Congratulations to PhD student Yating Yang for her first journal paper published at Acta Astronautica titled “Comparative study on morphological and mechanical properties of lunar regolith simulants (LHS-1, LMS-1, and LSP-2) using micro-CT reconstruction and direct shear tests.”
Sustainable & Resilient Geotechnical Infrastructure
Engineering safer, smarter and more resilient infrastructure.
Led by Prof. Lei Wang, Ph.D., P.E., the laboratory develops integrated sensing, computational modeling, AI, and risk-informed approaches to understand geosystems and enhance infrastructure resilience, with applications spanning landslides and geohazards, levees and underground structures, remote sensing and digital twins, and planetary geotechnics.
70+peer-reviewed journal papers
NSFNASA, USDOT, USGS & NRC supported work
UCGeotechnical Engineering research group
PhDGraduate research opportunities
Prof. Lei Wang, Ph.D., P.E.
Dr. Wang is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Sustainable and Resilient Geotechnical Infrastructure Laboratory at the University of Cincinnati. He has extensive research experience in geotechnical engineering and infrastructure risk and resilience, including geological hazards and landslides, geotechnical risk and reliability, risk and resilience assessment of civil infrastructure, underground excavation and tunneling, soil/rock-structure interaction, numerical and centrifuge modeling, earthen slopes and levees, in-situ characterization of extraterrestrial regolith, and sensing and machine learning in geotechnical engineering. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed papers in international journals. His research has been supported by NSF, NASA, DOT, USDA, NRC, USGS, and NIST. He was a recipient of many honors and awards, including the Best Paper Award by Taiwan Geotechnical Society and the Springer Nature Editor of Distinction Award. He has served in editorial roles for several major journals in geotechnical and geological engineering, including as Managing Editor of Engineering Geology (Elsevier), Associate Editor of the Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering (ASCE), and an Editorial Board Member of Computers and Geotechnics (Elsevier), Journal of Cold Regions Engineering (ASCE), Marine Georesources & Geotechnology (Taylor & Francis), Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment (Springer Nature), and Journal on Geotechnical Engineering Research (ISSMGE).
Research areas
The group develops innovative solutions for resilient and sustainable geosystems and infrastructure through advanced sensing, computational and probabilistic modeling, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and risk-informed decision-making.
- Geological Hazards and Landslides
- InSAR and Remote Sensing
- Geotechnical Risk and Reliability
- Transportation Geotechnics
- Levees and Flood Protection System
- AI and Digital Twins in Geotechnical and Geological Engineering
- Numerical and Centrifuge Modeling
- Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
- Planetary Geotechnics & Regolith Mechanics
Open position
Graduate assistantship for PhD students in geotechnical engineering. Highly motivated applicants with backgrounds in numerical modeling, machine learning, probabilistic methods, and remote sensing are encouraged to review the current opening.
Latest news
Selected updates from the Sustainable and Resilient Geotechnical Infrastructure Laboratory.
Congratulations to Jiajie Cheng and Yuxin Yuan for passing their PhD dissertation proposal defense!
Dr. Wang attended the ASCE Earth and Space Conference hosted at Texas A&M University and delivered an oral presentation on the microstructural characterization of lunar regolith simulants.
Dr. Wang was selected to serve as an editorial board member for the ISSMGE Journal on Geotechnical Engineering Research.
Dr. Wang and PhD student Yuxin Yuan attended Geo-Congress 2026 and presented recent research progress related to InSAR and geohazards.
Dr. Wang received both “Top Sponsored Awards Receipt” and “Top Collaborative Awardee” recognition by the UC Office of Research.
Congratulations to PhD student Jiajie Cheng’s paper titled “Robust design optimization of supported excavations considering spatial variability in sandy soils.”
Dr. Wang received the 2025 Springer Nature Editor of Distinction Award for contributions to Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment.
Contact & profiles
Prof. Lei Wang • University of Cincinnati
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