A true expert who inspires confidence.
A master at fostering understanding.
Always kind, respectful, and approachable.
Inspires students to aim high and excel.
Great Professor!
Professor Anna Giacomini holds the position of Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She is the Director of the Priority Research Centre for Geotechnical Science and Engineering since May 2019 and Head of Discipline, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Surveying. She obtained her PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Parma, Italy, in 2003, followed by a Master of Civil Engineering from the same university. Giacomini joined the University of Newcastle in 2007 as a research academic and has since led more than 20 major research projects, securing over $7.5 million in funding from various government and industry partners since 2009.
Her primary research interests encompass rock mechanics, rockfall analysis—both experimental and numerical—stability of rock masses, hydromechanical behaviour of rock joints, mine geotechnics, mine safety, rockfall hazard assessment, rockfall protection design, slope stability, and remote sensing applications for rock slope stability. As Australia’s preeminent authority on rockfall mechanics and protection design, her contributions have shaped mitigation strategies, including wire safety netting, design guidelines, and management practices utilized by government agencies and industry. With over 140 scientific publications, 26% of which rank among the top 10% most cited globally, notable works include “Predicting rockfall hazard with deep learning: Latent feature extraction from geological layers” (2026), “Fragmentation Patterns and Trajectories During Rockfall: Analysis of the Influence of Discontinuities and Impact Conditions Through Drop Tests” (2026), “Individual Shear Strength of Natural Rock Discontinuities” (2018), “An Equivalent Continuum Approach to Efficiently Model the Response of Steel Wire Meshes to Rockfall Impacts” (2018), and “Full-scale experimental testing of dump-point safety berms in surface mining” (2015). Giacomini’s accolades include Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering (2023), the John Booker Medal from the Australian Academy of Science (2019), the NSW Premier’s Prize for Excellence in Engineering (2022), and the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Supervision (2018). She contributes to editorial boards of prominent journals like Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering and Proceedings of the ICE - Geotechnical Engineering, and has served in key university committees, including the ARC College of Experts since 2021.
Explore rewarding opportunities at the School of Engineering, University of Newcastle. From research and teaching roles to excellent benefits and work-life balance in coastal NSW.
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