Rate My Professor Mustafa Ucgul

Associate Professor Mustafa Ucgul is affiliated with the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Southern Cross University. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Australia, along with a Master of Engineering, Master of Engineering Science, Bachelor of Engineering, and Graduate Diploma in Education from the same institution. Prior to his current position, Ucgul worked at the University of South Australia, where he built a long career in tertiary education as a lecturer. His research focuses on computational mechanics and its applications in machinery design, with a particular emphasis on agricultural machinery.

Ucgul's expertise includes discrete element method (DEM), finite element method (FEM), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of soil-engaging tools, agricultural engineering, thermal analysis of agricultural greenhouses and desalination systems, soil tillage, and discrete element modelling of soil-sweep tool interaction. He has participated in several Grain Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), and other industry-linked projects aimed at research activities in soil-machine interactions. Ucgul serves as a reviewer for peer-reviewed international journals, including Biosystems Engineering, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Soil & Tillage Research, Geoderma, Journal of Terramechanics, Agriculture, Soil Use and Management, Agronomy, International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Applied Engineering in Agriculture, and Transactions of ASABE. His key publications encompass 'Three-dimensional discrete element modelling of tillage: Accounting for soil cohesion and adhesion' (2014), 'Development and field evaluation of a high-speed no–till seeding system' (2019), 'Review of Discrete Element Method Simulations of Soil Tillage and Furrow Opening' (2023), 'Simulating Soil–Disc Plough Interaction Using Discrete Element Method–Multi-Body Dynamic Coupling' (2023), 'Prediction of Single Disc Seeding System Forces, Using a Semi-Analytical and Discrete Element Method (DEM)' (2023), 'Branch Spiral Beam Harvester for Uni-directional Ultra-Low Frequency Excitations' (2024), and 'Pilot study into the performance of inclusion plates used in deep ripping' (2025). In 2025, he edited the book 'Feature Papers in Agriculture Technology: Using computer simulation methods' published by MDPI.