About
I am a geotechnical engineer, specialised in environmental geotechnics and the development of ground-related solutions to foster renewable energy development. I have worked on silent piling technologies or new anchoring solutions for offshore wind turbines or wave energy converters. I have also numerically modelled shallow geothermal energy boreholes and caverns used for pumped-storage hydroelectricity.
My main approach to research is to develop new foundations or geotechnical applications based on the combination of advanced physical and numerical modelling techniques, such as geotechnical centrifuge, finite element or DEM modelling. I particularly enjoy linking observations at different scales, from micro to macro, to base new developments on a fundamental understanding of geomaterials. I am particularly interested in complex loading of soils, for instance induced by the cyclic loading of foundations or rotary installation of piles.
I particularly enjoy transdisciplinary collaborations, for instance combining anchor geotechnical aspects, fluid dynamics and structural dynamics to simulate an entire floating wind turbine system. I have worked with several companies to develop new anchors for floating devices, embedded in rock or sand.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Offshore Geotechnics
- Infrastructure for Renewable Energy
- Numerical and Physical Modelling
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Supervision
Current PhD Students
Biography
I obtained a FRIA scholarship to do my PhD at the University of Liège (Belgium) in 2014, focused on hydro-mechanically couplde finite element modeling of suction caissons for offshore wind turbine foundations. I continued my work on infrastructures for renewable energy applications with some numerical modelling of Pumped Storage hydroelectricity caverns.
I was awarded an EU-funded MSCA fellowship at the University of Dundee in 2017, to develop screw piles as foundations for offshore renewable energy devices, and particularly as anchors for floating wind turbines. I combined geotechnical centrifuge modelling and DEM to achieve this objective.
I became lecturer at the University of Southampton in 2020, where I am developing innovative foundations or ground probing methods for offshore applications.