Rate My Professor Eshwaraiah Raghunandan

Dr. Mavinakere Eshwaraiah Raghunandan is an Associate Professor of Geomechanics in the Civil Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering at Monash University Malaysia. He joined the university in 2013 as a Lecturer, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2016, and to Associate Professor in 2024. As a pioneer faculty member, he played a key role in establishing the civil engineering program in 2014. Previously, he was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada from 2011 to 2012, and an exchange student at the University of Saskatchewan in 2011, supported by the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Program. His academic background includes a PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (2007-2011), an M.E. in Geotechnical Engineering from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (2005-2007), a B.E. in Civil Engineering from the same institution, and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education from Monash University.

Raghunandan's research focuses on climate-resilient soil infrastructure, soil dynamics, environmental geotechnics, and transportation geotechnics, including predictive modeling with physics-informed neural networks, machine learning, remote sensing, ground improvement, and remediation of soil contamination from pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and other pollutants. He serves as Deputy Director of the Monash Climate Resilient Infrastructure (M-CRInfra) Research Hub and Director of Research for the Civil Engineering Department. His contributions have earned awards such as the Gold Award for the “Smart Soil Moisture Management System” at the 4th Malaysian Road Conference Invention and Innovation Exhibition (2024), Supervisor of the Year at the MUPA Appreciation Awards (2024), Springer Nature Author Service Award (2025), and Pro-Vice Chancellor’s Commendation for Excellence in Education (2021). Key publications include “Impact of rising temperatures on urban underground infrastructure: A state-of-the-art review” (Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, 2025), “Utilization of plant-based natural coagulants as future alternatives towards sustainable water clarification” (2014, 445 citations), “Performance of conventional starches as natural coagulants for turbidity removal” (2016, 164 citations), “Impact of pharmaceutical waste (diclofenac) on consistency and particle packing of a Malaysian urban residual clay” (Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2026), and “Preparation of reconstituted sand samples in the laboratory” (2012, 101 citations). He organized the Monash Symposium on Climate-Resilient Infrastructure (2024).