David & Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety & Risk Management
Renato Macciotta
Dr. Renato Macciotta, P.Eng
Assistant Professor
David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management
University of Alberta
Dr. Renato Macciotta, P.Eng. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and part of the School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management at the University of Alberta. He obtained his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the Catholic University of Peru, and a Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Alberta, Canada.
Dr. Macciotta has over 10 years of research experience and over 15 years of practical experience working in civil, mining and risk engineering projects. Renato’s experience includes: 1) qualitative and quantitative risk assessments for linear infrastructures, mining structures, and slope instabilities; 2) mine closure planning and remediation; 3) hazard assessments for transportation corridors; 4) geotechnical and geomechanical investigations for mining and civil projects; 5) stability analyses of man-made and natural slopes; and 6) application of remote sensing techniques for surface mapping and monitoring. His work has been published in over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Dr. Macciotta has a multisectoral research portfolio, at the provincial, national and international levels; that includes the mining industry (open pit operations and tailings storage facilities), railway operations, highway management, hydropower and water reservoirs. His research topics include landslide hazard identification and risk management; natural and engineered slope monitoring with novel technologies; rail transport risk assessment and control; risk and design acceptance criteria for engineered slopes and natural slopes; geomechanical characterization for increased understanding of slope behaviour; and the relationship between weather and slope instability to understand the potential impact of climate change in landslide risk.
Since 2019 Dr. Macciotta has received, as a PI or co-PI, over $1 million from research grants from government, industry, and University; and supervised over 15 PhDs and Masters students. He has 44 journal publications, 40 conference publications and has delivered 19 invited lectures and keynote presentations to industry and academia.