Long story short:
My research vision is three-folded and can be summed up titled “Innovative design, resilient infrastructure, societal impact”.
- The first component refers to the innovations and methods used to design and build smart infrastructure primarily underground/mining and secondary geotechincal works (tunnels, underground structures, foundations, bridges, dams, landfills, roads etc.) using sustainable solutions and geo-resources.
- The second component deals with the lifetime and the long-term performance of such works transforming them into resilient systems mitigating the risk and hazards. Is it possible to extend the lifetime? Or find an alternative usage to prolong the lifecycle?
- The third component focuses on why. Which societal needs do they serve? Is it possible to target multiple societal imperatives? Could it be related to SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals, UN 2015) or Net Zero and Climate Change actions? These are all questions that my research tries to answer and my research portfolio is guided by.
It is evident that there is an increasing need towards re-thinking of underground & mining engineering, expanding upon new practices and developing new innovative tools and techniques that can be used to make a greener impact in the global society and the cities of the future. Current guidelines used to design underground works are now outdated and are mainly focused on observations made on civil structural engineering codes (concrete, buildings, bridges). These can be used as a guidance but the need to develop codes is evident. Is not the time now to establish design codes for tunnelling & mining?
My main research areas of interest in summation:
- Time-dependent behaviour of geo-materials, self-sealing processes on fractures;
- Stability assessment for sustainable and resilient underground and geo-structure using AI
- Long-term strength estimation and prediction in geo-materials and progressive failure;
- Predicting the geomechanical properties of rocks using data mining and machine learning;
- Modelling induced vibrations around tunnels/galleries (ground-support) and delayed behaviour in complex ground and rock burst hazard (seismic-induced time-dependent behaviour);
- Advanced numerical modelling and analysis on rock engineering and design methodologies in geotechnical engineering (mining, tunnelling, slope stability, foundations) and analysis of mechanical behaviour of complex ground conditions;
- Geological engineering and design methodologies for underground tunnel and mine design and Geological and engineering characterisation of rock and rock mass systems (rock and structure);
- Development of laboratory and in-situ testing techniques on rock materials;
- Risk assessment and cost estimation of engineering projects in geo-engineering;
- Utilising the subsurface for Geo-thermal energy and holistic analysis of geo-assets;
- Improved methodologies and techniques on laboratory and field assessment;
- Urban Sustainability & Underground Space and SDGs & Geosciences.