Toula Onoufriou
Professor, Founder & Head of EMERGE CoE
Founder & Head of EMERGE CoE
Professor in Infrastructure Reliability and Management
Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics
Cyprus University of Technology
t.onoufriou@cut.ac.cy
+357 25002547
Professor Toula Onoufriou – Founder & Head of EMERGE CoE is a Professor of Infrastructure Reliability and Management in the Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics at the Cyprus University of Technology and an Academic Visitor at Imperial College (UK). She is also the President of the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company. She combines experience from academia and the offshore oil and gas industry internationally where she held several positions of high responsibility (Vice Rector, President, Head of Department, Director of Research, Head of Research Centre and Senior Consultant) and she recorded significant professional activity, contribution and recognition at national and international level. She served as member of national councils and expert committees advising the President and the Government of Cyprus on national strategy for energy, oil and gas, research, innovation and entrepreneurship. She was instrumental in bringing together effectively academia, industry and government departments through the development of international collaboration networks and major research programmes. She is the Chairman of the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Congress Conference & Exhibition EMC Series, initiated in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 2020 under the auspices of H.E. The President of the Republic of Cyprus.
She obtained her PhD in Offshore Structures with a scholarship from Imperial College (UK) and she is top graduate of Civil Engineering at City University (UK) where she was awarded the Renie Prize. International distinctions and recognition include the EGYPS 2020 “Women in Energy Leadership Award” for the Mediterranean and North Africa region in recognition of her contribution to the Energy industry, academia, public sector and her efforts on enhancing regional collaboration on Energy related matters, the Stanley Gray Award by the Institute of Marine Engineers UK for the best publication in marine technology and the award of the prestigious SmartEN Marie Curie ITN Programme on “Smart Management for Sustainable Human Environment”. Also invited Expert Speaker at many high level international fora including United States Congress, European Commission and international conferences on oil and gas developments and smart proactive management of infrastructure systems.
She lead several research programmes funded from national sources, the EU and industry. Research interests include digitization of marine and coastal energy infrastructure, smart proactive management of infrastructure systems, combining advanced modelling/analyses, risk and reliability and optimization with monitoring sensor networks for design, assessment and whole life management optimisation of offshore structures, bridges and infrastructure networks; safety and environmental protection of offshore oil and gas operations and management of sustainable marine environment; innovative methods for development of professional and entrepreneurship skills for engineering graduates.