Dr Xiaohui Qi

Assistant Professor

School: Engineering, Physics and Mathematics

Dr. Qi, Xiaohui joined the Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering at the Northumbria University as a lecturer in 2020. His research interests are on reliability and back-analysis of geotechnical structures, probabilistic site investigations and data-driven methods for prediction of geotechnical and geological properties.

Prior to joining NU, Dr. Qi was a postdoctoral researcher at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (2017-2020). He also was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Macau, Macau, China (2015-2017). He received his Bachelor's Degree (2009) and Ph.D. Degree (2015) from Wuhan University, China. He studied at the National University of Singapore, Singapore as an exchange student (2012-2015).

Uncertainty is an inherent feature of geotechnical engineering, as manifested in the soil property, field measurements, and various models used for geotechnical designs. His research has focused on reliability and back-analysis of geotechnical structures (e.g., slopes, shallow foundations and braced excavations) considering inherent variability of soil properties, characterization of spatial variability of geotechnical and geological properties using limited data. These researches aim to achieve a more reliable or economical design of geotechnical structures. More recently, he is interested in applying data-driven methods (such as artificial intelligence methods) to the spatial prediction of geotechnical and geological properties.

For more information on Dr. Qi’s research:

https://scholar.google.com.sg/citations?user=RokMFHEAAAAJ&hl=en /

Email Xiaohui

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Risk and reliability analysis of geotechnical engineering, Bayesian back-analysis of geotechnical structures, probabilistic site investigations, data-driven methods for spatial prediction of geotechnical and geological properties

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
A big indirect data – Informed probabilistic method for three-dimensional site reconstruction, Yang, Z., Li, X., Qi, X., Liu, Z. 25 Jun 2025, In: Engineering Geology
A coupled probabilistic site characterization method for estimating soil stratification and spatial variability using multiple-source site investigation data, Li, X., Zhang, Y., Li, Z., Yang, Z., Qi, X. 21 May 2025, In: Engineering Geology
Characterizing soil properties heterogeneity in complex tectonic regions using anisotropic random fields with nonlinear variation directions, Yang, Z., Qi, X., Feng, Y., Li, X., Liu, Y. 1 Sep 2025, In: Engineering Geology
Estimation of site-specific multivariate probability distribution of soil properties using a mixed sampling technique, Li, X., Zhang, Y., Yang, Z., Qi, X. 1 Feb 2024, In: Computers and Geotechnics
A new prediction model of the jet grouting column diameter for three jet grouting systems, Zhao, L., Qi, X., Tan, F., Chen, Y. 1 Nov 2023, In: Computers and Geotechnics
Bayesian evidential learning of soil-rock interface identification using boreholes, Yang, H., Chu, J., Qi, X., Wu, S., Chiam, K. 1 Oct 2023, In: Computers and Geotechnics
Stochastic simulation of geological cross-sections from boreholes: A random field approach with Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, Yang, H., Chu, J., Qi, X., Wu, S., Chiam, K. 20 Dec 2023, In: Engineering Geology
Application of 3D Geological Model in Subway Construction in Singapore, Wu, S., Pan, X., Qi, X., Chiam, K., Goh, K., Chu, J. 17 Mar 2022, Geo-Congress 2022, Reston, US, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Data analytics in geotechnical and geological engineering, Wang, Y., Zhang, W., Qi, X., Ching, J. 2022, In: Georisk
Effect of autocorrelation function model on spatial prediction of geological interfaces, Qi, X., Wang, H., Chu, J., Chiam, K. Apr 2022, In: Canadian Geotechnical Journal

PGR Supervision

Nathaniel Eshemele Physically-Based Regional Scale Landslide Susceptibility Assessment of the UK Start Date: 01/10/2023
Nathaniel Eshemele Physically-Based Regional Scale Landslide Susceptibility Assessment of the UK Start Date: 01/10/2023 End Date: 17/10/2025

Qualifications

Engineering PhD June 30 2015