Dr. Ozgun A. Numanoglu is a Project Geotechnical Engineer and engineering analyst in Schnabel Engineering's Seattle office, specializing in geotechnical and earthquake engineering practice. His primary experience includes estimating the nonlinear behavior of geosystems and soil-fluid-structure systems under: (1) static and dynamic multi-directional loading conditions, and (2) drained, undrained, and partially drained conditions, using computational tools such as finite element modeling and seismic site response analysis. He is also experienced in transportation geotechnics.

His specialties include nonlinear modeling of soil materials, advanced three-dimensional numerical modeling and simulation, finite element analysis, seismic site response, soil-structure interaction, soil-fluid-structure interaction, and monotonic and cyclic characterization of soils through laboratory and field testing.

His work also extends to post-earthquake reconnaissance and the analysis and design of transportation-related geosystems, such as retaining walls, slopes, bridge embankments, and foundations.

Ozgun’s Ph.D. dissertation focused on developing a three-dimensional constitutive model for seismic applications (I-soil) and its implementation in LS-DYNA. He utilized this model to investigate seismic settlements in saturated dense sands underlying nuclear power plants, considering multi-directional earthquake loading and partially drained conditions. The I-soil model has since been applied in three Ph.D. dissertations and four M.Sc. theses, addressing topics including liquefaction modeling, the seismic response of concrete-faced rockfill dams, nuclear power plants, underground structures, and buried reservoirs.

Additionally, Dr. Numanoglu is a contributor to the development of DEEPSOIL, a widely used one-dimensional seismic site response analysis program. He is also among the developers of MASTODON, a nonlinear dynamic finite element analysis code created for Idaho National Laboratory.

Dr. Numanoglu’s extensive expertise and implementations have contributed to the field of geotechnical earthquake engineering, particularly in seismic response analysis and numerical modeling.

Before joining Schnabel Engineering, Dr. Numanoglu worked as a consultant geotechnical engineer at Golder Associates Inc. He holds degrees in Civil Engineering (major) and Business Administration (minor) from the Middle East Technical University (2013). Furthermore, he earned M.Sc. and PhD degrees in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2014 and 2019, respectively.

NEWS

02/10/2024: VGS hosted our next technical presentation on Monday, February 10, 2025, at the Executive Inn, Burnaby. Dr. Ozgun Alp Numanoglu presented on the topic Seismic-Induced Liquefaction and Settlement Case Studies from the 2023 Kahramanmaras Earthquake and Modeling Approaches.

10/25/2024: Dr. Numanoglu was at the 2024 LS-DYNA User Conference. He presented his work on the "Use of LS-DYNA for Estimating Earthquake-induced Ground Settlements".

09/23/2024: Ozgun presented two presentations during the Dam Safety 2024 conference organized by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials. The presentations were titled: (2) "Numerical Modeling and Simulation of Seismic Response of a Concrete Faced Rockfill Dam Measured in Dynamic Centrifuge Tests" and (2) Concurrent Session 28A: Post-earthquake Observations of Seismic Response of Dams During 2023, Kahramanmaras, Turkiye Earthquakes

09/12/2024: Dr. Numanoglu presented "Comparison of Measured and Estimated Seismic Building Settlements in 2023, Kahramanmaras Earthquakes" during ASCE-Geo-Institute Oregon Chapter September Dinner Meeting.

03/12/2024: The February/March GEOSTRATA Extra was a conversation between Editor Mary Nodine and authors Tugce Baser, Sissy Nikolaou, and Ozgun alp Numanoglu about their piece in the latest GEOSTRATA titled "A Shifting Landscape: How cascading hazards were accelerated by climate change in Türkiye and Syria. Watch the full interview here:  GEOSTRATA Extra S05 E01: Baser, Nikolaou, and Numanoglu on the 2023 Turkiye/Syria Eathquakes - YouTube 

02/13/2024: Dr. Numanoglu will be presented during Illinois Geo-institute - February 2024 Dinner Meeting.  The title of the presentation is 2023 Kahramanmaras, Türkiye Earthquake Sequence: An Overview of the Ground Reconnaissance, Evaluation of Seismic Building Settlements, and Large-scale Landslide near Türkiye – Syria Border. For further information please click here.

02/07/2024: In Episode 6 of Season 5, Geo-Institute Director's Cut guest was Ozgun!  Watch the full episode by clicking here.

02/02/2024: Dr. Numanoglu and his co-authors have been chosen as recipients of the 2024 Hogentogler Award. ASTM Committee D18 on Soil and Rock presents this award annually to the author(s) of an ASTM paper of outstanding merit on soil or rock. It recognizes meritorious effort, and it is the most prestigious technical award given by ASTM Committee D18. 

11/18/2023: Ozgun presented during AEG/GI Seattle Chapter Joint Dinner Meeting. The topic of the presentation was "2023 Kahramanmaras, Turkiye Earthquake: Geotechnical Reconnaissance and Evaluation of Seismic Building Settlements

10/30/2023: Dr. Numanoglu published a new paper titled "Ground movement patterns and shallow foundation performance in Iskenderun coastline during the 2023 Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence".  The paper outlines the ground and building damages at the coastal line of Iskenderun. Click here to read the paper. 

09/17/2023 :Ozgun will be presenting during the COPRI - Seattle Chapter seasonal kick-off meeting. We will be discussing the impacts of the 2023 Kahramanmaras, Turkiye earthquakes on the coastal areas of Iskenderun, Hatay.  Click to purchase tickets. 

09/01/2023: Dr. Numanoglu published a new paper along with other co-authors who performed detailed reconnaissance after the 2023 Turkiye - Syria earthquakes. The paper is co-authored by both geotechnical and structural engineers and scientists. Fror the full paper, click here.

04/28/2023: Dr. Numanoglu, along with colleagues, presented "Multidirectional Cyclic Response of Sands: An Experimental and Numerical Perspective” in an online seminar organized by Professor Felipe Ochoa Cornejo of the University of Chile. Click here to watch the seminar.

04/28/2023: Earthquake Reconnaissance Team Report: Türkiye Earthquake Sequence on February 6, 2023, coauthored by Dr. Numanoglu is now published and available. Click here to access the report.

04/11/2023: Ozgun presented "Geotechnical Problems Caused by the 2023 Kahramanmaras - Turkiye Earthquakes" during the annual meeting of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. Click here to access the full presentation.

03/29/2023: Ozgun attended the Geo-Congress 2023: Turkey-Syria Earthquakes: A Disaster through Interdisciplinary Lenses panel as a panelist. Click here for the live stream of the panel. 

11/17/2022: Ozgun Numanoglu gave a seminar: "Numerical Modeling and Simulation of Seismic Settlements in Dense Sands" at UC Davis, Geotechnical Graduate Student Society.

08/15/2022: Ozgun joined Schnabel Engineering as of August 08, 2022.