Faculty
Alejandro Martinez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of California, Davis
Email: amart (at) ucdavis (dot) edu
Link to faculty page
Link to professional CV
Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015.
Advanced Teaching Certificate, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015.
M.S.C.E., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012.
B.S., Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 2010.
I joined UC Davis in 2016, after finishing my post-doc and graduate school at Georgia Tech. My research interests include soil-structure interface behavior, biogeotechnics, micromechanics of granular media, and deep foundations. I strive to employ a variety of tools, such as custom-made and conventional laboratory experiments, discrete- and continuum-based numerical simulations, and physical modeling using geotechnical centrifuges, as to approach a given research topic from different angles and spatial scales.
Current Members
Ph.D. Students
Riya Anilkumar
Email: ranilkumar (at) ucdavis (dot) edu
Research Topic: Self-burrowing Probes
Research Interests: Bio-inspired and bio-mediated geotechnical engineering
Link to CV
B.Tech , Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (2017-2021)
Foreign Exchange Program at KAIST, South Korea (2020)
Riya completed her undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 2021. She also completed a semester at KAIST, South Korea, through a semester exchange program during her undergraduate education. For her Bachelor's thesis, she worked in the domain of 3D particle shape characterization. In addition to her coursework, she also worked in the fields of bio-inspired and bio-mediated geotechnical engineering. She started her graduate studies at UC Davis in the Fall of 2021.
Mandeep Singh Basson
Email: mbasson (at) ucdavis (dot) edu
Research Topic: Fabric properties of granular soils under Monotonic and Cyclic loads
Research Interests: Discrete Element Modelling, Granular Mechanics, Computational Geomechanics
Link to CV
M.Tech, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, 2018
B.Tech, Thapar University, 2015
Mandeep completed his undergraduate in Civil Engineering from Thapar University in 2015 and obtained his Master’s in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 2018. He did his Master's research at Technical University at Munich for seven months as a DAAD fellow. Apart from numerical simulations of Granular media, he has worked on numerous consultancy projects ranging from 3D seepage analysis to forensic slope stability analysis. He started his Ph.D. in Fall of 2018 and, currently, he is a representative to Graduate Student Association and a member of Academic Senate (DTA Committee).
Matthew Burrall
Email: mnburrall (at) ucdavis (dot) edu
Research Topic: Tree Root Inspired Foundations
Research Interests: Optimization, Physical Systems Modeling, Anchorage Mechanics, Bioinspiration
M.S. Civil Engineering, UC Davis, 2020
B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, UC Berkeley, 2013
Matthew Burrall obtained his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2013. Then he competed in the game of Go and trained under Professional Player Kim Myung-Wan 9P before moving to Davis to begin graduate school. Efforts with the tree root inspired foundations project have led to experience in the development of bio-inspired design concepts, geotechnical centrifuge modeling of root inspired anchors, data acquisition and field testing of root system anchorage, structural modeling of flexible hierarchical anchorage systems, and shape optimization. He is currently serving as President of the Student Leadership Council for the Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics.
Yuyan Chen
Email: yych (at) ucdavis (dot) edu
Research Topic: Self-burrowing Probes
Research Interests: Probes, Site Characterization, Bio-inspired
Link to CV
M.E., Tongji University, 2018
B.S, Wuhan University, 2015
Yuyan Chen attended Wuhan University, Hubei, China in 2011 and got her bachelor degree in Civil Engineering in 2015. After that, as a student with the exemption of examinations, Yuyan enrolled in Tongji University, Shanghai, China. In addition to her course work and thesis project which focus on building’s seismic performance, Yuyan worked with Professor Jiang Qian and Professor Dimitri E. Beskos in the dynamic response of a poroelastic half-plane to a distributed moving load on its surface. She also attended the International Workshop of Performance-Based Seismic Design of Structures, Oct 2017. Yuyan got her Master degree in Civil Engineering in June 2018 and began her study as a PhD student in UC Davis in the fall of 2018. During this period, she attended Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics Annual Meeting, Nov 2018.
Lin Huang
Email: hlhuang (at) ucdavis (dot) edu
Research Topic: Self-burrowing Probes
Research Interests: Probes, Site Characterization, Bio-inspired
Link to CV
B.S., Civil Engineering, UC Davis, 2018
M.S., Civil Engineering, UC Davis, 2020
Lin Huang finished obtained his high school degree in P.R. China and started his Bachelor study in US at Diablo Valley College during 2012. In 2015, Lin transferred to UC Davis and completed the undergraduate degree at 2017. During his B.S., Lin studied Civil Engineering emphasized in geotechnical field, and worked on multiple geotechnical researches including MICP applications and Tree root foundations. In the fall of 2018, Lin started his graduate studies at UC Davis.
Kyle O'Hara
Email: kbohara (at) ucdavis (dot) edu
Research Topic: Snakeskin-Inspired Interfaces
Research Interests: Interfaces, Soil-Structure Interactions, Bio-inspired
Link to CV
B.S., Civil Engineering, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 2016.
M.S., Civil Engineering, UC Davis, 2019.
Kyle O’Hara attended Cabrillo College near Santa Cruz, California, before transferring to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2014. At Cal Poly Kyle studied Civil Engineering, with an emphasis in geotechnical engineering. In addition to his coursework, Kyle worked in both the field and lab characterizing solid waste. After receiving his B.S. in 2016, he took a brief hiatus from life to cycle across the country and hike the Pacific Crest Trail before beginning graduate studies at UC Davis in the Fall of 2017.
Alejandro J. Perez
Email: ajperez (at) ucdavis (dot) edu
Research Topic: Effects of Internal Erosion on the Strength and Settlement of Gap Graded Soils
Research Interests: Internal Erosion, Internal Stability, Suffusion/Suffosion
Link to CVCV
B.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, UC Davis, 2018
M.S., Civil Engineering, UC Davis, 2020.
Alejandro Perez attended Contra Costa College in San Pablo, CA before transferring to UC Davis in 2015, and thereafter completed his is B.S. in Civil Engineering in 2018 with an emphasis in Water Resources and Geotechnical Engineering. Alejandro continued his focus in Water Resources and Geotechnical Engineering for his M.S degree at UCD, completing his Master’s thesis in 2020 on the filtration of colloidal particles in porous media. In addition to his academic career, Alejandro has had professional experience as a student intern at the CA Dept. of Water Resources for the past 4 years assisting in technical analysis for CA state programs. Alejandro now uses his interdisciplinary training to research internal erosion effects for embankment dam safety purposes.
Master's Students
We're welcoming applications!
Undergraduate Students
Alex Orlando
Email: ranilkumar (at) ucdavis (dot) edu
Link to CV
B.S., Civil Engineering, UC Davis, 2022
Alex Orlando began studying at UC Davis in 2018 and is expecting to graduate with his B.S. in Civil Engineering with emphases in Geotechnical and Structural Engineering in 2022. Alex has been an undergraduate research assistant since the Spring of 2021, and has worked previously on projects investigating the stability of fly ash impoundments. After completion of his undergraduate degree, he plans on pursuing a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering.
Visiting Scholars
Please contact us if you are interested in joining our lab!
Past Members
Doctoral Students
Sharif Ahmed, Ph.D., UC Davis (2021) - 3D printed and gravelly soils - Currently at Group Delta Consultants
Kevin Kuei, Ph.D., UC Davis (co-advised) (2021) - DEM simulations of well-graded soils - Currently at Golder
Master's Students
Khoa Tran, M.S. UC Davis (co-advised) (2021) - Tree root-inspired anchors - Currently at Langan Engineering
Olivia Hunt, M.S. UC Davis (2021) - Bioinspired Penetration - Currently at HDR Engineering
Sam Follett, M.S. UC Davis (2021) - Centrifuge Modeling of Flyash Impoundments - Currently at McMillen Jacobs
Jasmine Miller, M.S. UC Davis (2021) - Tree-root Inspired Soil Anchors - Currently at the US Army Core of Engineers
Sophia Palumbo, M.S. UC Davis (2018) – Snakeskin-Inspired Interfaces - Currently at Geosyntec Consultants
Postdoctoral Scholars
Srikanth Madhabushi (2020) - Centrifuge Modeling of Flyash Impoundments - Currently an assistant professor at CU Boulder
Ali Khosravi - Bioinspired probes - Currently a research engineer at Oregon State University
Mahesh Sharma - Tree root-inspired anchors - Currently an assistant professor at Himachal Pradesh University
Visiting Scholars
Aliyeh Afzali-Nejad, Visiting Scholar - Interface shear behavior
Undergraduate Students
Damon Nguyen, B.S. UC Davis (2021) - Snakeskin-inspired surfaces - Currently at UC Berkeley (M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering)
Justin Moreno, B.S. UC Davis (2021) - Bioinspired self-anchoring device
Mogan Teng, B.S. UC Davis (2020) - Tapered piles
Seth Talkington, B.S. UC Davis (2020) - 3D printed soils, Snakeskin-Inspired Interfaces
Saman Lavasani, B.S. UC Davis (2021) – Centrifuge Modeling of Flyash Impoundments
Kevin Chavira, B.S. UC Davis (2020) – Centrifuge Modeling of Flyash Impoundments
Henry Wijaya, B.S. UC Davis (2020) - Centrifuge modeling of fly ash impoundments - Currently at UC Davis (M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering)
Jasmine Miller, B.S. UC Davis (2019) - Shear wave velocity relationships in 3D printed soils - Currently at the US Army Core of Engineers
Lin Huang , B.S. UC Davis (2018) - Thermal conductivity of biocemented sands - Currently at UC Davis (PhD in Geotechnical Engineering)
Danielle Charleston, B.S. UC Davis (2018) – PIV for Snakeskin DSS Tests - Currently at UC Berkeley (M.S. in Environmental Engineering)
Osvaldo Villa, B.S. University of Arizona – Database for Snakeskin Profiles - Currently at Univ. Southern California (Ph.D. in Biology)
Hussain Al Shawaf, B.S. UC Davis (2018) – Database for Snakeskin Profiles - Currently at UC Davis (M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering)
Aliya Karimi, B.S. UC Davis (2018) – 3D printed soils
Hsiang Huang, B.S. UC Davis (2018) – Shear wave velocity in DSS - Currently at Hultgren-Tillis Engineers
Harley Lorson - Compliant snakeskin-inspired surfaces – Currently at Shippensburg University (B.S. in Biology)
Julia Loshelder - Honeybee-inspired soil penetration – Currently at the University of Arkansas (B.S. in Civil Engineering)
Jasmin Lugo - Centrifuge modeling of fly ash impoundments - Currently at the University of Connecticut (B.S. in Civil Engineering)
