Dundee Soil Expert Receives Top ISSMGE Award

An expert in soil mechanics at the University of Dundee is ploughing a furrow of success after receiving a major international honour.

Dr Matteo Ciantia, from the University of Dundee’s School of Science and Engineering, has been named as the recipient of this year’s Bright Spark award by the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE).

The honour, presented to distinguished young members of the society, allowed 33-year-old Dr Ciantia to present his work at the recent European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in Reykjavik.

“The ISSMGE is one of the world’s most distinguished professional bodies for engineers and to have my research recognised in this way is a fantastic honour,” he said. “Dundee is already recognised as a centre for excellence in the field of engineering, so to deliver my first keynote speech in Iceland while representing the University was an incredibly proud moment.”

Dr Ciantia, who joined the University of Dundee as a Lecturer in Geotechnical Engineering in August 2017, studied previously at Italy’s Politecnico Di Milano and the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya in Spain; he continued his research at Imperial College London for two years after being awarded a prestigious Research Fellowship at the institution. His research at Dundee has focused on theoretical soil mechanics, rock mechanics and environmental geomechanics.