Research
Graduate Studies in Geotechnical Engineering
Welcome! The Geotechnical Engineering Group at UC Davis is very active and technically diverse, with expertise among faculty and staff ranging from fundamental physical and chemical processes, to computation modeling and simulation, to full-scale engineering design. This breadth of research interests and abilities together facilitate synergistic research activities and a rich educational graduate experience.
Ongoing research projects totaling over $2M/year cover an array of topics, including geotechnical earthquake engineering, dam rehabilitation, coupled multi-phase material modeling, soil-structure interaction, pavement durability, offshore sediment characterization, and biological treatment of soils. Research is conducted using our extensive laboratory, in situ, computational, centrifuge, visualization, and field-scale testing facilities. This is highlighted by the largest centrifuge in the United States (movie) and one of the largest pavement test facilities in the world. These facilities are organized and managed within several research groups.
The educational experience - at both the undergraduate and graduate levels - builds on and compliments the research activities. The academic course program takes students from the fundamentals of soil behavior to simulation and modeling, in situ testing, and design of geosystems. At the graduate level this education is especially rich as course work is integrated with research and consulting projects, as well as case histories. Graduate researchers further broader their experiences through research projects that often include presentations, collaborations, and travel.
The geotechnical group is currently accepting applications for graduate research positions, which are scheduled to begin in the summer or fall. If you are interested, please contact one of the geotechnical faculty and apply to the graduate program. It is best to have your application file complete by January 15 for admission in the autumn (January 15 is a hard deadline for University Fellowship applications.) Applications for graduate school received until mid March can be considered for Teaching and Research Assistantships. Later applications might also be considered, but prospects for financial support diminish with time; the sooner you apply the better are your prospects. We are also hiring undergraduate researchers for part-time work during the school year and for full-time work during the summer. Please contact us if you are interested.
If you have further inquiries or comments please feel free to e-mail one of us!
Faculty
Boulanger, Ross W. Professor rwboulanger@ucdavis.edu (530) 752-2947 Geotechnical engineering; Earthquake engineering; Soil-structure interaction; Ground improvement methods; Laboratory testing
Dafalias, Yannis F.
Professoryfdafalias@ucdavis.edu
(530) 752-3427Continuum mechanics with emphasis on constitutive relationships for plasticity and viscoplasticity.
DeJong, Jason
Associate Professorjdejong@ucdavis.edu (530) 754-8995 Geotechnical engineering; microbial treatment of soils; advanced in situ characterization; offshore foundation systems; digital imaging and measurement techniques; soil-structure interface behavior; micro-scale granular behavior.
Harvey, John
Professorjtharvey@ucdavis.edu
(530) 754-6409Asphalt and concrete pavements, including design, materials, rehabilitation, life cycle, maintenance and reconstruction.
Idriss, Izzat M.
Emeritus Professor,
Member, U. S. National
Academy of EngineeringEarthquake engineering; Earth- and rock-filled dams; Stability and deformation evaluation of soil masses during earthquake around motions.
Jeremić, Boris Associate Professor jeremic@ucdavis.edu
(530) 754-9248Computational geomechanics; Soil-foundation-structure interaction; Probabilistic elasto-plasticity; Computer aided engineering; Parallel processing; Scientific visualization.
Kutter, Bruce L.
Professor & Director, Center for Geotechnical Modelingblkutter@ucdavis.edu (530) 752-8099 Centrifugal modeling of geotechnical structures; Effects of earthquakes on embankments, piles, saturated sand layers, earth retaining structures, and soil-pile-structure systems.
Adjunct Faculty and Research Personnel
Abrahamson, Norm
Adjunct Professor
Seismic hazard analysis.
Jones, David J.
Project Scientistdjjones@ucdavis.edu
530 754 4422UC Pavement Research Center Lea, Jon
Sr. Development Engineerjlea@ucdavis.edu UC Pavement Research Center Lu, Qing
Assistant Project Scientist
lqstock@gmail.com
(510) 665-3596Pavement material testing and characterization; pavement design, evaluation, and performance modeling; applied statistics and econometric modeling in highways; and surfacing of long-span orthotropic steel deck bridges.
Wilson, Daniel
CGM Manager and Project Scientistdxwilson@ucdavis.edu
(530) 754-9761Geotechnical centrifuge modeling, earthquake engineering, instrumentation, data and metadata, data visualization, wireless data acquisition.
Wu, Rongzong
Assistant Project Scientistrzwu@ucdavis.edu
(510) 665-6721Numerical modeling of cracking and permanent deformation in asphalt pavements; pavement design methods; accelerated pavement testing; back-calculation algorithm; laboratory evaluation of pavement materials; sustainable pavement engineering.
Former Faculty
Arulanandan, K. Professor
(1966-ret. 2002)Professor“Arul” was a pioneer in centrifuge modeling, earthquake engineering, numerical modeling, soil erosion, and the use of electrical methods to characterize soils. His textbook on “Soil Structure: In Situ Properties and Behavior” was posthumously published in 2008 (Download here).
Cheney, James A.
Professor
(1962-ret. 1991)Professor Cheney was the founding director of the center for geotechnical modeling, overseeing the establishment of the centrifuge facilities at UC Davis. His contributions were in the areas of foundation engineering, centrifuge modeling, soil dynamics, and aerospace structures.
Shen, C.K. Professor
(1967-ret. 1991)Professor Chen served as a department chair and provided contributions in the areas of reinforced earth systems, liquefaction, dynamic site response, and laboratory testing of soils.
Research Groups
Geotechnical Graduate Student Society
The Geotechnical Graduate Student Society's (GGSS) purpose is to promote scholarship, service, leadership, and social events for the geotechnical group. The intention is to foster collaboration throughout our group and provide opportunities to further our education and professional development. Please view the GGSS web page to learn more about the students involved, recent news, and our activities
Courses (click here for descriptions)
- ECI 171 Soil Mechanics
- ECI 171L Soil Mechanics Laboratory
- ECI 173 Foundation Design
- ECI 175 Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
- ECI 179 Pavement Engineering
- ECI 201 Introduction to Theory of Elasticity
- ECI 203 Inelastic Behavior of Solids
- ECI 205 Continuum Mechanics
- ECI 212 Finite Element Procedures in Applied Mechanics
- ECI 212B Finite Elements: Application to Linear and Nonlinear
Structural Mechanics Problems - ECI 213 Analysis of Structures Subjected to Dynamic Loads
- ECI 259 Asphalt and Asphalt Mixes
- ECI 281A Advanced Soil Mechanics I
- ECI 281B Advanced Soil Mechanics II
- ECI 282 Pavement Design and Rehabilitation
- ECI 283 Physico-Chemical Properties of Soils
- ECI 284 Theoretical Geomechanics
- ECI 285 Computational Geomechanics
- ECI 286 Advanced Foundation Design
- ECI 287 Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
- ECI 288 Earth and Rockfill Dams
- ECI 289D Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis
- Students are encouraged to take courses from Hydrologic Science, Geology, Computer Science, Mathematics and other related areas