Ramin Motamed
Professor
- Phone: (775) 784-6960
- Email: motamed@unr.edu
- Building: SEM
- Room: 222
- Mailstop: 0258
- Website:
- Website:
Dr. Ramin Motamed is an associate professor of geotechnical engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno.
His main areas of research are shake table tests on deep and shallow foundations; liquefaction and laterally spreading grounds; mitigation measures for foundations in liquefiable soils; nonlinear site response analysis; soil-structure interaction using instrumented structures and downhole array data; and LRFD of drilled shafts. He leads projects in these areas sponsored by the federal and state agencies as well as the industry.
Dr. Motamed received his Ph.D. in 2007 at the University of Tokyo where he carried out research on the behavior of pile foundations in liquefiable soils using the E-Defense shake table facility.
Prior to joining the University, Dr. Motamed was a senior engineer with Arup in San Francisco, and he is a registered professional engineer in the states of California and Nevada.
- Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan 2007
- M.S. in Civil Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran 2002
- B.S. in Civil Engineering, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran 2000
- Professional Engineer, State of California
- Professional Engineer, State of Nevada
- Member, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI)
- Member, Seismological Society of America (SSA)
- Member, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
- Member, Deep Foundations Institute (DFI)
- Member, Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER)
- Member, United States Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research (USUCGER)
Prospective graduate students
I am constantly looking for qualified and motivated graduate students. Preferred qualifications will depend on the nature of research projects and specific information will be posted here as new positions become available.
Research interests
- Shake table tests on deep and shallow foundations
- Liquefaction and laterally spreading grounds, mitigation measures
- Site response analysis and soil-structure-interaction
- LRFD for deep foundations
- Analysis and interpretation of ground motions for soil-structure system response evaluation
Current research projects
- Evaluation of Soil-Structure Interaction in the Seismic Design of Buildings
- Local Site Effects and Reducing Uncertainties in Ground Motion Prediction Equations by Incorporating Site Period
- Lateral Analysis and LRFD of Large-Diameter Drilled Shafts
- Validation of Advanced Modeling Techniques Using Instrumented Building and Downhole Array Data
- Shake Table Tests on Shallow Foundations in Liquefiable Soils
- Development of Site-Specific Vertical Ground Motions
- Helical Piles for Underpinning of Shallow Foundations on Soils Susceptible to Liquefaction
- Evaluation of Nonlinear Soil Response Using Geotechnical Downhole Arrays
- Exploration of Scaling Effects Based on Small and Large Diameter Drilled Shaft Load Test Data
- Calibration of Resistance Factors for LRFD of Axially Loaded Drilled Shafts in Las Vegas Valley
Selected publications
- Saxena, S., Motamed, R., and Ryan, K. (2022) “Contrasting Subsurface Models for Physics-Based Regional-Scale Numerical Simulations in Japan Using a Rigorous Validation Scheme” Journal of Japan Association for Earthquake Engineering (accepted).
- Bhuiyan, F.M., Motamed, R., Siddharthan, R.V., and Sanders, D. (2022) Transportation Geotechnics, Volume 36, September 2022, 100813.
- Boushehri, R., Motamed, R., Ellison, K., and Stanton, K. (2022) Earthquake Spectra.
- Toth, J.A.W., Motamed, R., and Panorska, A. (2022) “A New Method for Extrapolating the Load-Displacement Response of Drilled Shaft Foundations for Interpretation of Side Capacity” Soils and Foundations, Volume 62, Issue 3, June 2022, 101154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2022.101154
- Yazdi, M., Motamed, R., and Anderson, J.G. (2022) Seismological Research Letters, (2022) 93 (3): 1721–1736.
- Jahed Orang, M., Boushehri, R., Motamed, R., Parayancode, A., and Elgamal, A. (2021) Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 151, December 2021, 106994.
- Zogh, P., Motamed, R., and Ryan, K. (2021) Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Volume 149, October 2021, 106893.
- Mojtahedzadeh, N., Ghalandarzadeh, A., and Motamed, R. (2021) International Journal of Civil Engineering, Springer, June 2021, pp. 125-138.
- Jahed Orang, M., Motamed, R., Parayancode, A., and Elgamal, A. (2021) Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 147, Issue 1 (January 2021).
- Bahadori, H., Hasheminezhad, A., Motamed, R., and Motamedi, H. (2020) “” Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 128, January 2020, 105986.
- O'Riordan, N., Almufti, I., Lee, J., Ellison, K., and Motamed, R. (2018) " " ICE Proceedings Geotechnical Engineering (in press)
- Li, G., Motamed, R., and Dickenson, S. (2018) " " Earthquake Spectra. February 2018, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 349-376.
- Stanton, K., Motamed, R., and Elfass, S. (2017) " Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 143, Issue 6, June 2017.
- Li, G., and Motamed, R. (2017) " " Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 92 (2017) 573-584.
- Motamed, R., Stanton, K., Almufti, I., Ellison, K., and Willford, M. (2016) " " Earthquake Spectra, May 2016, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 1055-1074.
- Almufti, I., Motamed, R., Grant, D.N., and Willford, M. (2015) " " Earthquake Spectra, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, August 2015, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 1647-1666.
- Motamed, R., Towhata, I., Honda, T., Tabata, K., and Abe, A. (2013) " " Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 51, August 2013, pages 35-46.
- Motamed, R., and Towhata, I. (2010) " " Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 136, No. 3, pp. 477-489.
- Motamed, R., and Towhata, I. (2010) " Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 30, Issue 10, October 2010, Pages 1043-1060.
- Motamed, R., Sesov, V., Towhata, I., and Anh, N.T. (2010) " " Soils and Foundations, Vol.50, No.2, pp. 261-280.
Courses taught
- CEE 442/642 Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering
- CEE 443/643 Foundation Engineering Design
- CEE 479/679 Earthquake Engineering
- CEE 745 Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
- CEE 746 Advanced Foundation Engineering
- CEE 748 Advanced Geotechnical Laboratory
Group members
Postdoc
- 12/2021-present
Ph.D. students
- 08/2022-present
- 08/2021-present
- , 08/2019-present
- , 08/2019-present
- , 01/2019-present
- , graduated
- , graduated
- , graduated
- , graduated
- , (graduated)
- , (graduated)
M.S. students (with thesis)
- Atsou Komla Herve Agbemenou, 08/2021- present
- , (graduated)
- , (graduated)
- , (graduated)
- , (graduated)
- Maryam Ostovar, (graduated)
- , (graduated)