James Kaklamanos
Academic Title
- Associate Professor, Civil Engineering
Contact Information
- Evaluation and Improvement of Earthquake Site Response Models
- Earthquake Ground Motion Models
- Geotechnical Engineering Education
- Uncertainty in Earthquake Engineering
I specialize in geotechnical engineering, which concerns the behavior of earth materials and their effects on the built environment. My primary area of research focuses on the prediction of earthquake-induced ground motion, an important component of any seismic hazard analysis. With improved methods of assessing earthquake hazards, engineers will be better able to design earthquake-resistant structures, and ultimately reduce the loss of life and property during earthquakes. My projects have involved statistical and theoretical modeling in site response analyses and ground-motion prediction equations, and require a balance between data-driven statistics and attention to the underlying physics of the models. At the local and national levels, I am involved in the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Seismological Society of America and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. I served as the lead guest editor for a special section on Advances in Site Response Estimation in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America published in August 2021.
- Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering Tufts University
- M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering Tufts University
- B.S.C.E. Civil Engineering Tufts University
- Earthquake Engineering
- Engineering Seismology
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Site Response
Journal Articles
Kaklamanos, J., A. Cabas, S. Parolai, and P. Guéguen (2021). “Introduction to the Special Section on Advances in Site Response Estimation,” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 111, No. 4, pp. 1665-1676.
Kaklamanos, J., B. A. Bradley, A. N. Moolacattu, and B. M. Picard (2020). “Physical Hypotheses for Adjusting Coarse Profiles and Improving 1D Site-Response Estimation Assessed at 10 KiK-net Sites,” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 110, No. 3, pp. 1338–1358.
Meite, R., L. Wotherspoon, J. Kaklamanos, C. McGann, and C. Hayden (2020). “Sensitivity of 1-D Ground Motion Predictions to Analysis Codes and Material Models Using KiK-net Vertical Arrays,” Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 133, Article 106113.
Kaklamanos, J., and B. A. Bradley (2018). “Challenges in Predicting Seismic Site Response with 1D Analyses: Conclusions from 114 KiK-net Vertical Seismometer Arrays,” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 108, No. 5A, pp. 2816–2838.
Baise, L. G., J. Kaklamanos, B. M. Berry, and E. M. Thompson (2016). “Soil Amplification with a Strong Impedance Contrast: Boston, Massachusetts,” Engineering Geology, Vol. 202, pp. 1-13.
Kaklamanos, J., L. G. Baise, E. M. Thompson, and L. Dorfmann (2015). “Comparison of 1D Linear, Equivalent-Linear, and Nonlinear Site Response Models at Six KiK-net Validation Sites,” Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 69, pp. 207–219.
Kaklamanos, J., L. Dorfmann, and L. G. Baise (2015). “A Simple Approach to Site Response Modeling: The Overlay Concept,” Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 86, No. 2A, pp. 413-423.
Kaklamanos, J., B. A. Bradley, E. M. Thompson, and L. G. Baise (2013). “Critical Parameters Affecting Bias and Variability in Site Response Analyses Using KiK-net Downhole Array Data,” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 103, No. 3, pp. 1733–1749.
Papers in Conference Proceedings and Edited Books
Kaklamanos, J., I. N. Chowdhury, A. Cabas, A. R. Kottke, and N. Gregor (2021). “Sensitivity of Site Response Analyses to Input Motion Selection Protocols,” American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Geotechnical Engineering for Extreme Events (GeoExtreme) 2021, Savannah, Ga., 7–10 Nov. 2021.
Gann, C., I. Chowdhury, A. Cabas, and J. Kaklamanos (2020). “Effects of Input Motions from Different Tectonic Settings on Seismic Slope Stability Analyses,” 17th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Sendai, Japan, 13–18 September 2020.
Chowdhury, I. N., A. Cabas, J. Kaklamanos, A. Kottke, N. Gregor, and K. M. Lang (2019). “Ground Motion Selection Using the Conditional Spectrum: Insights for Different Tectonic Environments,” Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering for Protection and Development of Environment and Constructions: Proceedings of the VII ICEGE Seventh International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, Rome, Italy, 17–20 June 2019, CRC Press, F. Silvestri and N. Moraci (eds.), pp. 1803–1811.
Mirshekari, M., M. Ghayoomi, and J. Kaklamanos (2019). “Sensitivity of Seismic Site Response to Fluctuations in Water Levels,” Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering for Protection and Development of Environment and Constructions: Proceedings of the VII ICEGE Seventh International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, Rome, Italy, 17–20 June 2019, CRC Press, F. Silvestri and N. Moraci (eds.), pp. 3958–3965.
Ghanat, S. T., J. Kaklamanos, T. Kunberger, C. Walton-Macaulay, S. Immanuel, D. A. Saftner, B. E. Barry, S. Griffiths, C. M. Shillaber, and C. Swan (2019). “Bias and Precision in Instructor Grading of Concept Inventories in Geotechnical Engineering Courses,” American Society for Engineering Education 2019 Annual Conference, Tampa, Florida, 16-19 June 2019.
Ghanat, S. T., J. Kaklamanos, C. Walton-Macaulay, S. I. Selvaraj, D. A. Saftner, C. Swan, and T. Kunberger (2018). “Assessing the Impact of Educational Factors on Conceptual Understanding of Geotechnical Engineering Topics,” American Society for Engineering Education 2018 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, 24–27 June 2018.
Kaklamanos, J., and B. A. Bradley (2018). “Insights from KiK-net Data: What Input Parameters Should be Addressed to Improve Site Response Predictions?” Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics V: Seismic Hazard Analysis, Earthquake Ground Motions, and Regional-Scale Assessment, 10–13 June 2018, Austin, Texas, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Geotechnical Special Publication No. 291, S. J. Brandenberg and M. T. Manzari (eds.), pp. 454–464.
Ghanat, S. T., J. Kaklamanos, S. I. Selvaraj, C. Walton-Macaulay, and M. Sleep (2017). “Assessment of Students’ Prior Knowledge and Learning in an Undergraduate Foundation Engineering Course,” American Society for Engineering Education 2017 Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio, 25-28 June 2017.
Cross, T. C., and J. Kaklamanos (2016). “Incorporating Natural Disasters into the Undergraduate Civil Engineering Curriculum: A Case Study Using Hurricane Katrina and the Oso Landslide,” Chapter 7 in “Planning for Community-based Disaster Resilience Worldwide: Learning from Case Studies in Six Continents,” A. Awotona (ed.), Routledge, London, 490 p.
Ghanat, S. T., J. Kaklamanos, K. Ziotopoulou, S. I. Selvaraj, and D. J. Fallon (2016). “A Multi-Institutional Study of Pre- and Post-Course Knowledge Surveys in Undergraduate Geotechnical Engineering Courses,” American Society for Engineering Education 2016 Annual Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, 26–29 June 2016.
Kaklamanos, J., and K. T. Elmy (2016). “Development of a Geotechnical Engineering Software Package in R and Its Implementation in the Civil Engineering Curriculum,” Geotechnical and Structural Engineering Congress 2016, Phoenix, Arizona, 14-17 February 2016, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), C. Y. Chandran and M. I. Hoit (eds.), pp. 635–647.
Kaklamanos, J., and B. A. Bradley (2015). “Evaluation of 1D Nonlinear Total-Stress Site Response Model Performance at 114 KiK-net Downhole Array Sites,” Sixth International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2–4 November 2015.
- Recognized as a New Face in Geoengineering by the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) Geo-Institute, 2020.
- Thomas C. Evans Best Paper Award, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Southeastern Section, 2020.
- BSCES College Educator Award, Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section/ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers), 2019.
- Distinguished Service Award, Tufts University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2019.
- Inaugural Zampell Family Faculty Fellowship, Merrimack College, 2018-2019.
- Excellence in Civil Engineering Education New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2017.
- Selected as one of the Top Ten New Faces of Civil Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2017.
- Award of Excellence at the Professors’ Driven Pile Institute, Pile Driving Contractors Association, 2015.
- ExCEEd Teaching Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2013.
- Award for Outstanding Graduate Contributor to Engineering Education, Tufts University, 2010.