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Dr Cacin Wong

Lecturer

Faculty:
Faculty of Science and Engineering
School:
Engineering and the Built Environment
Location:
Chelmsford
Research Supervision:
Yes

Dr Cacin Wong is a Lecturer in the School of Engineering and the Built Environment. She has been elected as the Co-Chair of the British Geotechnical Association Early Career Group (BGA ECG) and an active member of two Technical Committees (TC) of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), specifically focusing on Laboratory Stress-Strain-Strength Testing of Geomaterials (TC101) and Geo-Mechanics from Micro to Macro (TC105). Cacin's first journal paper won the prize for the best paper published in 2020 in Géotechnique Letters (Telford Premium of the Institution of Civil Engineers). She was also awarded the Drury Medal of the Institution of Structural Engineers (UK).

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Background

Cacin holds a PhD degree in Geotechnical Engineering from University College London. Her expertise is in micromechanics, and she has extensive experience in conducting experimental research and providing valuable input data for analyses in the field of geotechnical engineering. She practised as a geotechnical engineer after graduating with a Dean’s Honours List for her BEng degree. She was involved in large-scale geotechnical projects such as reclamation, instrumentation and monitoring, tunnelling, ELS bulk excavation and piled foundations, and also highway road maintenance projects and structural construction projects both on-site and also in a design office in Hong Kong.

Research interests

  • Discrete element mechanics of soil particles
  • Reuse of waste materials for reinforcement in soils
  • Applications for cyclic geotechnical problems such as wind turbine loading
  • Soil-structural interactions

Areas of Expertise:

  • Soil Mechanics
  • Geotechnical Engineering
  • Experimental Testing

Areas of research supervision

  • Soil Mechanics
  • Geotechnical Element Testing
  • Particulate mechanics

Teaching

Courses:

  • BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering
  • BSc (Hons) Civil Engineering
  • MEng (Hons) Civil Engineering
  • BSc (Hons) Civil Engineering (Degree Apprenticeship)
  • BSc (Hons) Civil Engineering with Project Management (Degree Apprenticeship).

Modules:

  • MOD002249 Geotechnics 1
  • MOD002347: Geotechnics 2
  • MOD002372: Geotechnical Engineering
  • MOD007038: Civil Engineering Project 2
  • MOD007057: Civil Engineering Design Project
  • MOD002385: Major Project (Civil Engineering)
  • MOD005495: Research Methods & Dissertation
  • MOD006159: Professional Development

Qualifications

  • PG Cert Learning and Teaching (Higher Education) with HEA Fellowship, Anglia Ruskin University
  • PhD in Geotechnical Engineering, University College London, UK
  • BEng in Civil and Structural Engineering with a specialist option in Advanced Geotechnical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong (Dean’s Honour List)
  • Higher Diploma in Civil Engineering (Distinction), Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education
  • Diploma in Civil Engineering (Distinction), Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education

Memberships, editorial boards

  • British Geotechnical Association Early Career Group (BGA ECG) Co-Chair
  • Technical Committee Member, Laboratory Stress-Strain-Strength Testing of Geomaterials (TC101) of International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE)
  • Technical Committee Member, Geo-Mechanics from Micro to Macro (TC105) of International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE)
  • Fellow, Advance HE (FHEA)
  • Reviewer, Granular Matter
  • Reviewer, Géotechnique

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

  • PhD researcher, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) research grant EP/S026460/1, The Application of Micro-Mechanical Research on Coarse Grained Soils to Create an "Avatar" Railway Ballast, 2019-2022

Selected recent publications

Wong, C. P. Y., & Coop, M. R. (In press). The contact mechanics of a UK railway ballast. Géotechnique, ahead of print, https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.22.00190

Wong, C. P. Y., & Coop, M. R. (2020). Development of inter-particle friction in a railway ballast. Géotechnique Letters, 10(4), 535-541. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.19.00080

Wong, C. P. Y., Boorman, B., & Coop, M. R. (2019). The construction and commissioning of a new inter-particle loading apparatus for the micromechanical behaviour of railway ballast. In Proceedings of IS Atlanta 2018 symposium on geomechanics from micro to macro in research and practice.

Recent presentations and conferences

Wong, C. P. Y. & Hakimi, A. U. (2022). Contact Mechanics of Railway Ballast, In Proceedings of the 19th UK Travelling Workshop: GeoMechanics: from Micro to Macro (GM3), Imperial College London.

Wong, C. P. Y. (2020). Experimental data for contact mechanics of railway ballast, In Proceedings of the 17th UK Travelling Workshop: GeoMechanics: from Micro to Macro (GM3), Newcastle University.

Wong, C. P. Y. (2019). The development of inter-particle friction of railway ballast under cyclic loading, In Proceedings of the 16th UK Travelling Workshop: GeoMechanics: from Micro to Macro (GM3), University of Glasgow.

Wong, C. P. Y. (2018). Inter-particle cyclic shearing tests on railway ballast, In Proceedings of the 15th UK Travelling Workshop: GeoMechanics: from Micro to Macro (GM3), University of Bristol.

Wong, C. P. Y. (2018). The development of a new micromechanical inter-particle loading apparatus for railway ballast, In Proceedings of the 15th BGA Young Geotechnical Engineers Symposium (YGES) 2018, University of Surrey

Media experience

The January/February 2024 issue of Ground Engineering Magazine features an Engineering Insight Q&A with Anglia Ruskin University civil engineering lecturer and British Geotechnical Association Early Career Group (BGA ECG) co-chair Cacin PY Wong.