Biography
Dr. Yichuan (Ethan) Zhu leads the Computational Geosystems Laboratory in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at Temple University. His research interests include computational geosciences, natural hazard assessment and management, and fundamental geomechanics. He has extensive experience in producing, processing, and integration of remote sensing data with conventional engineering monitoring techniques. He is the member of ASCE Geo-Institute Risk Assessment and Management (RAM) Technical Committee , ASCE Geo-Institute Computational Geotechnics Technical Committee, and Engineering Practice of Risk Assessment and Management Committee of International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. Outside of academic, he has worked as a civil engineer for several critical infrastructure instrumentation and monitoring, including the world’s highest tailing dam, and tunnel construction in urban areas.
Research Interests
- Granular Mechanics, ML/AI in Geotechnical and Geological applications
- Engineering Geology
- Risk/reliability assessment and management
- Remote sensing and Spatio-temporal analysis
- Uncertainty quantification
- Computational geomechanics
Courses Taught
Number | Name | Level |
|---|---|---|
CEE 3048 | Probability, Statistics & Stochastic Methods | Undergraduate |
CEE 3331 | Soil Mechanics | Undergraduate |
CEE 4821 | Foundation Engineering | Undergraduate |
CEE 4823 | Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering | Undergraduate |
CEE 5048 | Probability and Statistics in Engineering | Graduate |
CEE 5821 | Foundation Engineering | Graduate |
CEE 5823 | Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering | Graduate |
Selected Publications
Recent
Wang, C., Zou, J., Zhu, Y., Wang, L., & Li, L. (2026). An elastoplastic analytical method for characterizing the plastic zones around twin circular tunnels excavated at shallow depth. Computers and Geotechnics, 194, 108042-108042. Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.compgeo.2026.108042.
Zhu, Y., Medina-Cetina, Z., Wang, C., & Bi, X. (2026). Three-dimensional dynamics of vortex structures in granular materials. Powder Technology, 471, 122081-122081. Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.powtec.2025.122081.
Bi, X. & Zhu, Y. (2026). A data-driven framework for three-dimensional landslide displacement prediction based on multi-temporal InSAR and machine learning techniques. Geodata and AI, 100061-100061. Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.geoai.2026.100061.
Wang, C., Zou, J., Zhu, Y., Li, L., & Shu, D. (2026). A method for calculating the critical safety distance between a tunnel and the existing bridge pile foundation during the oblique side crossing shield construction. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 30(1), 100328-100328. Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.kscej.2025.100328.
Wang, C., Zou, J., Zhu, Y., & Li, L. (2025). An elastoplastic analytical method for characterizing the plastic zone around a shallow circular tunnel. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 143, 115999-115999. Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.apm.2025.115999.
Tamang, R.L., Zhu, Y., & Coe, J. (2025). Transformer-based model for predicting jet grout column diameter. Geodata and AI, 3, 100021-100021. Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.geoai.2025.100021.
Tamang, R., Zhu, Y., & Coe, J. (2025). Bayesian deep learning for uncertainty quantification and prediction of jet grout column diameter. Computers and Geotechnics, 179, 106981-106981. Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.compgeo.2024.106981.
Zhu, Y., Medina-Cetina, Z., & Pineda-Contreras, A.R. (2022). Spatio-Temporal Statistical Characterization of Boundary Kinematic Phenomena of Triaxial Sand Specimens. Materials (Basel), 15(6). Switzerland. 10.3390/ma15062189
Medina-Cetina, Z., Song, A., Zhu, Y., Pineda-Contreras, A.R., & Rechenmacher, A. (2022). Global and Local Deformation Effects of Dry Vacuum-Consolidated Triaxial Compression Tests on Sand Specimens: Making a Database Available for the Calibration and Development of Forward Models. Materials (Basel), 15(4). Switzerland. 10.3390/ma15041528
Zhu, Y., Dortch, J.M., Massey, M.A., Haneberg, W.C., & Curl, D. (2021). An intelligent swath tool to characterize complex topographic features: Theory and application in the Teton Range, Licking River, and Olympus Mons. Geomorphology, 387, 107778. doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2021.107778.
Zhu, Y., Wang, Z., Carpenter, N.S., Woolery, E.W., & Haneberg, W.C. (2021). Mapping Fundamental-Mode Site Periods and Amplifications from Thick Sediments: An Example from the Jackson Purchase Region of Western Kentucky, Central United States. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 111(4), 1868-1884. doi: 10.1785/0120200300.
Crawford, M.M., Dortch, J.M., Koch, H.J., Killen, A.A., Zhu, J., Zhu, Y., Bryson, L.S., & Haneberg, W.C. (2021). Using landslide-inventory mapping for a combined bagged-trees and logistic-regression approach to determining landslide susceptibility in eastern Kentucky, USA. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 54(4), qjegh2020-qjegh2177. doi: 10.1144/qjegh2020-177.