Fulvio Tonon

Fulvio Tonon is assistant professor, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin in 2005 after spending three years as an assistant professor of geological engineering at the University of Utah, and two years as a senior tunnel engineer with Parsons. He directs the International Tunneling Consortium, which encourages academic research in response to industrial needs, after its official launch in fall 2007. He also directs an On-line Certificate in Tunneling aimed at providing enginers and engineering geology with working knowledge in tunneling. In 2006, Dr. Tonon won the Award for Applied Rock Mechanics from the American Rock Mechanics Association for his paper entitled: “Stresses in anisotropic rock masses: an engineering perspective building on geological knowledge.” His research emphasizes rock mechanics and engineering, underground excavations and uncertainty modeling with generalized theories of probability. He has published two books on tunneling, one book on uncertainty bounds in civil engineering, 55 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 35 papers in conference proceedings. In addition to organizing the International Tunneling Consortium, Dr. Tonon has established a rock mechanics laboratory for the characterization of intact rock and fractures as well as index tests for estimating the penetration rate of tunnel boring machines. He has more than 15 years of professional experience working on projects in the Americas, Europe and Africa. Design experience includes: cut-and-cover and bored tunnels in rock, soft ground and mixed face conditions, with or without the use of Tunnel Boring Machines; foundations and special foundations; rock and soil slope stabilizations; precast concrete and steel-concrete composite bridges; hydraulic infrastructures for dams, purification plants and rivers; renovations of ancient masonry buildings; and reinforced concrete buildings. Dr. Fulvio Tonon earned his Laurea in civil engineering from the University of Padova, Italy, and his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.