PhD in mechanics, algorithms

05 — Research

PhD in
mechanics, algorithms
& numerical modelling

Before I designed software, I did research.

My doctorate addressed an engineering challenge: understanding and predicting how underground structures — tunnels, cavities — respond when subjected to mechanical and seismic waves. A subject at the heart of how such infrastructure is designed, made reliable and kept safe.

This work led me to cross several disciplines: continuum mechanics, wave propagation, mathematical modelling and numerical methods. But above all it taught me a method: break a complex problem down, build a reliable model, solve it rigorously, then test the results against reality. An approach I bring to every software engineering project today.

01: PhD in mechanics
02: 5 peer-reviewed publications
03: International journals & conferences

Publications

Published
work

2022Journal

Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering · March 2022

Stress and displacement fields around an arbitrary shape tunnel surrounded by a multilayered elastic medium subjected to harmonic waves under plane strain conditions

When a seismic wave travels through the ground, how do stresses and displacements distribute around a tunnel of arbitrary shape cut through several distinct layers? This work develops a semi-analytical method able to handle arbitrary geometries — not just circles — in a multilayered medium. It provides an accurate, fast computational tool, essential for designing underground structures that can withstand earthquakes.

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2021Thesis

Thèse de doctorat · September 2021

Réponse dynamique d’un tunnel enterré soumis à des ondes mécaniques

My doctoral thesis, which gathers and extends this whole body of work. The goal: to understand and predict how a buried tunnel responds to mechanical waves — earthquakes, vibrations. It builds the mathematical models and computational methods needed to evaluate the induced stresses and displacements, with direct applications to the design and safety of underground structures.

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2019Conference

Congrès Français de Mécanique · August 2019

Réponse dynamique d’une cavité circulaire double dans un milieu rocheux infini

Two neighbouring circular cavities dug into a rock mass do not respond to waves independently: each disturbs the field felt by the other. This work analyses their coupled dynamic response and quantifies that mutual influence — a key point for understanding the behaviour of closely spaced galleries or tunnels.

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2019Conference

Eccomas Procedia · June 2019

Transient response of a tunnel embedded in a heterogeneous elastic full space

What happens, moment by moment, when a wave reaches a tunnel buried in ground whose properties vary from point to point? Beyond the idealised harmonic regime, this work models the transient response — the real reaction over time — of a tunnel in a heterogeneous medium, closer to the conditions found in the field.

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2019Conference

E3S Web of Conferences · February 2019

Contribution to the modeling and the mechanical characterization of the subsoil in the LSBB environment

Before modelling how waves propagate, you have to know the medium that carries them. This work mechanically characterises the subsoil of the LSBB (Low Noise Underground Laboratory), combining modelling and measurement to describe a complex geological environment. It lays the realistic physical foundations that the dynamic-response models rely on.

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Impact

From research
to engineering

It’s that rigour I bring to your most demanding projects — the ones where uncertainty is high and mistakes are expensive.

Complex problem solving: Break down an ill-posed problem, frame it, then solve it methodically.
Modelling: Turn a real problem into a workable model without losing the underlying physics.
Algorithmic analysis: Think in terms of cost, accuracy and convergence before writing a single line.
Scientific rigour: Explicit assumptions, reproducible results, verifiable conclusions.
Data handling: Work with large volumes of data and extract the signal that matters.
Experimental validation: Systematically test the model against measurements, and distrust both.
Scientific communication: Make a complex idea clear to a non-specialist audience.
Long-term project management: Sustain demanding, self-directed work over several years and see it through.

A complex problem, with high uncertainty?

That is exactly where this method makes the difference.

Discuss a demanding project