Sivapalan Gajan

S. GAJAN

Assistant Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

North Dakota State University (NDSU)

Education

  • Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of California, Davis, 2006
  • M.S., Civil Engineering, University of California, Davis, 2001
  • B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 1999

Research Interests

  • Geotechnical Engineering
  • Foundation Engineering
  • Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
  • Dynamic Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction
  • Computational Modeling of Geotechnical Systems
  • Current Research Projects

Teaching Interests

  • Soil Mechanics
  • Foundation Engineering
  • Slope Stability and Retaining Walls
  • Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
  • Numerical Methods and Scientific Computation
  • Current Courses

Professional Experience

  • Assistant Professor, Dept. Civil Engineering, North Dakota State University, Fargo - August 2006 to Present
  • Associate Instructor, Dept. Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis - January to March, 2006
  • Graduate Student Researcher, Dept. Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis - 2000 to 2006
  • Teaching Assistant, Dept. Civil Engineering, University of California, Davis - Winter 2005, Winter 2004, and Spring 2001
  • Lecturer, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, January to July, 2000
  • Instructor/Demonstrator, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, Sept. to Dec., 1999
  • Civil Engineering Intern, Sri Lanka, 3 months-1998, and 3 months-1999

Awards and Honors

  • UC Davis Prize for Excellence in Geotechnical Engineering Award, University of California, Davis - 2005
  • CITRIS Research Fellowship Award (Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society), California Institutes of Science and Innovation - 2003
  • Non-Resident Tuition Fellowship, University of California, Davis - 2000 to 2006
  • Best Student Paper Award, Engineering Jubilee Congress, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2000
  • First Class Honors in B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 1999

Professional Service

  • Reviewer, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE (from 2003)
  • Reviewer, Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE (from 2007)
  • Reviewer, International Journal of Physical Modeling in Geotechnics, Japan (from 2007)
  • Reviewer, Engineering Structures, Elsevier (from 2008)
  • Lead Reviewer, Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics - IV, Sacramento, California, May 2008

Professional Affiliation

  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
  • American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)
  • Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI)

Selected Publications

  • Gajan, S., Raychowdhury, P., Hutchinson, T. C., Kutter, B. L., and Stewart, J. P. (2008), "Application and validation of practical tools for nonlinear soil-foundation interaction analysis", Earthquake Spectra (submitted for review)
  • Gajan, S. and Kutter, B. L. (2008), "Effects of moment-to-shear ratio on combined cyclic load-displacement behavior of shallow foundations from centrifuge experiments", Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE (submitted for review, GTENG-07-459)
  • Gajan, S. and Kutter, B. L. (2008), "A contact interface model for shallow foundations subjected to combined cyclic loading", Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE (accepted, in press, GTENG-07-210) (abstract)
  • Gajan, S. and Kutter, B. L. (2008), "Capacity, settlement, and energy dissipation of shallow footings subjected to rocking", Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 134 (8), 2008 (abstract)
  • Gajan, S., Phalen, J. D., Kutter, B. L., Hutchinson, T. C. and Martin, G. (2005), "Centrifuge modeling of load-deformation behavior of rocking shallow foundations", Journal of Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering. Vol. 25 (7-10), 2005, pp 773-783 (abstract)
  • Kutter, B. L., Gajan, S., Balakrishnan, A., and Manda, K. K. (2004), "Effects of layer thickness and density on settlement and lateral spreading", Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE. Vol. 130 (6), 2004, pp 603-614 (abstract)