Impact and innovation – hallmarks of geotechnical engineering research at UNSW

The research of CIES geotechnical engineering academics Professor Nasser Khalili and Associate Professor Adrian Russell has been awarded for its impact and innovation.

Professor Khalili received the Outstanding Paper Award for his constitutive modelling work presented in the paper “A fully coupled flow deformation model for cyclic analysis of unsaturated soils including hydraulic and mechanical hysteresis”. The paper, published in Computers and Geotechnics in 2008, was judged to have made a highly significant impact to geotechnical engineering, based on citations over a five year period and the opinion of the journal’s Editors.

A/Professor Adrian Russell received the International Innovation Award for his physical modelling research in the field of unsaturated soil mechanics. At UNSW A/Professor Russell developed with colleagues a calibration chamber, lateral earth pressure rig and shallow foundation rig to conduct full scale cone penetration tests,retaining wall tests and shallow foundation tests to study the influence of soil suction. The award was given by the Technical Committee 106 on Unsaturated Soils, part of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering.

For more information on unsaturated soil mechanics research and application contact Professor Nasser Khalili or A/Professor Adrian Russell.