Rate My Professor Jubert Pineda

Jubert Pineda is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering within the College of Engineering, Science and Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Universidad Santo Tomas in Bogotá, Colombia, a Master’s degree in Geotechnical Engineering from the National University of Colombia in 2004, and a PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, in 2012. Following his PhD, he joined the University of Newcastle in April 2012 as a Research Academic in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engineering, advancing through positions including Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor. He has held key leadership roles such as HDR Director for the School of Engineering from 2019 to 2022, Head of School Nominee from 2020 to 2022, and Deputy Head of School - Research Training since 2023.

Pineda’s research specializations encompass experimental geomechanics, mechanics of hard soils-soft rocks, mechanics of natural soft soils, unsaturated geomaterials, soil microstructure, unsaturated soils and rocks, mechanics of natural soft clays, geo-engineering problems related to energy and sustainability, analytical geomechanics, weathering of geomaterials, and site characterization. As a member of the Priority Research Centre for Geotechnical Science and Engineering, he has co-authored numerous publications, including book chapters such as 'INTERNAL COMPRESSION OF FILL MATERIAL ORIGINATING FROM BRINGELLY SHALE' (2020) and 'Sampling disturbance in soft ground: implications in geotechnical design' (2018), and conference papers like 'Evolution of K0 in compacted loess upon loading and wetting paths' (2025), 'Suction effects on the shear strength behaviour of compacted dewatered tailings' (2025), 'Characterisation of Ballina clay' (2016), and 'Scale and suction effects on compressibility and time-dependent deformation of mine waste rock material' (2024). He has contributed to major ARC Discovery Projects, including $782,000 funding in 2015 with Professor Daichao Sheng on mechanics of hard soils-soft rocks, and projects DP230102294 and DP230100047 in 2023. His work impacts geotechnical design, sampling in soft clays, and infrastructure on soft soils.