Dear Geo-Fellows,
Welcome to the 52nd edition of our bulletin!
The past few months have been particularly busy, with a prestigious medal, the end of the master’s year, conferences, new publications, a PhD defence, and new people joining our team. Here are some of the highlights from the past few months!
As always, don’t hesitate to share this newsletter with your colleagues and friends!
Anything you want to share in the next newsletter? Please, feel free to contact us at: geomecanique.newsletter@3sr-grenoble.fr.
Master “Geomechanics, Civil Engineering and Risks”
The master defenses took place at the end of June. A total of 21 students defended their master projects, and at least five of them will now continue with a PhD, including three at 3SR.
A great barbecue on July 1st marked the end of the academic year.
The new batch of master students will start on September 14. There will be about 30 students, coming, as usual, from many different countries.
Publications!
- Luan, J.-Y., Li, M.-C., Wang, J.-P., Dadda, A., & Viggiani, G. (2026) – Micro-Scale Experimental Insights into the Hydro-Mechanics of Unsaturated Granular Materials: an X-ray Tomography study. Computers and Geotechnics, Volume 198, October 2026, 108290.
- Karimiazar, J., Vitone, C., Romero, E., Petti, R., Torres-Serra, J., Fraccica, A., Viggiani, G., & Pinzón, G. (2026) – The fascinating complexity of beached Posidonia oceanica fibres: insights from bio-chemo-hydro mechanical analysis for their reuse as soil reinforcement. Scientific Reports, accepted June 2026.
- Zhou, Y., Yu, B., Fan, W., Viggiani, G., Tengattini, A., Stamati, O., Dijkstra, T., & Charrier, P. (2026) – Effect of microscale heterogeneity on shear band formation in Malan loess: insights from in-situ X-ray tomography. Engineering Geology, Volume 372, Part A, 108931.
- Liang, X., Gu, X., Viggiani, G., Tengattini, A., & Hu, J. (2026) – Is elastic wave velocity a proxy for fabric evolution under shear in quartz sand? An experimental study using X-ray tomography and ultrasonic transducers. Géotechnique, accepted July 2026.
- Fridman, D.G., Stamati, O., Prezzi, M., Salgado, R., Combe, G., Viggiani, G., Adari, S.K., & Charrier, P. (2026) – Particle-Scale Insights into Sand Deformation during Open-ended Pile Installation using DIC and X-ray CT. Géotechnique, accepted July 2026.
A medal for Tomoya and his supervisors!
As already announced in the previous edition, Tomoya and his supervisors have been awarded the prestigious 2026 Sir Benjamin Baker Medal by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). The achievement was celebrated at ICE’s headquarters in London on July 2, 2026. As promised, here is a picture from the ceremony!
PhD Defence: Nicolas Zalamea!
On July 6, Nicolas Zalamea successfully defended his PhD thesis, entitled “Multi-scale Modelling of the Thermo-Hydromechanical Behaviour of Argillaceous Rocks.”
His research, supervised by Pierre Bésuelle, with Alice Di Donna and Stefano Dal Pont as co-supervisors, focused on the multi-scale modelling of the thermo-hydromechanical behaviour of argillaceous rocks.The examination committee highly appreciated the scientific quality of the work and Nicolas’s thorough knowledge of the subject.
The Geomechanics team warmly congratulates Nicolas on the successful completion of his PhD and wishes him all the best for the next stage of his career!
Two conferences in Vienna!
In June, many of us attended the 21st International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE) in Vienna. It was a huge conference, with more than 2,200 delegates!
Cino delivered a keynote lecture entitled “From Oedometer to Computed Tomography: 100 Years of Experimental Soil Mechanics.”
The following week, still in Vienna, some of us also attended the 13th International Workshop on Bifurcation and Degradation in Geomaterials (IWBDG).
Visits!
In late May, our former 3SR colleague Eddy Andò spent a few days with Cino, having fun with X-rays!
New people in the team!
Criss Zanelli, a PhD candidate from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), Lima, will spend one year at 3SR as part of a joint IRD-UGA/PUCP doctoral programme. She is joining the Geomechanics team in late August, supported by a scholarship from the Franco-Peruvian doctoral school (IRD-PUCP).
Her research focuses on improving the structural design of pircas — traditional dry-stone retaining walls in Peru — to enhance their seismic performance in the context of climate transition. She will develop a discrete element model incorporating the backfill, building on previous work by Paola Ita (PUCP), who spent four months at 3SR in 2023 and defended her PhD at PUCP in 2024.