STAFF PROFILE
Associate Professor Dilan Robert
Experienced leader in soils and underground engineering passionate about translating scientific research outcomes for advancing practice in Australian infrastructure sector.
Dilan is an expert in geotechnical engineering and passionate about delivering implementable research outcomes in practice. He has over 15 years’ experience in geotechnical and underground infrastructure projects. He obtained his first degree (2005) from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka and the PhD degree (2011) from University of Cambridge, UK. Prior to his role at RMIT (since 2014), he has worked 2 years as a Geotechnical Engineer in the UK and 2 years as a Research Fellow at Monash University, Australia.
His research areas include pipelines, road pavements, soil stabilization, waste recycling, soil-structure interaction analysis, offshore geotechnics, unsaturated soils, constitutive modelling of soil and concrete, and corrosion assessment of buried metals. He is the Director of Research and Education at Centre for Pavement Excellence Asia Pacific Ltd and Fellow of Australia-India strategic research fund (AISRF). Dilan is a Chief Investigator for many ongoing state/national/industry projects with value over $5 million. He has published over 150 technical papers since 2011 across his wide research areas and interests.
- PhD in Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK, 2011.
- B.Sc. Engineering Honours (1st Class & Gold Medallist), University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2005.
- Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching and Learning, RMIT University, Australia, 2014.
- Chartered Civil Engineer, 2019.
Prior to his academic positions in Australia since 2012, Dilan has worked overseas as a practising engineer to obtain 4 years of industry experience across number of infrastructure projects as briefed below.
- Geotechnical Engineer, KW Ltd, London, UK (2010-2012)
At KW, Ltd, Dilan worked as a subsea geotechnical engineering on various offshore pipeline projects in responsible of upheaval buckling analysis, reliability analysis, shore approach, slope stability, trencheability, expansion, pile design, backfilling assessments, settlement calculations and geotechnical data review.
- Civil Engineer, State Engineering Corporation (SEC), Sri Lanka (2005-2006)
At SEC, Dilan has experienced in all aspects of casting the pre-stressed and precast concrete structures such as bridge beams, electricity transition poles, hume pipes, hollow blocks, building components and other precast reinforced concrete items. Further, he managed more than 150 direct labourers at the construction site and worked in coordination with the subordinate staff.
- Research Engineer, Lanka Hydraulic Institute (LHI), Sri Lanka (2004-2005)
Dilan worked as a mathematical modeller at LHI for the construction of fishing harbours and ports.
- Xin, Y.,Robert, D.,Mohajerani, A.,Tran, P.,Pramanik, B. (2023). A Viable Solution for Industrial Waste Ash: Recycling in Fired Clay Bricks In: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 35, 1 - 12
- Maheepala, M.,Nasvi, M.,Robert, D.,Gunasekara, C.,Kurukulasuriya, L. (2023). Mix design development for geopolymer treated expansive subgrades using artificial neural network In: Computers and Geotechnics, 161, 1 - 14
- Boom, Y.,Lu Xuan, D.,Enfrin, M.,Swaney, M.,Masood, H.,Pramanik, B.,Robert, D.,Giustozzi, F. (2023). Engineering properties, microplastics and emissions assessment of recycled plastic modified asphalt mixtures In: Science of the Total Environment, 893, 1 - 13
- Costa, S.,Robert, D.,Kodikara, J. (2023). Climate change and geo-infrastructures In: Sustainable Civil Engineering, Taylor & Francis, United States
- Karami, H.,Robert, D.,Costa, S.,Li, J.,Setunge, S.,Venkatesan, S. (2023). Recycled Glass-Based Capping Layer for Foundations in Expansive Soils In: Nanotechnology in Construction for Circular Economy, Springer, Melbourne, Australia
- O'Donnell, B.,Swarup, A.,Sidiq, A.,Robert, D.,Setunge, S. (2023). Guidelines for Enzymatic Soil Stabilization In: Nanotechnology in Construction for Circular Economy, Springer, Melbourne, Australia
- Tran, H.,Robert, D.,Gunarathna, P.,Setunge, S. (2023). Stochastic Prediction of Road Network Degradation Based on Field Monitoring Data In: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 149, 1 - 12
- Du, J.,Zhou, A.,Lin, X.,Robert, D.,Giustozzi, F. (2023). A multi-component model for expansive soils with different mineral compositions In: Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 60, 1249 - 1263
- Thevakumar, T.,Jayasinghe, J.,Kandare, E.,Robert, D.,Bandara, C.,Shi, L.,Setunge, S. (2023). Evaluating Fire Performance of Glass–Polyurethane Composite for Sustainable Cladding via Numerical and Empirical Simulation In: Polymers, 15, 1 - 20
- Xin, Y.,Robert, D.,Mohajerani, A.,Tran, P.,Pramanik, B. (2023). Energy efficiency of waste reformed fired clay bricks-from manufacturing to post application In: Energy, 282, 1 - 12
- Novel Recycled Plastic Products for Structural Applications. Funded by: Sustainability Victoria - Recycling Victoria Research & Development Fund from (2022 to 2025)
- ARC Research Hub for Transformation of Reclaimed Waste Resources to Engineered Materials and Solutions for a Circular Economy (TREMS). Funded by: ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub 2018 onwards from (2021 to 2026)
- (TREMS Theme 3/4, Project 7) Material modelling, accelerated testing and field trials for concrete and asphalt incorporating waste . Funded by: ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub 2018 onwards from (2021 to 2026)
- Development of high content recycled glass building material technology. Funded by: CRC-P Cooperative Research Centre Project (Livefield) from (2021 to 2023)
- Development, smart pavement asset management platform combining traffic models, pavement construction data, condition assessment data, traffic management, multi-sensor information and optimised rehabilitation strategies (Administered by Monash University). Funded by: ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub via other University Grant 2019 onward from (2019 to 2024)
11 PhD Completions and 1 Masters by Research Completions18 PhD Current Supervisions and 1 Masters by Research Current Supervisions