Haleh Rasekh

Haleh Rasekh is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, specializing in rock mechanics, concrete technology, and sustainable construction. She currently serves as Major Coordinator and Advisor for Postgraduate Geotechnical Engineering for the Tunnelling and Underground Engineering (TUE) program, having developed Australia's first TUE major in collaboration with industry partners.

Her educational background includes a PhD from the University of Wollongong (2017), a Master by Research from the same institution (2014), and a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Shiraz University, Iran (2010). Prior to her current position, she held academic roles at UNSW Sydney and research fellowships at Western Sydney University and University of Wollongong.

Dr. Rasekh's research focuses on critical areas of civil engineering including ground support systems, rock mechanics, concrete materials technology, and sustainable building practices. Her work bridges theoretical and practical applications, with particular emphasis on cable bolts in mining applications, concrete durability, chloride ion penetration, and corrosion mitigation for steel reinforcement. She has published over 53 research papers and book chapters, demonstrating her commitment to advancing knowledge in civil and geotechnical engineering.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong trend toward sustainable construction materials and computational methods. Her work increasingly incorporates machine learning techniques for predicting concrete properties and optimizing tunnel construction, while maintaining focus on traditional geomechanics problems. She shows particular interest in alternative cementitious materials like limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) and waste material utilization in construction.

• Best Early Career Researcher Paper Award at the Australasian Conference on Computational Mechanics (2019)

As a Category 1 supervisor, Dr. Rasekh has successfully co-supervised one PhD student and currently serves as principal supervisor for one student and co-supervisor for three others. She has secured research funding including grants for 'Lateral load resisting capacity evaluation for seismic restraints of mechanical services' and 'Ultra-sustainable concrete with high SCM content' through the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre. Her teaching portfolio includes developing and teaching 'Tunnel Boring Machine and Trenchless Technologies' and 'Mechanics of Solids.'

Dr. Rasekh maintains active editorial roles as Lead Guest Editor for special issues on sustainable concrete and rock mechanics in prominent journals including Buildings and CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, while also reviewing for Acta Geotechnica and Scientific Reports.