Yida Zhang

Yida Zhang is an Associate Professor of Geotechnical Engineering & Geomechanics at the University of Colorado Boulder, affiliated with the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering. They hold a PhD from Northwestern University (2016), an MS from Louisiana State University (2012), and a BS from Zhejiang University (2010). Their research focuses on constitutive modeling of geomaterials interacting with environmental factors, micromechanics of granular materials, unsaturated soil behaviors, and numerical modeling in geotechnical engineering and energy geotechnics.

Educations:

• PhD in Civil Engineering, Northwestern University, 2016
• MS in Civil Engineering, Louisiana State University, 2012
• BS in Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University, 2010

Research interests include the interplay between environmental factors (adsorption, dissolution, temperature) and geomaterial behavior, granular micromechanics, and numerical simulations. Their work bridges continuum mechanics, physics, and thermodynamics to understand multi-scale processes in porous and granular media.

Notable articles explore topics like jamming phase diagrams, environmental cracking of solids, and suffusion in granular soils. Awards include the NSF CAREER Award (2023) and CU Boulder's Early Career Research Award (2022).

Grants and advising: Yida Zhang has secured significant research funding and leads projects on energy geotechnics and environmental effects on geomaterials. They are a member of ASCE’s Engineering Mechanics Institute and Unsaturated Soils committees.

Labs/Teams: Their research group actively collaborates on projects involving coupled THMC processes and advanced numerical modeling techniques.