Lijun Deng, PhD, PEng

Area of Study / Keywords

Geotechnical Centre Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering

About

Education

• Ph.D., Civil & Environ Eng, 2012, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
• M.Sc., Geotechnical Eng, 2006, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
• B.Sc., Hydraulic & Hydropower Eng, 2003, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Professional Experience

• Professor, 2025 - , University of Alberta
• Associate Professor, 2019 - 2025, University of Alberta
• Assistant Professor, 2013 - 2019, University of Alberta
• Geotechnical Engineer, 2012-2013, Advanced Geomechanics Pty Ltd, Perth, WA, Australia
• Graduate Student Researcher, 2006-2012, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

Awards

• Springer Nature Author Service Award, Geotechnical and Geological Engineering journal, 2025
• Faculty Graduate Teaching Award, Faculty of Engineering, UAlberta, 2024
• APEGA 5 Years of Dedicated Volunteer Service, APEGA, 2023
• Outstanding Reviewer, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 2023
• Gledden Fellowship, awarded by the University of Western Australia, 2019
• Fugro West Fellowship for excellent graduates in geotechnical engineering, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UC Davis, 2011.
• Best Oral Presentation Award, UC Davis Geotech Roundtable Seminar, 2011.
• Best Poster Award, UC Davis Geotech Roundtable Seminar, 2011.
• Liu Huixian Earthquake Engineering Award, Huixian Earthquake Engineering Foundation (China) and the US-China Earthquake Engineering Foundation (USA), 2010.
• Travel Grant to the 9th US and 10th Canadian Conference on Earthquake in Toronto, Canada, under NSF Award #094379 through EERI, 2010.
• Fugro West Fellowship for excellent graduates in geotechnical engineering, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UC Davis, 2009.

Affiliations

• Board member Geotechnical Society of Edmonton
• Canadian Geotechnical Society
• American Society of Civil Engineers
• Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG)
• American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)

EDITORSHIP

• Associate Editor, Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 2024 - present
• Associate Editor, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 2023 - present
• Editorial board member: Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 2018 - 2023
• Editorial board member: Intl J Geotech Eng, 2013 - 2018

Research

Research Interests

• Dynamic soil-structure interaction,
• Pile foundations,
• Soil dynamics, and
• Permafrost engineering.

Dr. Deng's selected research projects are:

• Rocking Shallow Foundations for Improving Seismic Performance of Soil-Structure Systems, 2014 – 2018, NSERC – DG
• Innovative Rock Foundation for Earthquake Risk Mitigation, 2015 – 2017, UAlberta International
• Behaviour of Tapered Screw Pile Foundations in Unfrozen and Frozen Soils, 2015 – 2018, NSERC – CRD program
• In-situ Helical Pile Load Tests for CCMC Certification, 2014 – 2015

Select Journal Publications (refer to Google Scholar's profile)

Teaching

Courses offered lately

• CIV E 481 Soil Engineering
• CIV E 690 Advanced Foundation Engineering
• CIV E 799 Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering

Courses taught in preceding years

• CIV E 381 Soil Mechanics
• CIV E 270 Mechanics of Deformable Bodies
• CIV E 681 Seepage and Drainage
• ENGG 130 Engineering Mechanics: Statics
• Geotechnical Graduate Laboratory

CIV E 381 - Soil Mechanics

Compaction; site investigation; theories of water seepage; effective stress principles; settlement; strength and mechanical properties; introduction to retaining structures, foundation, and slope stability. Prerequisite: EAS 210.

CIV E 481 - Soil Engineering

Site investigation; strength of soils; geosynthetics for soil improvement; design of excavations and earth pressures on retaining structures; stability of natural slopes and their improvement; design of cuts and embankments; foundation design, stability and settlement; pile foundations; frost action and permafrost. Prerequisite: CIV E 381.

CIV E 690 - Advanced Foundation Engineering

Theories of lateral pressures. Limit equilibrium methods, elasticity methods, semi-empirical methods. Soil anchors. Design of retaining walls and strutted excavations. Bearing capacity of shallow and deep foundations. Allowable settlement of structures. Analysis of settlement of shallow and deep foundations. Behavior of pile groups. Design problems in foundation engineering.

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