Rate My Professor Xinbao Yu

Dr. Xinbao Yu is Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and serves as the Area Coordinator for Geotechnical Engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he joined in August 2011 as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Case Western Reserve University (2009), an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Clarkson University (2005), an M.S.E. in Geotechnical Engineering from Southeast University, Nanjing, China (2003), and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Chang’an University, Xi’an, China (2000). Licensed as a Professional Engineer in Texas since 2011, Yu's career focuses on advancing geotechnical solutions for infrastructure challenges.

Yu's research specializations encompass interdisciplinary geotechnical engineering, integrating sensor technology and advanced numerical simulations to characterize multi-phase porous soil media. His key interests include time domain reflectometry (TDR) technology, geothermal energy utilization, reliability and risk-based geotechnical design, and numerical modeling of unsaturated soils under thermal effects. He has led significant funded projects, including a National Science Foundation CyberSEES grant of $1,196,295 for Integrative Sensing and Prediction of Urban Water for Sustainable Cities (2014–2018), Texas Department of Transportation awards such as $743,000 for modeling geothermal de-icing of bridges (Phase II, 2016), $222,606 for LRFD calibration from California DOT (2014–2016), $193,063 for geothermal de-icing of pavements (2015–2016), and $152,702 for geofoam bridge repairs (2015–2017). Yu edited the proceedings New Solutions for Challenges in Applications of New Materials and Geotechnical Issues (Springer, 2018) and co-authored influential papers, including 'A novel full-scale external geothermal heating system for bridge deck de-icing' (Applied Thermal Engineering, 2021), 'Heating performance of a novel externally-heated geothermal bridge de-icing system: field tests and numerical simulations' (Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 2021), 'Temporal and Spatial Thermal Performance of a Ground Heat Exchanger' (Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 2024), 'Moisture Migration in Unsaturated Sands under Controlled Thermal Gradient' (International Journal of Geomechanics, 2024), and 'Geothermal Bridge Deck De-icing Using a Novel External Hydronic Heating System' (Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, 2024). His contributions enhance sustainable and resilient infrastructure through innovations in soil mechanics and energy-efficient de-icing technologies.