Dr Aakash Gupta

Profile

Aakash’s journey in civil engineering began at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in Delhi, where he earned his BTech degree in Civil Engineering in 2018 with First Class Honours. From the outset, he was drawn to innovation in sustainable infrastructure, with his undergraduate project exploring the use of waste rubber tyres and polypropylene plastic to improve bitumen roads—a practical response to pressing environmental and engineering challenges.

His drive for deeper knowledge led him to crack the highly competitive GATE examination twice (2018 and 2019), which secured him a national scholarship to pursue an MTech in Structural Engineering at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Meghalaya. There, he graduated in 2020 with First Class Honours with Distinction. His dissertation delved into outrigger belt systems in high-rise RCC buildings. Moreover, he took additional research on modifying CFST stub columns with colloidal nano-silica, which demonstrated a growing interest in material innovation. In recognition of his work, he was awarded Best Paper at the International Virtual Conference on Emerging Research Trends in Structural Engineering in July 2020 for one of his works.

Fuelled by curiosity and a vision for the future of geotechnical engineering, Aakash began his PhD at the University of Leeds in October 2020, supported by the School of Civil Engineering Scholarship. His research centered on energy geostructures—particularly how underground structures can sustainably harness and manage thermal energy. He was selected for the City-scale Implementation of Energy Geostructures (EGS Cycling) training school, where his project proposal was awarded best idea. Throughout his PhD, he shared his research on global stages, like European Geothermal Congress, the Symposium on Energy Geotechnics, and the Young Geotechnical Engineers Symposium. In September 2024, he completed his PhD, earning a nomination for Outstanding Thesis.

Aakash is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher on the EPSRC-FAPESP Project: Efficient Ground Energy Systems in Diaphragm Walls in Challenging Conditions, a collaborative effort between the University of Leeds, the University of Dundee, and the University of São Paulo. His work focuses on developing analytical methods to understand and optimize the thermal performance of thermally active embedded retaining walls—energy walls—an innovation at the intersection of sustainability, geotechnics, and structural engineering.

Responsibilities

• Post-doctoral Researcher

Research interests

Energy Geostructures, Geothermal Energy, Ground Heat Exchangers, High Rise RCC buildings, CFST Columns, Origami Engineering, LFRS

Qualifications

• PhD - University of Leeds (2024)
• MTech (First class honours with distinction) - National Institute of Technology Meghalaya (2020)
• BTech (First class honours) - GGS Indraprastha University, Delhi