Research LAB "Granular Mechanics for Mining Geotechnics"
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BIO I am Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal since 2018. I am also member of the Research Institute on Mines and the Environment (RIME) UQAT-Polytechnique, a joint research program including six major industrial partners, developing innovative solutions to face environmental challenges in mining. I hold a BSc in Civil Engineering from the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María in Chile, and in 2010 I received a MSc in Geotechnical Engineering from École Centrale Paris in France. I obtained my PhD in 2013 at École Centrale de Nantes in France, and I was an assistant professor at PUC Chile from 2013 to 2018. Before my PhD, I worked 10 years for engineering consultant companies involved in Environmental Geotechnics for mining operations in the Andes Mountains in South America (Chile, Peru and Argentina). Since 2010, I have continued in the same field but with an academic approach: learning, teaching and investigating. My research interests include experimental and numerical developments for the characterisation and modeling of geotechnical problems, with a special focus on mining waste storage facilities. |
CARLOS OVALLE
| Samy Garcia Torres, PhD, postdoctoral fellow (2022-2023) |
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Specialized in geotechnics, as well as geotechnics applied to sustainability. Experience in developing innovative methodologies of geotechnical testing and numerical modelling of complex geotechnical problems. |
| Manuel Cardenas Barrantes, PhD, postdoctoral fellow since 2024 |
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Manuel specializes in numerical simulations centered on granular matter, where he explores the fundamental and micromechanical aspects underlying their diverse behaviour. His primary research focuses on granular sintering, highly granular deformations, and flows. |
| David Cantor, PhD, postdoctoral fellow (2020-2022), research associate (2023) |
 Research topic: Numerical and physical approaches of hydromechanical rockfill degradation.
David focuses on the multiscale modeling and simulation of granular materials using cutting-edge discrete-element methods. His approaches allow him to study both fundamental and industrial applications involving crushable grains/rocks/powders and deformable particulate media as rubbers, gels, and even cells. |
| Paula Quiroz-Rojo, PhD student (cotutelle University of Montpellier, France) |
 Research topic: Scaling effects in Rockfill degradation using multi-scale DEM Modeling and Experiments.
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| Carolina Castro-Malaver, PhD student (cotutelle University of Montpellier, France) |
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| Zahra Jalalichi, PhD student |
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| Cristian Maurer-González, PhD student (cotutelle PUC Chile) |
 Research topic: Multiscale testing and modeling crushable rockfills.
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| Florian Behlke, PhD student (co-supervised by Pr. Li Li) |
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Research topic: Co-disposal of Tailings and Waste Rock.
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| Quyen Le Van, PhD student |
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Research topic: Experimental investigation of fines content on liquefaction potential of mine tailings
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| Ihsane El Gharroubi, MSc student |
 Research topic: Experimental study of segregation and stratification in granular piles
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| Gilbert Girumugisha, PhD completed in 2025 |
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Research topic: Scaling methodologies for mechanical characterisation of mining waste rock. Passionate about research from a young age, I continued my studies in Algeria, where I obtained a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Djilali Bounaama University. Then, a Research Master at the University of Lorraine in France (2020), on the Mechanical Behaviors of Geomaterials and Structures (CMGS). It is with this background that I aspire towards the goal of contributing to the advancement of mechanical characterization of waste rock mining.
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| Sergio Carrasco, PhD completed in 2024 |
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Research topic: Discrete modeling of particle size–strength and size–shape correlations effects on crushable granular media.
Sergio obtained his Civil Engineering and Master degrees from Universidad Santa María in Chile. Throughout his academic journey, Sergio has developed extensive expertise in granular materials physics and computational skills. His work has yielded practical applications across diverse disciplines, including mining, civil engineering, and engineering geology.
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| Kasra Majdanishabestari, PhD completed in 2023 (co-supervised by Pr. Michel Aubertin) |
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| Tristan Vuilloz, MSc completed in 2022 |
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| Le Viet Hung, MSc completed in 2024 |
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Research topic : Effects of waste rock inclusions on the mechanical stability of filtered tailings stacks |
| Rodrigo Osses, PhD completed in 2024 (PUC, Chile) |
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Research topic: Effects of particle size on particle breakage, compressibility and creep of coarse granular materials.
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| Completed at PUC Chile |
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Research topic: Hydro-geotechnical behavior and physical stability of mining waste co-disposition in an open pit backfill.
Sujet de recherche : Multi-scale mechanics of granular media.
Research topic: Numerical investigation of fines content on liquefaction potential of mine tailings
Research topic: Influence of heterogeneity within waste rock piles on their mechanical stability
Master thesis: 
MAIN COLLABORATIONS
- Hans Henning Stutz, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany).
- Jubert Pineda, University of Newcastle (Australia)
- Sandra Linero, SRK Consulting Australasia (Australia)
- Arcesio Lizcano, SRK Consulting BC (Canada)
- Edgar Bard, WSP (Chile)
- Serge Ouellet, Canadian Malartic Mine (Canada)
- Emilien Azéma, Mathieu Renouf, Fréderic Dubois, Université de Montpellier (France)
- Li Li, Michel Aubertin, Nelson Morales, Polytechnique Montréal (Canada)
- Vincent Boulanger-Martel, UQAT, Québec, Canadá
- Matías Silva, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (Chile)
- Esteban Sáez, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile)
- Pierre-Yves Hicher, École Centrale de Nantes (France)
- Christophe Dano, Université de Grenoble (France)
- IRN GeoMech (http://gdr-mege.univ-lr.fr/)
Travel AND COMMUNICATIONS
- July 2025: DEM10 - The 10th International Conference on Discrete Element Methods, Himeji, Japan
- June 2025: Pan-American Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Ottawa, Canada
- June 2025: Symposium Mines et environnement 2025, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada
- May 2025: Invited Seminar at PUC Chile
- September 2024: International Symposium on Geomechanics from Micro to Macro, Grenoble, France
- September 2024: GeoMontreal 2024, Montreal, Canada
- February 2024: Geo-Congress 2024, Vancouver, Canada
- November 2023: Third International Slope Stability in Mining Conference, Perth, Western Australia
- October 2023: Annual conference of the Canadian Geotechnical Society, Geosaskatoon 2023
- September 2023: Invited Seminar at Institute of Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechanics (IBF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
- September 2023: 9th International Conference on Discrete Element Methods (DEM9), Erlangen, Germany
- Octobre 2022: GeoCalgary 2022, Conférence annuelle de la Societé Canadienne de Géotechnique, Calgary
- September 2022: Invited Seminar at LMGC, Université de Montpellier, France
- October 2022: GeoCalgary 2022, Annual Conference of the Canadian Geotechnical Society, Calgary
- August 2022: Congrès francais de Méchanique, Nantes, France
- June 2022: Gordon Research Conference: Granular Matter, Stonehill College, MA, United States
- June 2021: Symposium Rouyn-Noranda 2021 sur l’environnement et les mines. Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)
- June 2021: Powders & Grains 2021 – 9th International Conference on Micromechanics on Granular Media.
- January 2021: IRN GeoMech online workshop: “Micromechanics of granular materials: relationships between microstructure and macroscopic behaviour, from experiments to modelling”; organized by Twente University, January 18-19th.
- October 2019: 72nd Canadian Geotechnical Conference, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
- November 2019: XVI Panamerican Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Cancun, Mexico
- March 2019: Visiting Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China
- May 2018: EMI 2018, Conference of the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute, M.I.T., Cambridge, USA
- March 2018: EMI International Conference, ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- January 2018: Visiting University of Newcastle, Australia
