Catherine O'Sullivan is an Irish environmental engineer who is Professor of Particulate Soil Mechanics and Head of the Geotechnics Section at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

. She uses discrete element modelling to understand fundamental processes in sand and soils.

Early life and education

O'Sullivan is from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. She was an undergraduate at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

, and started a master's degree in

soil mechanics Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids (usually air and ...

. She spent six months working in a geotechnical engineering consultancy. She was awarded a scholarship to complete a master's degree in geotechnical engineering completed her doctorate at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where she developed discrete element methods to model granular materials. After graduating she moved to

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, where she spent two years as a College Lecturer.

Research and career

In 2004, O'Sullivan joined

as a lecturer. She was promoted to Professor in 2017. Her research considers the behaviour of granular materials, including soil and sand. In 2023, O'Sullivan became the first woman to be editor of the ''

Journal of Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Engineering The ''Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It covers foundations, retaining structures, soil dynamics, slope stability, dams, earthqu ...

''. She is enthusiastic about sustainability, and was involved with the development of a graduate course in geotechnical engineering for offshore renewables.

Awards and honours

* 2016 Shamsher Prakash Research Award * 2021

President's Awards for Teaching Innovation

Selected publications

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Catherine Living people Alumni of University College Cork University of California, Berkeley alumni Academics of Imperial College London Environmental engineers Year of birth missing (living people)