Old Members’ Trust Graduate Conference and Academic Travel Fund Report – Abhinanda Dilip (2021, DPhil Engineering Science)

NUMGE (Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering) includes a series of conferences, organised by the ERTC7 (European Regional Technical Committee 7 for Numerical Methods) under the auspices of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). It was started in 1986 (Stuttgart, Germany), followed by conferences held every four years. NUMGE provides a forum for academics, researchers and engineering practitioners to discuss the current state-of-the-art in numerical methods in Geotechnical Engineering and highlight current challenges  faced in their application to geotechnical problems. It delivers an opportunity to collaborate and concieve future developments in this dynamic and evolving field of knowledge. The conference also featured a special tribute to the late Professor Scott Sloan who was a long-serving member of ERTC7.

The conference had parallel sessions on constitutive modelling, geotechnical earthquake engineering, offshore geotechnics, etc. I presented a part of my research work in the constitutive modelling session on 26th June 23. Please find the photos below taken during my talk. The title of my paper is ‘Assessment of the state parameter used in two-surface plasticity models’ and it is available online at issmge.org

This paper includes results from the 1st year of my DPhil study. My presentation was attended by the developer of the constitutive model SANISAND (2008) – Prof Mahdi Taiebat. My numerical simulations and my conclusions are based on this particular constitutive model’s framework.  I had the opportunity to speak to him about my research and received insightful feedback from him.

Apart from speaking with academicians in this field, I also met current and former research students from Oxford and different institutions worldwide. It was a wonderful platform for us to share and talk about our research. There were presenters from the industry as well. Overall, it was a very enriching experience and I am very thankful to University College for granting me the OMT Graduate Conference and Academic Travel award.

Find out more about the range of travel grants and scholarships available to assist Univ students on our Travel Grants page or read further travel reports.

Published: 26 October 2023

Explore Univ on social media