Thomas Riccio

Thomas Riccio received his MEng in Civil Engineering Design and Management in 2019 from the University of Dundee (UoD) shortly before joining industry and practicing as a geotechnical engineer for a well-known offshore engineering consultancy. During his time in industry, Thomas was involved in a number of geotechnical design projects for leading wind farms globally, including foundation design (both temporary and permanent), jack-up capacity assessments, horizontal directional drilling studies, offshore client representation and a variety of other design areas.

Thomas returned to the UoD after successfully gaining a PhD position on an EPSRC funded Project (ICE PICK) with Dr Matteo Ciantia and Dr Michael Brown of the Division of Geotechnical Engineering which aims to improve the efficiency of piles driven in soft rock. The fully funded PhD project titled “Installation effects on cyclic axial and lateral performance of displacement piles in chalk” will cover a number of work packages, but Thomas’ focus is drawn to the hydro-chemo-mechanical effects of chalk during different stages of pile driving. He will gain his insight through a suit of laboratory testing, 1-g model testing and centrifuge work, paired with other sources including field data and finite element results, all of which will feed into the ICE-PICK project. Ultimately, the results shall be quantified in a macro-element model which may be used to assess the long term performance of piles in chalk in an offshore environment. Thomas continues to work towards his ICE chartership whilst undertaking his research project at the UoD.