Geotechnical Engineering


 

Research in geotechnical engineering focuses on understanding and advancing the state of knowledge on the effects that soils and soil deposits have on the performance, stability, and safety of civil engineering structures. Areas of research include laboratory investigations of soil behavior under static and dynamic loads, constitutive modeling of soil behavior, behavior of structural foundations under static and dynamic loads, soil improvement techniques, response of soil deposits and earth structures to earthquake loads, and the investi-gation of geotechnical aspects of environmental engineering.


Faculty and Lecturers


 

Photo of seminar speaker Dr. Idil Akin Idil Akin, Ph.D.
idilakin@g.ucla.edu 4731H Boelter Hall
Post-wildfire slope stability, biogeotechnics, unsaturated soil mechanics, expansive clay behavior and applications.
Yousef Bozorgnia Yousef Bozorgnia, Ph.D., P.E.
yousef.bozorgnia@ucla.edu 5731 Boelter Hall (310) 825-2471
Structural engineering, earthquake engineering, engineering seismology.
Scott J. Brandenberg Scott J. Brandenberg, Ph.D., Vice Chair
sjbrandenberg@ucla.edu 5731D Boelter Hall (310) 825-9819
Geotechnical earthquake engineering with a focus on soil-structure interaction, liquefaction, data acquisition and processing, and numerical analysis.
Jonathan P. Stewart Jonathan P. Stewart, Ph.D., P.E., Chair
jstewart@seas.ucla.edu 5731 Boelter Hall (310) 206-2990
Geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering, and engineering seismology.
George Mylonakis George Mylonakis, Ph.D.
mylo@upatras.gr 5731 Boelter Hall
Geotechnical earthquake engineering, Soil structure interaction
Daniel E. Pradel Daniel E. Pradel, Ph.D., G.E.
dpradel@ucla.edu 5732E Boelter Hall (310) 825-2843
Geotechnical engineering, slope stability, constitutive modeling
Robert L. Nigbor Robert L. Nigbor, Ph.D., P.E.
nigbor@ucla.edu 6679 Boelter Hall (310) 825-3492
Experimental Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics
Christine A. Goulet Christine A. Goulet, Ph.D.
goulet@ucla.edu 5731 Boelter Hall (310) 825-1346
Geotechnical earthquake engineering and engineering seismology in the context of performance-based design, ground motion characterization, probabilistic seismic hazard analysis, site response effects, and ground motion selection for nonlinear structural analyses.
Suji Somasundaram Suji Somasundaram, Ph.D., PE, GE
ssomasundaram@ucla.edu 5732 Boelter Hall (949) 379-2465
Geotechnical engineering, geoenvironmental engineering, waste containment systems
Paolo Zimmaro>
Paolo Zimmaro, Ph.D.
pzimmaro@ucla.edu 5731 Boelter Hall (310) 825-2471
Geotechnical engineering, seismic hazard and risk analysis, system reliability of distributed infrastructure and lifelines, soil liquefaction and its effects on civil infrastructure, and geotechnical system monitoring and characterization with multidisciplinary approaches and innovative field testing