Marjan started her Ph.D. in 2023, under the supervision of prof. Erdrick Pérez-González and the co-supervision of prof. Jean Côté, to study definition of the typical values and their correlations for practical purposes of the NorSand-aUL model parameters under various loading and unloading conditions. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Tehran and a Master of Science degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Tarbiat Modares University. She conducted an experimental study of the process zone in rock-like materials with pre-existing cracks for her master's project. Furthermore, she has hands-on experience in the interpretation and conduct of geotechnical tests as part of her job responsibilities.

Keyvan pursued his academic life at Tehran Polytechnic and the University of Guilan, both located in Iran. While he has been involved in the civil and construction industry since 2015, he also participated in several experimental and empirical projects during his undergraduate studies. His master's thesis focuses on beach profile evolution in the vicinity of seawalls. Keyvan began his PhD project in August 2023, under the supervision of Professor Jean Côté and the co-supervision of Professor Erdrick Perez-Gonzalez and it will mainly consider the risk of instabilities of construction machinery, working on soft clay embankments.

Willideman began his doctoral studies in the spring of 2023 under the supervision of Professor Erdrick Perez-Gonzalez and the co-supervision of Professor Jean Côté. His doctoral project focuses on the numerical modeling of dams using ambient noise measurement techniques, natural frequency vibration approaches, and parametric studies to understand their dynamic response. He completed his master's degree on local seismic response, specializing in geotechnics, at the Polytechnic University of Turin (Politecnico di Torino) in Italy. He earned his bachelor's degree, focusing on the numerical analysis of water infiltration processes in partially saturated soils, at the University of Antioquia (Universidad de Antioquia) in Colombia.

Marco started his PhD in 2021, under the supervision of prof. Jean Côté and the co-supervision of prof. Jean-Marie Konrad, to study internal erosion by suffusion of Quebec tills. Previously, he worked in the management of geotechnical projects of dams in northern Brazil. Marco obtained his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) in 2016, with an exchange program at the University of Florence (Italy). He holds a master's degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on the rheological behavior of soft clays.

In the year 2012, Jahanpour completed his undergraduate studies in civil engineering and pursued his master's education in geotechnical engineering at Yasouj University, Iran. He investigated the subsurface water-table locations and effects of drainage in porous media as his master project. Also, he worked on machine learning methods for solving the problem of groundwater in cooperation with Shiraz University, Iran. Jahanpour began his Ph.D. studies in 2021 and he is being supervised by Professor Jean Côté. As his doctoral research, he is studying the safety monitoring of embankment dams. He is using geostatistics and numerical techniques to address internal erosion in practical problems.

Nadezda started her Ph.D. project in 2024 under the supervision of Professor Jean Côté and co-supervision of Marc Smith, associated professor. The project focuses on the problem of erosion of embankment dams caused by overtopping. Her academic background includes studies at the Polytechnique Montréal (geological engineering), Kazan State University (geology), and the Ural State Mining University (engineering geology, soil science and geocryology), where she realized a project on the geotechnical conditions of Kazan City, particularly focusing on the formation and behaviour of metastable soils, karst development, and erosion. Her subsequent research focused on weathered rocks and various geological hazards in the Middle Volga region of Russia.

Ahmed obtained his bachelor's degree in Geology of Major Works, specializing in Public Works, in 2019. During this program, he took courses in soil and rock mechanics, engineering geology, and risk management. He then continued his studies at the National Engineering School of Gafsa in Tunisia, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Industrial and Mining Chemical Engineering. In 2023, after graduating, Ahmed began a master's degree in civil engineering at Laval University, under the supervision of Professor Jean Coté. His research project focuses on the study of internal erosion in natural slopes. In this context, he uses experimental setups to determine the criteria associated with internal erosion mechanisms, including: • Critical suffusion velocity, • Critical contact erosion velocity, • Critical regressive erosion gradient. At the same time, he is reproducing internal erosion in the laboratory using a scale model in order to refine our understanding of slope behavior under the effect of flow.

Ahmed began his doctoral studies in the fall of 2024 at Université Laval, under the supervision of Professor Erdrick Perez-Gonzalez and co-supervision of Daniel Verret, engineer and doctor of civil engineering. His research focuses on the dynamic behavior of varved clays. He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's degree focusing on the behavior of granular materials subjected to heavy loads in freeze/thaw cycles, also from Université Laval. In addition, Ahmed is currently completing an MBA in strategic business management at the same university. Professionally, he has been working for six years as a geotechnical engineer at Hydro-Québec's embankment dam expertise and design department.

After obtaining a bachelor's degree in geosciences from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, Diaraw Thierno BA continued her academic career in France, where she completed a first master's degree in hydrogeology at Aix-Marseille University, followed by a second master's degree in hydraulic and geotechnical engineering at Lille University. She then undertook a research master's degree at University Laval, under the supervision of Jean Côté, at CRIBAR. Her research project focuses on vegetation management on embankment dams in Quebec. In this context, she uses imaging techniques, including photogrammetry, to characterize tree root systems and determine the soil-root plate, in order to better estimate the volumes of soil required for backfilling after tree removal.

Mahsan began her doctoral studies in 2026 under the supervision of Professor Jean Côté. Her research focuses on backward erosion piping and soil erosion mechanisms in geotechnical engineering. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Fasa University, Iran, and a master’s degree in geotechnical engineering from Shiraz University of Technology. During her master’s studies, she designed and developed a Jet Erosion Test (JET) system and conducted an experimental investigation on the erodibility behaviour and stabilization of clay soils using recycled concrete aggregate. Her research included the evaluation of erosion parameters such as critical shear stress and erosion rate coefficients, as well as the assessment of stabilization techniques aimed at improving soil resistance against hydraulic erosion. Through various academic and research projects, she has developed practical expertise in geotechnical laboratory testing, soil erodibility assessment, seepage and erosion-related soil testing, and soil stabilization techniques involving recycled concrete aggregates.

Francisco began his master’s in civil engineering (geotechnic) at Université Laval in 2025, under the direction of professor Erdrick Pérez-González. His research project is related to the seismic response of embankment dams, more precisely on the assessment of the fundamental frequency (f₀) of dams of various heights by non-linear dynamic numerical modeling using PLAXIS 2D, taking into account degradation mechanisms linked to water level variation, dam core softening and cumulative seismic damages. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of Zulia (Venezuela, 2005) and has been a member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec since 2018. He has over 20 years of experience in geotechnical engineering applied to mining infrastructure in Canada and internationally.