Topic Editor Digest 2023-2024 Rising Stars in Geotechnical Engineering

Jie Han ^1* Denis Kalumba ² Xinbao Yu ³

• ¹ University of Kansas, Lawrence, United States
• ² University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
• ³ University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Virginia, United States

Eligibility criteria required nominees to be either under 35 years of age or to have completed their doctoral degree within the last 10 years, as of October 1 of the year preceding recognition. Nominees were evaluated based on the following information: (1) Total number of journal papers published; (2) Total number of citations received; (3) h-index; (4) Total research funding secured to date, and; (5) Awards and honours received to date. The research topic received 8 submissions from emerging stars in the field, with 6 papers accepted after review by the selection committee. These researchers, nominated either by experts or through self-nomination, were rigorously reviewed and selected by our committee. The titles of the articles published under the Rising Stars research topic can be found at https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/61677/rising-stars-in-geotechnical-engineering/articles. The final selection of recipients is overseen by a committee chaired by the section's chief editor. The committee considers several factors, including balance across subfields (e.g., soil mechanics, rock mechanics, engineering geology, mining, ground improvement, geosynthetics, exploration, tunneling, geo-environmental engineering, waste disposal), geographic distribution, gender, ethnic background, and other relevant factors. Below are brief descriptions of the awardees (by the time of nomination): • Jinhyun Choo, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea Papers: 39 | Google Citations: 1558 | h-index: 21 Area of Contributions: Geologic fractures Published Article: Phase-field modeling of geologic fractures. • Amarnath Hegde, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Infrastructure Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad, India Papers: 46 | Google Citations: 1640 | h-index: 20 Area of Contributions: Geosynthetics Published Article: Mitigation of ground vibrations using geocells: a mini-review. • Menglim Hoy Assistant Professor, School of Civil Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand Papers: 51 | Google Citations: 965 | h-index: 15 Area of Contributions: Recycled materials Published Article: Innovations in recycled construction materials: paving the way towards sustainable road infrastructure. • Yu Qian, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of South Carolina, USA Papers: 79 | Google Citations: 2435 | h-index: 26 Area of Contributions: Railway engineering Published Article: Intelligent railroad inspection and monitoring. • Fei Zhang, Ph.D. Professor, Geotechnical Engineering, Hohai University Papers: 59 | Google Citations: 1550 | h-index: 18 Area of Contributions: Earth structures Published Article: Recent advances in stability analysis and design of 3D slopes. • Haizuo Zhou, Ph.D. Professor, School of Civil Engineering, Tianjin University, China Papers: 73 | Google Citations: 1306 | h-index: 21 Area of Contributions: Ground improvement Published Article: Fragility assessment for rainfall-induced embankments on silty soils.