Dr Szymon Opoka was born in 1976 in Gdansk. He studied computational physics at the the Gdansk University of Technology in years 1996-2001. In 2001 he obtained his M.Sc. degree in computational physics from the Faculty of Applied Physics and Mathematics and the title of his thesis was 'Application of informational entropy in simulation random fields'. In 2001 he became a member of Mechanics of Structures and Materials Department at the Szewalski Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery in Gdansk. In 2009 he joined Mechanics of Intelligent Structures Department group.

His scientific interests are focused mainly on the geometrically nonlinear shell theories and stability of thin shell structures. He is also involved in applications of Fiber Bragg Grating strain sensors to structural monitoring problems.