Zenon Medina-Cetina

Zenon Medina-Cetina is an Associate Professor in the Zachry Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University (TAMU), with affiliations to the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy at the Bush School of Government and Public Service. He holds courtesy joint appointments in Petroleum Engineering, Ocean Engineering, Multidisciplinary Engineering, and Geography (College of Arts and Sciences). Dr. Medina-Cetina specializes in probabilistic risk assessment of geo-systems, stochastic geomechanics, and integrated site characterization. His work bridges engineering, geoscience, and computational methods to address complex challenges in infrastructure resilience, offshore geotechnics, and environmental systems.

Education: Ph.D. (2006), M.Sc. (2005) in Civil Engineering from Johns Hopkins University; M.E. (1996) in Geostatistics from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); B.Sc. (1994) in Soil Dynamics from Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY). He completed postdoctoral research at SIMULA and the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI).

Research Interests:

• Stochastic processes and spatio-temporal simulation (3D-T)
• Risk, reliability, and sensitivity analysis
• Uncertainty quantification and inverse problems
• Bayesian networks and machine learning applications
• Optimal modeling of geomechanical systems
• Arctic and Gulf of Mexico geohazard mitigation

Awards & Recognition:

• 2024: Mosbacher Research Fellow, College of Engineering Excellence Award
• 2022: Zachry Career Development Professorship II, Excellence in Teaching Award
• 2012: Fellow, Society for Underwater Technology
• 2001: Fulbright Scholarship

Grants & Projects:

• Lead investigator of $7.4M+ in research funding from federal agencies (e.g., DHS, NSF) and industry
• Director of the Stochastic Geomechanics Laboratory (SGL)
• Principal on initiatives like the Arctic X-Grant and Yucatán Initiative
• Co-lead of the Network-to-Network for the Gulf of Mexico

Teaching & Mentoring:

• Developed TAMU’s Introduction to Research Abroad Program (IRAP)
• Advised 14 doctoral and 13 master’s students, plus postdoctoral researchers
• Course instructor in Bayesian Risk Networks, Stochastic Mechanics, and Geomechanics

Labs & Teams:

• Stochastic Geomechanics Laboratory (SGL): Focuses on data-driven risk modeling and computational geomechanics
• International collaborations with institutions in Mexico, Norway, and the Arctic region