“Within a society there is no such thing as ‘just a technical problem’.”

Rijk Blok is an Assistant Professor in the Department of the Built Environment at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the chair of ISD: Innovative Structural Design. His key areas of expertise include structural design and analysis, service life and sustainability of (circular) building and bridge structures, bio-based structures, construction engineering and project management.

As a Structural Designer and Researcher, Rijk is not only interested in solving challenging structural problems but also realizing these innovative (structural) solutions within the context of (a sustainable) society. He is currently working on design and research in the following areas:

- Bio-Composite materials and bridge structures  

- Circular Building  

- Estimated Service Life in relation to the Reuse Potential (circularity) of building structures 
- Wind Impact on High Rise Building structures, with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)  

- Seismic Base Isolation for existing houses in Groningen, Netherlands   

- Innovative connections for (space) frame bamboo structures
- Ice bridge and Ice tower, student projects 2016, Finland and 2017/2018 Harbin, China
 

He is member of  

- ECCS member TC14: sustainable steel structures

- European Cost action TU 1304: Winercost, Wind energy and smart cities (MC member)

- Het Groen Brein: a Dutch scientific cross-disciplinary cooperation of scientists for a sustainable future https://hetgroenebrein.nl/

- European Cost action C12 Sustainability of Constructions (Chairman WG1)
 

Rijk Blok obtained his degree in Architectural and Structural design from TU/e in1986. From 1986 to 1988 he worked at a steel construction company in Brabant, the Netherlands, and from 1988 to 1990 he worked for an architectural firm in London, U.K.

In addition to his position at TU/e, Rijk is an independent consultant at his own firm, W5A Structures. Examples of previous projects in which he was the responsible structural designer:

- “Happy Street”: Dutch Pavilion 2010 Shanghai World Expo   

- “Better Shelter”: Refugee housing unit (Ikea/ UNHCR): Lightweight steel structure  

- Steel bridge over Piushaven, Tilburg Netherlands (with Witteveen en Bos)
- Biesbosch museum, Werkendam, Netherlands   

- Bamboo and earth-bag structure for school project in Nepal (Help for a Home)  
- European Cost action C12 Sustainability of Constructions (Chairman WG1)