Fernando Patino Ramirez is an Assistant Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Patino Ramirez earned BSc (2015) and MSc (2016) degrees in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), and MSc (Computer science & Engineering) and PhD (Geosystems) degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology (2020). After completion of his PhD, Dr. Patino Ramirez joined the Geotechnics section at Imperial College London as a postdoctoral researcher, and later a teaching and research fellow. In addition, Dr. Patino Ramirez worked as a geotechnical engineer in Colombia and the United States and as an entrepreneur, working in climate mitigation and adaptation related ventures.
Dr. Patino Ramirez has expertise in the areas of geomechanics, in-situ testing, trenchless methods, earth structures and foundations for offshore applications. In his research, Dr. Patino Ramirez combines physical reduced scale modeling and numerical methods (DEM and FEM), with computational algorithms and novel instruments and measurement devices.
Dr. Patino Ramirez has expertise in the areas of geomechanics, in-situ testing, trenchless methods, earth structures and foundations for offshore applications. In his research, Dr. Patino Ramirez combines physical reduced scale modeling and numerical methods (DEM and FEM), with computational algorithms and novel instruments and measurement devices.
Ph.D., Civil Engineering Georgia Tech 2020
MSc, Computational Science & Engineering Georgia Tech 2020
MSc, Geotechnical Engineering Universidad de los Andes 2016
BSc, Civil Engineering Universidad de los Andes 2015
Dr. Patino-Ramirez teaches the graduate level course on foundation design, and the undergraduate course on applied geotechnical design. He also has an active undergraduate research group as part of the Vertically Integrated Programs (VIP). Other teaching areas of interest include offshore geotechnics, experimental design and numerical modeling and computational methods.
- Patino-Ramirez, F., Yang, Y., Salomon, J., Holmes, A., O’Sullivan. C. (2025). Horizontal penetration in granular media: effect of intruder shape, depth, orientation and material density on penetration forces. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1061/JGGEFK.GTENG-133
- Salomon, J., O’Sullivan. C., Patino-Ramirez, F. (2024). Stress–dilatancy and micromechanics of sand under partially drained conditions. Computers and Geotechnics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2025.107200
- Salomon, J., O’Sullivan. C., Patino-Ramirez, F. (2024). On data benchmarking and verification of discrete granular simulations. Data in brief. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2024.110252
- Patino-Ramirez, F., O’Sullivan. C. (2024). Analysis of the growth, trends and prevalent topics in Geotechnical Engineering (1998-2022) using topic modelling. Geotechnique Letters. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.23.00097
- Salomon, J., Morimoto, T., Patino-Ramirez, F., O’Sullivan. C. (2023). Quantifying Shear-Induced Permeability Changes in Medium Loose Sands. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1061/JGGEFK.GTENG-11874
- Patino-Ramirez, F., O’Sullivan. C. (2023). Optimal tip shape for minimum drag and lift during horizontal penetration in granular media, Acta Geotechnica. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-023-01887-4
- Patino-Ramirez, F., Dini. D., O’Sullivan. C. (2023). Percolating contacts network and force chains during interface shear in granular media, Granular Matter. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-023-01314-1
- Sassel, T., Patino-Ramirez, F., Hanley. K., O’Sullivan. C. (2023). Linking the macro-scale response of granular materials during drained cyclic loading to the evolution of micro-structure, contact network and energy components, Granular Matter. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-023-01308-z
- Patino-Ramirez, F., Anselmucci, F., Andò, E., Viggiani, G., Caicedo, B., Arson, C. (2023) Deformation and failure mechanisms of granular soil around pressurised shallow cavities. Geotechnique. https://doi.org/10.1680/JGEOT.21.00136
- Patino-Ramirez, F., Wang, J., Chau, P., Arson, C. (2022). Back-calculation of soil parameters from displacement-controlled cavity expansion under geostatic stress by FEM and machine learning. Acta Geotechnica. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-022-01698-z