Dr Grainne El Mountassir
Reader
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Prize And Awards
- Best paper award at RM4L Conference 2021
- Recipient
- 9/2021
- Nomination for Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Award
- Recipient
- 2015
- Scottish Crucible Participant (2014)
- Recipient
- 3/2014
- Nomination for Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Award
- Recipient
- 2014
Publications
- Meter-scale MICP improvement of medium graded very gravelly sands : lab measurement, transport modelling, mechanical and microstructural analysis
- Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, El Mountassir Grainne, Minto James M
- Engineering Geology Vol 324 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2023.107275
- Transport and fate of ureolytic Sporosarcina pasteurii in saturated sand columns: experiments and modelling
- Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, El Mountassir Grainne, Minto James M
- Transport in Porous Media Vol 149, pp. 599-624 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-023-01973-x
- Treatment of fractured concrete via microbially induced carbonate precipitation : from micro-scale characteristics to macro-scale behaviour
- Turner Ronald, Castro Gloria M, Minto James, El Mountassir Grainne, Lunn Rebecca J
- Construction and Building Materials Vol 384 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.131467
- Colloidal silica as a grouting material for the temporary encapsulation of heat-generating radioactive waste during removal and transport operations : a proof of concept
- Pagano Arianna Gea, El Mountassir Gráinne, Lunn Rebecca Jane
- Frontiers in Energy Research Vol 11 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1156301
- Microbially induced calcite precipitation for sealing anhydrite fractures with gouges
- Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca, Minto James M, El Mountassir Grainne
- 56th US Rock mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium (2022)
- https://doi.org/10.56952/ARMA-2022-0277
- Hydraulic behaviour of fungal treated sand
- Salifu Emmanuel, El Mountassir Graínne, Minto James, Tarantino Alessandro
- Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment Vol 30 (2022)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gete.2021.100258
Teaching
I teach CL217 Soil mechanics and the Graduate Apprenticship module EO206 (Soils & Water 2), both to second year students.
Research Interests
My research is largely experimental and focuses on understanding the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of soils and rocks. I am particularly interested in the potential use of biological processes in geotechnical engineering. I am currently developing novel grouting technologies including microbially induced calcite precipitation as a technique for sealing fine aperture fractures and silica sol as a low viscosity grout. I am also investigating the possible deployment of fungi within ground engineering applications.
Professional Activities
- Applied Clay Science (Journal)
- Peer reviewer
- 8/2022
- Invited speaker Cheltenham Science Festival 2022
- Recipient
- 10/6/2022
- Calcite Biomineralisation for the Repair of Damaged Concrete
- Contributor
- 20/9/2021
- Internal Examiner PhD Viva
- Examiner
- 9/2021
- Invited talk at Dundee Root Medal Workshop 2021
- Speaker
- 5/2021
- Invited talk at Nature-Inspire solutions for the Built Environment
- Speaker
- 2/2021
Projects
- iPACT_MICP for repair and protection of coastal infrastructure (v2)
- El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2024
- iPACT- Bio-physical interactions in managing coastal dynamics
- El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2024
- DTP 2224 University of Strathclyde | Hughes-Buchanan, Adam
- El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator) Ward, Andrew (Co-investigator) Hughes-Buchanan, Adam (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 01-Jan-2026
- EPSRC IAA: Developing a dry storage method for ureolytic Sporosarcina pasteurii
- El Mountassir, Grainne (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2025
- UKRI FLF - Soil-mycelia systems for slope stabilisation
- El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2025
- Doctoral Training Partnership 2020-2021 University of Strathclyde | Eriksen, Jason
- El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator) Lunn, Rebecca (Co-investigator) Eriksen, Jason (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 01-Jan-2024
Contact
Dr
Grainne
El Mountassir
Reader
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Email: grainne.elmountassir@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3252