Professor Kono received his M.S. in Structural Engineering from Kyoto University in 1989. He received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1995. After working as a bridge engineer in California for a year, he became an Assistant Professor of the Dept. of Civil Engineering at Toyohashi University of Technology in 1996. In 1998, he moved as an Assistant Professor of Structural Engineering at Kyoto University and became an associate professor in 2002. He has been serving as a professor of Materials ans Structures Laboratory in Tokyo Institute of Technology since 2012.

Professor Kono's primary research areas involve the experimental investigation of reinforced and prestressed/precast concrete structural systems subjected to earthquake loadings. His interests include performance based design of reinforced concrete, damage control or zero damage design using prestressed/precast concrete. His current research topics include the following; (1) Damage evaluation/control of RC structures to improve the performance based design, (2) Develop damage controling system using precast/prestressed concrete technology, and (3) Study on shear tranfer mechanisim of reinforced concrete members.

Architecture Institute of Japan
Japan Concrete Institute
Japan Prestressed Concrete Institute
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, USA
American Concrete Institute
American Society of Civil Engineering