Alejandra Albuerne

Dr. Alejandra Albuerne is an architectural engineer with more than ten years of international experience. She has a background in building structures, construction history, international development, participatory design and heritage management. She specializes in traditional construction methods and reuse of vernacular technologies.

Albuerne’s career has included work in Asia and Europe. Between 2003 and 2016 she  worked as Structural Engineer in London and Madrid, including spells at Arup London and Mecanismo (Madrid). Afterwards, she was Technical Advisor at ASF Nepal in the recovery from the 2015 Nepal earthquakes. She is currently Assistant Professor of Construction Systems and Applications in the Bachelor in Architectural Studies program at IE University’s School of Architecture and Design in Madrid and Segovia.

Prior to her position at IE, since 2017 Albuerne was a Lecturer at University College London’s Institute for Sustainable Heritage. She also served as Stipendiary Lecturer in Engineering at the University of Oxford from 2014 to 2016.

Albuerne earned her Master of Engineering degree with a focus on Structural Engineering from the University of Cambridge in 2003. Four years later, she completed a postgraduate degree in the Mechanics of Historic Structures at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. She obtained her PhD on the Seismic Behavior of Historic Masonry Structures from the University of Oxford in 2014.

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

• Assistant Professor at IE University, 2021 – Present

• Lecturer in Sustainable Heritage, UCL The Bartlett’s Institute for Sustainable Heritage, 2017 – 2022

• Stipendiary Lecturer in Engineering, University of Oxford, 2014 – 2016

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

• PhD in Seismic Behavior of Historic Masonry Structures, University of Oxford, 2010 – 2014

• Master’s Degree in Mechanics of Historic Structures, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 2005 – 2007

• Master of Engineering, Structural Engineering, University of Cambridge, 1999 – 2003

CORPORATE EXPERIENCE

• Structural Engineer at Arup, London, 2014 – 2017

• Technical Adviser / Architecture and Development at ASF-Nepal, Nepal, 2016

• Structural Advisor at Ecosistema Urbano, Madrid, 2007 – 2010

• Structural Engineer at Mecanismo Diseño y Cálculo de Estructuras, Madrid, 2007 – 2009