People
Faculty
José E. Andrade
George W. Housner Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering; Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering
Professor Andrade's research focuses on developing a fundamental understanding of the multiscale and multiphysical behavior of porous media, with especial application to geologic and engineered infrastructure materials.
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José's google scholar
Stacie Takase
Administrative Support
Stakase@caltech.edu
(626) 395-3389
Postdoctoral Scholars and Visiting Associates
Jacinto Ulloa
Postdoctoral Scholar in Mechanical and Civil Engineering
I received my Ph.D. from KU Leuven, Belgium, focusing on variational models for non-associative plasticity and fracture. In general, my research experience involves the modeling of failure mechanisms in solid materials, including fracture, fatigue, and multi-physics problems, and the spatiotemporal analysis of environmental processes. My current work in Prof. Andrade's group mainly focuses on the micromechanics of complex dissipative processes in granular media. Aside from research, I enjoy socializing, traveling, music, movies, and sports.
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Jacinto's Google Scholar
Adriana Daca
Postdoctoral Scholar in Mechanical and Civil Engineering
I received my Ph.D. from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, specializing in granular mechanics in reduced gravity, with a focus on wheel–soil interactions for planetary exploration rovers. Before joining Caltech, I worked as a Robotics Technologist at JPL, where I contributed to projects ranging from mobility concepts for future rovers to robotic sampling and manipulation systems. Currently, I am investigating the granular mechanics of rubble-pile asteroids through numerical simulations, with a particular focus on the asteroid Apophis, for a mission proposing to rendezvous with Apophis during its close approach to Earth in 2029. In my spare time, I enjoy rock climbing, hiking, and reading.
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Adriana's Google Scholar
Graduate Students
Ziran (Rachel) Zhou
I received my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I am currently pursuing my PhD in Prof. Andrade's group. My research focuses on the analysis of dynamic response of MDOF structures in computational and experimental methods. Outside of school, I enjoy hiking, doing road trips and gaming.
Prior Members of Professor Andrade's Team
- Rigoberto Moncada Lopez, Sea Ice Discrete Element Modeling: Melt and Fracture of Floes and Sheets
- Anna Gorgogianni, Postdoctoral Researcher at Cornell University
- Robert Buarque de Macedo Methods for Control of Granular Material Attributes.
- Siavash Khosh Sokhan Monfared, Postdoctoral Fellow at Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen and Visiting Scholar, Department of Physics, Harvard University
- John Harmon Predicting the Strength of Planetary Surfaces.
- Liuchi Li Linking Micro-Structure to Macro-Behavior of Granular Matter: From Flowing Heterogeneously to Morphing Adaptively.
- Konstantinos Karapiperis Multiscale, Data-Driven and Nonlocal Modeling of Granular Materials
- Raj Kumar Pal, Assistant Professor at Kansas State University
- Eloise Marteau, Technologist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Laboratory Studies of Granular Materials Under Shear: From Avalanches
- Reid Kawamoto, The Avatar Paradigm in Granular Materials.
- Jason Marshall, Senior Principal FTL Systems Engineer at Northrop Grumman
- Shahrzad Roshankhah, Lecturer at Cal Poly Pomona & Cal State Long Beach, and Visiting Research Scientist at Caltech
- Utkarsh Mital, Ph.D. Candidate, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Energy Geosciences Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Understanding Micro- and Macro-Mechanics of Soil Liquefaction: A Necessary Step for Field-Scale Assessment.
- Keng-Wit Lim, Ph.D. Candidate, Senior Staff Engineer, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Los Angeles, California, 2015 Discrete Modeling of Granular Media: A NURBS-based Approach.
- Alex Jerves, Ph.D. Candidate, Microscopic Origin of Macroscopic Strength in Granular Media, Assistant Professor, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador, 2016 Microscopic Origin of Macroscopic Strength in Granular Media: A Numerical and Analytical Approach.
- Ryan Hurley, Ph. D. Student, Force chains, friction, and flow, Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University, 2016 Force Chains, Friction, and Flow: Behavior of Granular Media across Length Scales.
- Carlos Avila, Postdoctoral Fellow, Measurement and modeling of granular processes, Rector (President), Universidad IKIAM, Ecuador, 2013
- Qiushi Chen, Ph.D. Candidate, Multiscale modeling of failure in granular materials, Assistant Professor, Clemson University, 2011
- WaiChing Sun, Ph.D. Candidate, Multiscale framework for predicting the coupling between deformation and fluid diffusion in porous rocks, Assistant Professor, Columbia University, 2011
- Alfonso M. Ramos, Ph.D. Candidate, Instabilities in sands, Associate Professor, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia, 2010
- Ivan Vlahinic, Ph.D. Candidate, Poromechanical modeling of cement paste, Director, Data Science & Analytics at CKM, New York, 2010
- Nicolas Lenoir, Postdoctoral Fellow, In situ mechanical characterization of porous materials under loading, Imaging and Materials Group, Ecole des Ponts-UR Navier, Paris, France, 2010
- Priscilla Fonseca, Ph.D. Candidate (with H. Jennings), Characterization and modeling of calcium silicate hydrate, Assistant Professor, Drexel University, 2009
- Xuxin Tu, Postdoctoral Fellow, Multiscale modeling of granular matter, Assistant Professor, Zhejiang University, China, 2009 (deceased)
- Kirk Ellison, M.S. Student, Liquefaction modeling using finite element procedures, Senior Engineer, Arup, San Francisco, California, 2008