Skip to main content
Associate professor
Ingrid Tomac

I am an Associate Professor of geomechanics and geotechnical engineering at the Department of Structural Engineering, University of California San Diego. My research interests revolve around soil and rock mechanics, energy geotechnics, and hazards such as are devastating post-wildfire mudflows. I wish to dedicate my research efforts toward creating a better world through the exploration and development of civil engineering infrastructure for supporting renewable and sustainable energy resources. 

Post-doc researcher
Haohua Chen ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3482-2283

Haohua Chen is a postdoc researcher working with Dr. Ingrid Tomac in the Department of Structural Engineering at University of California, San Diego. He obtained his BEng degree in Civil Engineering from Beihang University in 2015, his MSc degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Tongji University in 2018 and his PhD degree in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Arizona in 2022. And he is now working on a deep borehole exchanges feasibility project and geothermal rock modelling problems.

PhD student
Wenpei Ma ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6397-529X

I am a Ph.D Student within Professor Tomac's research group in the Department of Structural Engineering at University of California - San Diego. I obtained my B.S. Degree in Civil Engineering from University of Wisconsin - Madison. During my M.S. study at UCSD, I worked with Professor Tomac on proppant transport behavior in fractures. I am currently working on properties and behaviors of postfire mudflow as my doctoral research.

Undergraduate student
Caitlin Kim

Undergraduate student from Long Island, New York studying Applied Mathematics at Columbia University

Alumni lab members

PhD student
Brian Yamashiro ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8105-7724

Brian Yamashiro graduated in 2021 with Ph.D. in the Department of Structural Engineering at University of California, San Diego. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University and Master of Science in Civil Engineering with an emphasis on Geotechnical Engineering from California State University, Fullerton. His research is focused on particle-fluid, two-phase flow behavior relating to use in fractured rock systems. Prior to pursuing his Ph.D., he worked for more than eight years in the civil and construction industry.

Dejian Zhou

Dejian Zhou graduated in 2022 with a Ph.D. from the University of Goettingen, Department of Applied Geology, co-advised by Dr. Ingrid Tomac.

Mahta Movasat

Mahta Movasat graduated in 2022 with a Ph.D. in the Department of Structural Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. Her main research interest centers on the mudflow initiation mechanism in areas that have experienced wildfires. She is also interested in visiting and collecting soil from recently burned areas and characterizing it. 

Masters student
Jonathon Chavez De Rosas

I graduated in 2022 with an M.S. in Structural Engineering. Having grown up watching my father make home renovations with a construction company, it is now my dream to aid in the design of multi-story buildings and bridges as a licensed structural engineer.

Lan Lou
Nicholas C. Rieckhoff
Shijun Wei
Skye Yang
Undergraduate student
Andre Niquini Lopez
Angel Cano De-la-Cruz