Ranjit Chaudhary, Ruben Van Coile, “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Fire Protection in Buildings: Application of a Present Net Value Approach”, Fire Technology, 2023. doi.org/10.1007/s10694-023-01419-2

• Shuna Ni, Thomas Gernay, “On the Effect of Exposed Timber on Compartment Fire Severity and Required Firefighting Resources,” Fire Technology, 2022. doi.org/10.1007/s10694-022-01254-x

• Shuna Ni, Xia Yan, Matthew S. Hoehler, Thomas Gernay, “Numerical Modeling of the Post-Fire Performance of Strap-Braced Cold-Formed Steel Shear Wall,” Thin-Walled Structures, Vol. 171, 2022: 108733. doi: 10.1016/j.tws.2021.108733

• Jing Li, Jun Zhang, Shuna Ni, Libo Liu, Lubinda F. Walubitad, “Mechanical Performance and Environmental Impacts of Self-compacting Concrete with Recycled Demolished Concrete Blocks,” Journal of Cleaner Production，Vol. 293, 2021: 126129. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126129

• Shuna Ni, Thomas Gernay, “A Framework for the Probabilistic Fire Loss Estimation in Concrete Building Structures,” Structural Safety, Vol.88, 2021: 102029. doi: 10.1016/j.strusafe.2020.102029

• Shuna Ni, Thomas Gernay, “Considerations on Computational Modeling of Concrete Structures in Fire”, Fire Safety Journal, May, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2020.103065

• Ramla Qureshi, Shuna Ni, Negar Elhami Khorasani, Ruben Van Coile, Thomas Gernay, Danny Hopkin, “Probabilistic Models for Temperature Dependent Strength of Steel and Concrete”, Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 146, 2020: 04020102. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0002621

• Shuna Ni, Thomas Gernay, “Predicting Residual Deformations in a Reinforced Concrete Building Structure after a Fire Event”, Engineering Structures, Vol. 202, 2020: 109853. doi: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2019.109853

• Gang Bi, Shuna Ni, Dong Wang, Yeqiang Chen, Jianfei Wei, Wenzong Gong, “Creep in Primary Consolidation with Rate of Loading Approach”, Scientific Reports, Vol. 9, 2019: 8992. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45498-0

• Shuna Ni, Anna C. Birely, “Post-Fire Seismic Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Structural Walls”, Engineering Structures, Vol. 168, 2018, pp. 163-178. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.04.018

• Shuna Ni, Anna C. Birely, “A Simplified Model for the Post-Fire Earthquake Flexural Response of Reinforced Concrete Walls with Boundary Elements”, Engineering Structures, Vol. 175, 2018, pp. 721-730. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.08.044

• Shuna Ni, Anna C. Birely, “Impact of Physical Seismic Damage on the Fire Resistance of Reinforced Concrete Walls”, Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 182, 2018, pp. 469-482. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.06.120

• Shuna Ni, Anna C. Birely, “Simulation Procedure for the Post-Fire Seismic Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Structural Walls”, Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 95, 2018, pp.101-112. doi:10.1016/j.firesaf.2017.10.011

• Shuna Ni, Anna C. Birely, “Local and Global Response Data from Post-Fire Earthquake Simulations of RC Structural Walls”, Data in Brief, Vol. 19, 2018, pp. 1650-1657 (data article). doi:10.1016/j.dib.2018.06.011

• Minjuan He, Shuna Ni, Renle Ma, Xue Bai, “Loading Tests of Prestressed-Tube Bolted Joint with Slotted-in Steel Plate”, Journal of Tongji University (Natural Science), Vol. 49, No. 9, 2013, pp.1041-1049. doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-374x.2013.09.012

• Shuna Ni, Minjuan He, Renle Ma, “Parametric Studies of Prestressed-Tube Bolted Joint with Slotted-in Steel Plate”, Special Structures, Vol. 29, No. 6, 2012, pp.29-35

• Guoqing Zhang, Jinxiang Ning, Shuna Ni, Tao Zheng, Li Zhong, Yuelin Yi, Dongsheng Chu, “Experimental Study of Self-Compacting Concrete with Recycled Aggregate”, Concrete, No. 8, 2008, pp. 59-62, 75. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-3550.2008.08.019

Conference Papers

• Ruben Van Coile, Shuna Ni, Andrea Lucherini, Ranjit Kumar Chaudhary, David Unobe, Thomas Gernay, “A Methodology for Evaluating Costs and Benefits of Fire Protection in Buildings–Conclusions of a Review Study”, Proceedings of the SFPE23 European Conference and Expo on Fire Safety Engineering, Berlin, Germany, March 29-30, 2023

• Shuna Ni, Ruben Van Coile, Negar Elhami Khorasani, Danny Hopkin, Thomas Gernay, “Lifetime Economically Optimum Position of Steel Reinforcement in a Concrete Column Exposed to Natural Fire,” Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Structures in Fire, Brisbane, Australia, November 30-December 2, 2020

• Shuna Ni, Thomas Gernay, “Evaluation of Expected Damage Costs from Fire in Concrete Building Structures,” Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Structures in Fire, Brisbane, Australia, November 30-December 2, 2020

• Shuna Ni, Ruben Van Coile, Danny Hopkin, Negar Elhami Khorasani, Thomas Gernay, “Sensitivity Studies of the Resilience of RC Columns to Various Fire Scenarios”, Proceedings of the 2019 IABSE Congress, New York, USA, September 4-6, 2019

• Ramla Qureshi, Shuna Ni, Negar Elhami Khorasani, Ruben Van Coile, Danny Hopkin, Thomas Gernay, “Effect of Probabilistic Strength Retention Factors for Steel and Concrete on Structural Reliability of Columns in Fire”, Proceedings of the 3^rd International Fire Safety Symposium, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, June 5-7, 2019

• Shuna Ni, Anna C. Birely, “Damage Indices for Load-Bearing Capacity and Stiffness of Fire-Damaged Walls”, Proceedings of the 16^th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Santiago, Chile, January 9-13, 2017

• Anna C. Birely, Shuna Ni, “On the Effect of Design Parameters and Boundary Conditions on the Post-Earthquake Fire Performance of RC Structural Walls”, Proceedings of the 9^th International Conference on Structures in Fire, Princeton, USA, June 8-10, 2016

• Shuna Ni, Anna C. Birely, “Post-Fire Seismic Resistance of Reinforced Concrete Structural Walls”, Proceedings of the 11^th Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Victoria, Canada, July 21-24, 2015

• Shuna Ni, Anna C. Birely, “Fire Resistance of Earthquake Damaged Reinforced Concrete Walls”, Proceedings of the 10^th U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Anchorage, AK, USA, Paper No. 179, July 21-25, 2014

Technical Reports

• Ruben Van Coile, Andrea Lucherini, Ranjit Kuman Chaudhary, Shuna Ni, David Unobe, Thomas Gernay, Economic Impact of Fire: Cost and Impact of Fire Protection in Buildings, Fire Protection Research Foundation, Quincy, MA, February 2023. https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-tools/US-Fire-P...

• Thomas Gernay, Shuna Ni, “Timber High Rise Buildings and Fire Safety”, World Steel Association, Brussels, Belgium, 119 p., September 2020, https://constructsteel.org/assets/uploads/2021/03/2020-WSA-Timber_Fire-f...

Other publications 

• Ruben Van Coile, Shuna Ni, Andrea Lucherini, Ranjit Kumar Chaudhary, David Unobe, and Thomas Gernay. 2022. “Quantifying Costs and Benefits from Fire Protection in Buildings.” SFPE Europe. http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01GQ0QGPY0J2RFJE3D3M1QBN6D