January 3, 2010 | Eli Freund - School of Engineering

Lanbo Liu Awarded a Fulbright Fellowship

Dr. Lanbo Liu, an associate professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE), won a prestigious Fulbright Scholar grant in the fall ('09) to conduct research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. He is among six UConn scholars to receive the honor during the 2009-10 academic year.

liu photoDr. Lanbo Liu, an associate professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE), won a prestigious Fulbright Scholar grant in the fall (’09) to conduct research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. He is among six UConn scholars to receive the honor during the 2009-10 academic year.

Dr. Liu is currently in Norway applying his six-month fellowship toward the development of techniques for accurately characterizing the velocity of sea floor sediment shear wave. Precise characterization of the mechanical properties of the seafloor, he said, is closely associated with a variety of research topics in engineering and defense, such as offshore geotechnical construction (pipelines and platforms), offshore hydrocarbon exploration, underwater sensor networks, and underwater warfare.

Collaborating with Dr. Liu are Drs. Hefeng Dong and Jens Hovem in the Department of Electronics and Telecommunication at NTNU. Dr. Liu explained that the goal of the research is to develop an approach to the characterization of the seafloor shear wave velocity by using the marine ambient noise — in lieu of more invasive approaches such as air guns, which may adversely affect the hearing of marine mammals.

Before joining the CEE department in 2004, Dr. Liu was affiliated with the Geology & Geophysics department at UConn. His previous honors and awards include a U.S. Army R&D Award, NASA Summer Faculty Fellowship, Carnegie Fellowship, Kauffman Award in earth sciences, and the Donath Fellowship in earth sciences. Dr. Liu serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, and he is a former Associate Editor of Geophysics. His research interests span near-surface and subsurface imaging through geophysical (seismic, acoustic, electric, and radar) surveys for engineering and environmental purposes; modeling wave propagation through finite difference and finite element methods; battlefield environment and unattended ground sensor networks; and geophysical detection of fluid flow in fractured rocks.

He received his Ph.D. in geophysics from Stanford University.