Dunja Perić | Professor
Ph.D.- University of Colorado, Boulder
Civil Engineering
M.S. - University of Colorado, Boulder
Civil Engineering
Dipl.-Ing. - University of Zagreb
Civil Engineering
Contact information
2128 Fiedler Hall
peric@k-state.edu
Professional experience
Dunja Perić received a Diploma-Ingenieur in Civil Cngineering from the University of Zagreb. Prior to starting her master’s and doctorate studies at University of Colorado, Boulder she worked in the engineering practice at the Civil Engineering Institute in Zagreb. After receiving her Ph.D. degree she completed her post-doctoral work at the University of Colorado Boulder, and subsequently joined the University of Colorado, Denver. In 1998, she received NSF POWRE award. She spent the 1998-1999 academic year as a visiting professor at Northwestern University, where she conducted research at their state-of-the-art geotechnical laboratories. In 2001, she joined the department of civil engineering at Kansas State University where she served as CE graduate program director from 2011 until 2014. Perić has been named Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia on several occasions. Most recently Perić has been named Visiting Associate Professor at University of Colorado at Boulder, CO.
Research
Perić’s research has focused primarily on strain localization in pressure sensitive materials ranging from monophasic soils, saturated soils, and most recently variably saturated soils and fiber reinforced cementitious composites. With her collaborators, Perić has developed solutions for the inception of strain localization in these materials along with the analytical solutions for a three-invariant Cam clay model. Perić’s research also includes computational modeling of soil structure interaction in environmentally sensitive structures such as integral bridges and thermally active geotechnical systems (energy foundations). The computational models generated by Perić’s research group were successfully validated and verified either against other independent computational models or against the experimental data collected from full-scale field tests. In addition, Perić’s research group has developed several analytical solutions for soil structure interaction in energy piles that were validated against the centrifuge tests and in situ pile tests. Perić’s research group has also worked on experimental evaluation of feasibility of use of plant derived materials, including bio-fuel co-products, for stabilization of sandy and silty soils, and evaluating the effects of subgrade on development of pavement distresses in flexible pavements. The most recent Perić’s work includes geotechnical reconnaissance of an extensive cover-collapse sinkhole phenomena associated with an earthquake sequence.
Academic highlights
Perić published several papers in the International Journal of Plasticity (IJP), whose most recent impact factor (for 2020) is7.081 that corresponds to the journal impact factor percentile of 95.86. In addition, Perić’s research has been published in Computers and Geotechnics, Engineering Structures, International Journal of Solids and Structures, International Journal for Analytical and Numerical Methods in Geomechanics, ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE International Journal of Geomechanics, and Science and Engineering of Composite Materials.
Perić’s work has received national and international recognition, including the National Science Foundation POWRE award and an American Association for Advancement of Science award. In addition, she has been involved in international collaboration with University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Perić has also been listed four times in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. At K-state, she received Making Difference at K-state award as well as a number of CE awards including the Outstanding University and Professional Service Award, Outstanding ASCE Advisor Award, Teaching Award, and Outstanding Colleague Award. Perić has served the geotechnical engineering community as a past associate editor of the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. Currently, Perić serves as a member of ASCE Geo-Institute Unsaturated Soils Committee.