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Countryside Road

WELCOME

Hello! Welcome to my website!

I am an assistant professor in geotechnical engineering at

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

I am currently hiring graduate students and postdocs to join my research group, please feel free to get in touch with me!

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RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Numerical:

    • Coastal Resilience - Risk Assessment of Geotechnical Soil Structures

    • Risk and Reliability Analysis in Geotechnical Engineering

    • Stochastic Modeling

    • Computational Geotechnics

    • Finite Element Simulation

    • Slope Stability Modeling

  • Experimental: ​

    • Field Instrumentation and Monitoring

    • Geotechnical Lab Testing

    • Geotechnical Site Characterization

  • Subareas:

    • Transportation Geotechnics

    • Offshore Geotechnics

    • Geosynthetics

  • Computer Languages and Software:​

    • In-house Computer Programs

    • ABAQUS, ROCSCIENCE, PLAXIS, FLAC, MATLAB

    • PYTHON, FORTRAN

EXPERIENCE

Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

09/2022 - Present

  • Duties: Establish research programs, assist the development of Civil Engineering program, teach courses, mentor students, and complete administrative assignments.

  • Research:

    • Project 1: Coastal resilience – risk assessment of aging levee systems in changing climates.

    • Project 2: Quantitative assessment of impacts of extreme droughts on pavements and pipelines.

    • Project 3: Seismic slope stability analysis considering soil uncertainties.

  • Teaching:

    • Geotechnical Engineering I

    • Transportation Engineering

Research Associate, Louisiana Transportation Research Center

08/2019 - 08/2022

  • Duties: Manage multiple research projects in transportation geotechnics as a co-Principal Investigator; Develop research proposals and manage field and laboratory testing; Co-supervise and train graduate students.

  • Project 1: Instrumentation and modeling of geosynthetic load transfer platform performance.

    • Co-supervised one Ph.D. student.

    • Developed a monitoring system for field instrumentation and measurement.

    • Field monitoring, data processing, finite element modeling of load transfer platform.

  • Project 2: Development of a design methodology for geosynthetic-reinforced pavement using finite element numerical modeling.

    • Co-supervised one Ph.D. student.

    • Conducted finite element analysis of geosynthetic-reinforced pavement under cyclic loading and verify numerical models against laboratory and field test data.

    • Quantified geosynthetic reinforcement benefits in Mechanical-Empirical Pavement Design Guideline (MEPDG).

  • Project 3: Evaluation of embedded pile resistance on scour critical bridges (started in May 2022).

    • Developed research proposal.

    • Co-supervised one Ph.D. student.

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Massachusetts Amherst

01/2018 - 08/2019

  • Project: Geospatial statistical modeling for efficiency and economy in offshore geotechnical site investigations and foundation design.

    • Conducted desk study of geologic conditions and geotechnical characteristics of the US East Coast.

    • Conducted statistical analysis of offshore geotechnical site investigation data.

    • Developed a probabilistic framework for efficient geotechnical site investigation and economical foundation design.

    • Developed a 3D statistical model to simulate boulder spatial distribution for risk analysis of pile installation.

Research Assistant, Queen's University

09/2013 - 09/2017

  • Project: Probabilistic analysis of unreinforced and reinforced soil structures using random finite element method.

    • Developed probabilistic deformation and stability analysis numerical tools for geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures (reinforced soil slopes, reinforced shallow foundations, and reinforced soil walls).

    • Quantified soil spatial variability effect on the performance and failure of geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures.

    • Simulated full-scale unreinforced and reinforced embankments loaded to failure using deterministic and random finite element method.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

Ph.D., Geotechnical Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston ON, Canada, 2017.

M.Eng., Highway & Railway Engineering, South China University of Technology, China, 2013.

B.Eng., Civil Engineering, South China University of Technology, China, 2010.

RESEARCH FUNDING

  • Co-PI, 2023. Assessing Coastal Resilience to Climate Change Focusing on Transportation Infrastructure, TEES Annual Research Conference “Elevated 3 Minute Pitch” Award, $2500.

  • Co-PI, 2022. Evaluation of embedded pile resistance on scour critical bridges, funded by Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and FHWA. $383,004.

  • Co-PI, 2020. Internal friction angle of sands with high fines content, funded by Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and FHWA, $146,690.

  • Co-PI, 2020. Development of a design methodology for geosynthetic-reinforced pavement using finite element numerical modeling, funded by Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and FHWA, $311,302.

  • Co-PI, 2019. Instrumentation and modeling of geosynthetic load transfer platform performance, funded by Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and FHWA, $300,331.

HONORS AND AWARDS

  • 2023 TEES Annual Research Conference “Elevated 3 Minute Pitch” Award.

  • 2020 Top Reviewer Award, Computers and Geotechnics

  • GEORISK Most Cited Award 2020 (most cited paper between 2017 – 2021):

  • Javankhoshdel, S., Luo, N., Bathurst, RJ, 2017. Probabilistic analysis of simple slopes with cohesive soil strength using RLEM and RFEM. Georisk: Assessment and Management of Risk for Engineered Systems and Geohazard, 11(3): 231-246.

  • Queen’s Graduate Award (2013 – 2014, 2014 – 2015, 2015 – 2016, 2016 – 2017)

  • Queen’s International Tuition Award (2013 – 2014, 2014 – 2015, 2015 – 2016, 2016 – 2017)

  • Master Student Scholarship (2010 – 2011, 2011 – 2012, 2012 – 2013)

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

  • Associate Committee Member, Society for Underwater Technology, Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Committee, US (SUT-OGSI-US)

  • Committee Member, Risk Assessment and Management Committee of the Geo-Institute, ASCE

  • Member, Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (Sponsored by the National Science Foundation)

  • Member, Nearshore Extreme Events Reconnaissance (NEER)

  • Affiliated Member, ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers)

  • Conference Volunteer:

    • FAID 2019 (France-America Innovation Day: International Workshop on Floating Offshore Wind Energy Technology).

    • International Partnering Forum 2019 (Business Network for Offshore Wind).

  • Reviewer Service:

    • Computers and Geotechnics

    • Journal of Geotechnical and GeoEnvironmental Engineering

    • International Journal of Geomechanics

    • Journal of Engineering Mechanics

    • Geosynthetics International

    • Geotextiles and Geomembranes

    • International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering

    • GeoCongress, ASCE

    • Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering

    • Journal of GeoEngineering

CONTACT

6300 Ocean Dr. Unit 5739

ning.luo@tamucc.edu

3618253263

Thanks for submitting!

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