Rate My Professor Alipour Esgandani

Dr. Golnaz Alipour Esgandani is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering at Macquarie University, having joined as a lecturer in January 2021. Prior to this appointment, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sydney, where she contributed to a multidisciplinary team on an ARC Discovery grant-funded project investigating the mechanics of healing and self-healing in clay soils. Her research during this period focused on the mechanical and hydrological factors that trigger damage and self-healing in geomaterials. She completed her PhD in civil (Geotechnical) engineering from the University of New South Wales in 2019. This degree was funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award and the prestigious UNSW Engineering Research Award top-up scholarship. For her doctoral work, she developed a constitutive model to examine the behavior of unsaturated soils under static and dynamic conditions. Dr. Alipour Esgandani has several years of experience in developing, coordinating, and teaching various civil engineering units, including leading course enhancement and curriculum design projects.

At Macquarie University, Dr. Alipour Esgandani teaches the Soil Mechanics unit, aiming to provide students with a solid understanding of geotechnical engineering fundamentals and design principles. Her teaching philosophy is grounded in a constructivist approach, emphasizing motivation, meta-learning, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and critical thinking. Her research specializations include geotechnical engineering, with a focus on soil mechanics, unsaturated soils, and self-healing geomaterials. She has received notable awards, including the ACCM Best Student Paper award in 2018, the Australian Postgraduate Award in 2014, and the UNSW Engineering Research Award in 2015. Key publications include 'Piezoresistive polymer nanocomposite sensors for structural health monitoring of concrete beams' (Smart Materials and Structures, 2026, with Razbin, M. et al.), 'An experimental and numerical investigation into the durability of fibre/polymer composites with synthetic and natural fibres' (Polymers, 2022, with Alajmi, A. et al.), 'How to model granular soils under high pressure' (Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction, 2022, with Eskandani, A.A. and Vahab, M.), 'An image point identification rule for 3D bounding surface plasticity models' (IACMAG 2021, with Moghaddasi, H. et al.), and 'Generalized mapping rule for image point identification in 3D bounding surface plasticity models' (International Journal of Geomechanics, 2021, with Moghaddasi, H. et al.). As Chief Investigator, she contributes to projects such as NSW Circular on repurposing recovered organic materials for brick production (2022-2024), embedded sensing systems for continuous crack monitoring in concrete pavements (2022-2026), and a feasibility study into floating artificial reefs using smart concrete (2022).