CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

University of Houston
Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering
N107 Engineering Building 1
Houston, TX 77204-4003
Phone: 713-743-4250
Fax: 713-743-4260
Contact us

Faculty

Osman Ghazzaly, Ph.D., P.E. (Emeritus)

Professor

UH Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
N116 Engineering Building 1, Houston, TX 77204-4003

Phone: 713-743-4270 | Fax: 713-743-4260
Email: oghazzaly [at] uh [dot] edu

Education

  • Ph.D. Civil/Geotechnical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 1965
  • M.S.C.E. Civil/Geotechnical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 1963
  • B.S.C.E. Civil Engineering, University of Cairo, Egypt, 1958

Professional Experience

1997– Present Professor of Civil Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas. Administrative duties included Associate Chairman and Undergraduate Advisor.
1969 – 1997 Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas (on leave during 1974-75). Duties included teaching graduate and undergraduate courses and research in Geotechnical Engineering, and teaching undergraduate courses in Mechanics, Materials, and Transportation. Administrative duties during various periods included Associate Chairman, Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies, and Graduate and Undergraduate Advisor.
1972 – 1987 Lecturer (part-time), Department of Civil Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas. Teaching courses in Geotechnical Engineering
1966 – Present Geotechnical Engineer Consultant (part-time). Worked for McClelland Engineers, Inc.; Fugro Gulf, Inc.; Harding-Lawson Associates, Inc.; Battelle, Inc., and National Soil Services, Inc., Houston, Texas. Full-time during some summers
1974 – 1975 Vice-President, McClelland Engineers (Geotechnical Engineering Consultants), Houston, Texas; Manager of Middle East Division
1966 – 1969 Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
1965 – 1966 Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Texas Technological University, Lubbock, Texas
1964 – 1965 Research Engineer and Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin. Working on research projects for NASA
1961 – 1964 Teaching and Research Assistant (part-time) and Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
1959 – 1961 Instructor, Engineering Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Departments, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Cairo, Egypt
1958 – 1959 Design Engineer, The Development and Construction Company, Cairo, Egypt

 

Classes

Courses taught
  • CIVE 3339 Geotechnical Engineering
  • CIVE 4369 Foundation Engineering
  • CIVE 5331 Soil Engineering in Highway Practice
  • CIVE 6333 Theoretical Soil Mechanics I
  • CIVE 6334 Theoretical Soil Mechanics
  • CIVE 6339 Soil Dynamics
  • CIVE 6346 Interaction of Soils and Structures I
  • CIVE 6111 Graduate Seminar
  • CIVE 2332 Mechanics of Solids
  • CIVE 6372 Geotechnical Engineering Practice in Waste Disposal
  • CIVE 4337 Transportation Engineering
  • CIVE 4312 Civil Engineering Design/Project
  • CIVE 4311 Civil Engineering Design and Professional Practice

Awards and Honors

Teaching Awards and Honors
  • Winner of the University of Houston Teaching Excellence Award of 1983
  • Winner of the University of Houston's Cullen College of Engineering Career Teaching Award in 2000 and the Kittinger Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1992 & 1978, and runner up in 1973. Also, named among the top-rated teachers in the college in several years
  • Winner of the University of Houston's ASCE Student Chapter Excellence in Teaching Award in 1969, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1991, 1993 and 1994, and Professor of the Year in 2000 & 2001
  • Winner of the University of Houston's George Magner Award for Best Faculty Advisor in 1994
  • Winner of the Abraham E. Duckler 2003 Distinguished Engineering Faculty Award Presented by the University of Houston Engineering Alumni Association
  • Winner of the Elpaso Corporation 2003 Faculty Achivement Award
  • Winner of the University of Houston Alumni Organization 2003 Outstanding Faculty Award
National Professional Society Memberships
  • Life Member of ASCE

Research Interests

Supervision of Research

Supervised the research of the following students who received their graduate degrees from the University of Houston.

  • S.J. Lim (Ph.D.) Experimental Investigation of the Stability of a Pipe in Very Soft Clay
  • T.S. Hwong (Ph.D.) An Analytical Study of a Vertical Pile Under Dynamic, Lateral, Surface Loading
  • J.K. Chang (MSCE) Properties of Reinforced Concrete at Elevated Temperatures
  • M.M. Isfahani (MSCE) Investigation of Laterally Loaded Piles
  • R.J. McPherson (MSCE) A Study of Axial Load Transfer of Piles in Clays
  • R.K. Syal A (MSCE) Statistical Evaluation of Dynamic Pile Driving Formulae in Sand
  • B.T. McCaslin (MSCE) Statistical Correlations of Engineering Properties of the Gulf of Mexico Clays
  • D. Ganstine (MSCE) Statistical Correlations of Engineering Properties of the Beaumont Clays
  • H.B. Ha (MSCE) Experimental Investigation of Stress-Strain Characteristics of Clays Under Repeated Loading
  • J.R. Darnell (MSCE) A Review and Evaluation of the Theoretical Determination of Bearing Capacity and Settlement of Footings
  • P. Chaiseeha (MSCE) Effect of Drying and Wetting on Strength of Lime-Stabilized Clays
  • B.A. Phillips (MS) The Role of Wave Induced Pore Pressures in Causing Instability of Pipelines Buried in Sand

Selected Publications

Examples of Refereed and Reviewed Publications
  • Vijayvergia, V. N. and O. I. Ghazzaly, "Prediction of Swelling Potential for Natural Clays," Proceedings, Third International Conference on Expansive Soils, Haifa, Israel, August 1973, pp. 227-236.
  • Bonar, A. J. and O. I. Ghazzaly, "Research on Pipeline Floatation," Transportation Engineering Journal, A. S. C. E., Vol. 99, No. TE2, Proc. Paper 9718, May 1973, pp. 211-233.
  • Ghazzaly, O. I. and B. T. McCasslin, "Statistical Correlations of Engineering Properties of Offshore Clay Deposits," Proceedings, Fifth Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, May 1973, Paper No. OTC 1902, pp. 767-776.
  • Ghazzaly, O. I. and S. J. Lim, "Experimental Investigation of Pipeling Stability in Very Soft Clay," Proceedings, Seventh Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, May 1975, Paper No. OCT 2277, pp. 315-326.
  • Ghazzaly, O. I. and H. B. Ha, "Pore Pressures and Strains After Repeated Loading of Saturated Clay," Discussion of Paper by N. E. Wilson & J. R. Greenwood, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 12, No. 2, 1975, pp. 265-268.
  • Ghazzaly, O. I., L. M. Kraft and S. J. Lim, "Stability of Offshore Pipe in Cohesive Sediments," Proceedings, A. S. C. E. Specialty Conference "Civil Engineering in the Ocean/III", Newark, Delaware, June 1975, Vol. 1, pp. 490- 503.
  • Ghazzaly, O. I., T. S. Hwong and M. W. O'Neill, "Approximate Analysis of a Pile Under Dynamic Lateral Loading," Journal of Computers and Structures, Vol. 6, 1976, pp. 363-368.
  • O'Neill, M. W., O. I. Ghazzaly and H. B. Ha, "Analysis of Three-Dimensional Pile Groups with Nonlinear Soil Response and Pile-Soil-Pile Interaction," Proceedings, Ninth Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, May 1977, Paper No. OTC 2838, pp. 245-256.
  • O'Neill, M. W. and O. I. Ghazzaly, "Swell Potential Related to Building Performance," Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division, ASCE, December 1977, Vol. 103, No. GT12, pp. 1363-1379.
  • Ghazzaly, O. I., T. S. Hwong and M. W. O'Neill, "Pile Response to Dynamic Lateral Loading," Proceedings, Tenth Offshore Technology Conference, May 1978, pp. 2255-2259.
  • Phillips, B. A., O. I. Ghazzaly and E. H. Kalajian, "Stability of Pipelines in Sand Under Wave Pressure," Proceedings, ASCE Specialty Conf. "Civil Engineering in the Oceans IV", San Francisco, California, Spetember 1979, Vol. 1, pp. 122-136.
  • O'Neill, M. W., O. I. Ghazzaly and H. B. Ha, "Assessment of Hybrid Model for Pile Groups," Transportation Research Record 733, December 1979, pp. 36-43.
  • Georghiou, C., M. W. O'Neill and O. I. Ghazzaly, "Spatial Characterization of Expansive Clay," Transportation Research Record 1032, Transportation Research Board, pp. 8-15, April 1986.