The graduate program in geotechnical engineering and geomechanics encompasses a broad spectrum of topics focused on the behavior of soil, rock, geosynthetics, and other porous media. Emphasis is placed on integrating engineering analyses with experimental observations to form the basis of static and dynamic designs for geotechnical engineering structures such as foundations, slopes, dams, retaining systems, pavements, and landfills.

Our Areas of Study

  • Engineering Properties of Soils
  • Constitutive Modeling of Soils and Rocks
  • Groundwater and Seepage
  • Consolidation and Unsaturated Soil Mechanics
  • Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering
  • Theoretical Geophysics
  • Multiphysics—multiscale geomechanics
  • Environmental Geotechnics
  • Stability of Earth Structures
  • Rock/Soil Structure Interaction
  • Wave Propagation and Seismic Methods
  • Impacts and Vibrations

  • Liquefaction
  • Dynamic Glaciology
  • Soil and Rock Slope Stability
  • Contaminant Transport and Waste Containment Systems
  • Geosynthetics
  • Soil Reinforcement and Improvement
  • Centrifugal Modeling
  • Numerical Analysis by Finite Element, Boundary Element, and Meshless Methods
  • Systems Approach to Engineering Projects