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About David
Professor David White holds a fractional appointment as the Shell EMI Professor of Offshore Geotechnics at The University of Western Australia (UWA), complemented by roles as Adjunct Professor in the School of Earth and Oceans and affiliation with the UWA Oceans Institute. He obtained his BA and MEng degrees from the University of Cambridge in 1998, followed by a PhD from the same university in 2002. His career at UWA includes serving as Professor from 2007 to mid-2017 and as an ARC Future Fellow prior to that. Earlier positions encompass Research Fellow at St John's College, University of Cambridge in 2001, and Lecturer at the University of Cambridge from 2003. Currently, he is also Professor of Infrastructure Geotechnics at the University of Southampton. White's research specializations encompass offshore pipelines, offshore site characterisation, geohazards including submarine slides, foundation analysis and design, geotechnical centrifuge modelling, and image-based deformation measurement. His studies emphasize the mechanics of soils, foundations, and pipelines in the offshore sector, employing experimental and numerical approaches at micro- and macro-scales to develop practical design methods adopted widely in engineering.
White has garnered extensive recognition through fellowships from the Royal Academy of Engineering, Australasian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Institution of Engineers Australia, Institution of Civil Engineers (UK), and Royal Institution of Naval Architects. Notable awards include the Bishop Medal, Telford Premium, RM Quigley Medal and Honourable Mention, BGA Prize (awarded three times), Anton Hale Award from the Australian Academy of Science in 2010, Western Australia's Young Scientist of the Year in 2011, Telford Gold Medal in 2021 (shared), and C. A. Hogentogler Award in 2017 (shared). With over 300 publications, representative works feature 'An evaluation of p–y curves for fatigue analysis of offshore piles and conductors' (2025, with M. Guevara et al.), 'Physical and theoretical modelling of embedded mooring line-seabed interaction in sands' (2025, with K. Kwa et al.), and 'Reliability of dynamically-embedded anchors in soft clay' (2025, with J. Tom and C. O'Loughlin). He has contributed to editorial boards of three journals, two ISO standard committees on jack-up foundations and pipelines, and led joint industry projects such as RIGSS, SAFEBUCK, and STABLEPIPE. White developed PIV analysis software for geotechnical centrifuge modelling, utilized at more than 75 research institutes globally, and his research has secured funding from ARC programs and industry leaders including Shell, BP, Chevron, and Woodside, significantly impacting offshore foundation and pipeline design practices.
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