Yuanzhi has been Geotechnical Engineer at EGL since completing her BE(hons) in Civil Engineering and PhD in geotechnical earthquake engineering at the University of Auckland in 2017. Her doctoral research was on the holistic low-damage seismic design philosophy, with consideration of soil-foundation-structure interaction and the characteristics of ground motions.

Yuanzhi has specific expertise in time history selection, finite element methods and geotechnical laboratory testing from her research. After joining EGL, she has specialized in dam and seismic assessments.

Her projects include design, monitoring, surveillance and comprehensive safety reviews of tailings and water storage dams in New Zealand. Yuanzhi’s experience includes dam breach, co-seismic embankment deformation, liquefaction, cyclic softening, retaining walls and soil creep settlement assessments.

When away from the work, she enjoys travelling and exploring different cultures of the world.