Youssef M. A. Hashash

Youssef M. A. Hashash is the Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering and a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from MIT (1987–1992). His expertise spans geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering, and computational geomechanics, with a focus on deep excavations, tunneling, and soil-structure interaction. He co-developed DEEPSOIL, widely used for seismic soil response analysis.

Education:

• B.S. Civil Engineering, MIT (1987)
• M.S. Civil (Geotechnical) Engineering, MIT (1988)
• Ph.D. Civil (Geotechnical) Engineering, MIT (1992)

Research Interests:

Dr. Hashash's work integrates geotechnical engineering with advanced technologies like AI, visualization, and discrete element modeling. Key areas include:

• Seismic site response and amplification models for Central/Eastern North America
• Tunneling and underground infrastructure resilience
• Geotechnical applications of machine learning and augmented reality
• Soil-structure interaction and liquefaction analysis

Professional Roles:

• Geotechnical co-leader, NIST investigation of the Champlain Towers South collapse (2022–present)
• Chair, National Academies' Committee on Geological and Geotechnical Engineering (2024–present)
• Past President, Geo-Institute of ASCE

Awards:

• Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
• ASCE 2014 Peck Medal
• Elected to National Academy of Engineering (2022)

Labs/Teams:

Leads research groups at UIUC focused on computational geomechanics and geotechnical earthquake engineering. Collaborates with federal agencies like NIST and NSF on large-scale projects.