Robert Gracie

Dr. Robert Gracie is an Associate Professor in the Department of the Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo (UW) and is an expert in Computational Engineering. His expertise is applied the development of novel simulation technologies/software and the deployment of commercial analysis software to complete problems.

At UW, he carries out research on the development of simulation technologies with an emphasis on multi-physics problems, including fracture and deformations, heat transfer, and multi-constituent fluid flow. Research focuses on the development of novel numerical methods to simulate problems which cannot be readily simulated using exiting commercial software. Recent applications include carbon sequestration, enhanced geothermal systems, hydraulic fracturing, and dissolution solution mining. Past applications include: impact analysis, fracture and fragmentation processes and multiscale analysis.

• Simulation & Modelling of Multiphysics Problems

• Verification and Validation of Simulators

• Parameter Estimations and Uncertainty

• Geothermal Energy

• Hydraulic Fracturing

• Solid and Fracture Mechanics

• Plasticity

• Geomechanics

• Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics

• Computational Fluid Dynamics

• Molecular Dynamics

• Computational Mechanics

• Numerical Methods

• Finite Element Analysis

Dr. Robert Gracie is an Associate Professor in the Department of the Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo (UW) and is an expert in Computational Engineering. His expertise is applied the development of novel simulation technologies/software and the deployment of commercial analysis software to complete problems.

At UW, he carries out research on the development of simulation technologies with an emphasis on multi-physics problems, including fracture and deformations, heat transfer, and multi-constituent fluid flow. Research focuses on the development of novel numerical methods to simulate problems which cannot be readily simulated using exiting commercial software. Recent applications include carbon sequestration, enhanced geothermal systems, hydraulic fracturing, and dissolution solution mining. Past applications include: impact analysis, fracture and fragmentation processes and multiscale analysis.

Research Engineer: 2002-2004

Natural Resources Canada, Government of Canada

Ottawa, ON.

-Development of explicit Eulerian Finite Element models to analyze the effect of ice scours on buried offshore artic pipelines, and of implicit/explicit models to analyze the effect of the impact of objects on pressurized concrete encased pipelines.

-Developed an object oriented Finite Element framework.

-Supervised the work of several co-op students

• 2009, Doctorate Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, United States of America

• 2002, Bachelor's Mechanical Engineering, University of Ottawa, Canada

• 2002, Bachelor's Computing Technologies, University of Ottawa, Canada

• 2001 Gold Medal Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineers

• 2000 Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) Scholarship

• 2001 Earl Dudgeon Memorial Scholarship

• 2004 Walter P. Murphy Scholarship - Northwestern University

• 2005 Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

• 2005 Best Paper Award at Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering 2005

• 2006 Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

• 2008 Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

• 2009 1st Place, Robert J. Melosh Medal Competition - Best Student Paper Competition

• 2019-2022 Associate Chair Graduate Studies, Dept. Civil and Environmental Engineering

• 2023-present Treasurer of the Canadian Association for Computational Science and Engineering

• Canadian Association for Computational Science and Engineering (CACSE)

• Americal Association of Rock Mechanics (ARMA)

• Waterloo Institue for Sustainable Energy (WISE)

• CIVE 303 - Structural Analysis
  • Taught in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
• CIVE 422 - Finite Element Analysis
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
• CIVE 611 - Finite Element Analysis
  • Taught in 2020, 2022
• CIVE 622 - Finite Element Analysis
  • Taught in 2023, 2024, 2025
• CIVE 722 - Intermediate Finite Element Analysis
  • Taught in 2022

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Gee, Bruce and Parchei-Esfahani, Matin and Gracie, Robert, XFEM simulation of a mixed-mode fracture experiment in PMMA, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 106945, 2020

• Rivas, Endrina and Gracie, Robert, Numerical considerations for the simulation of proppant transport through fractures, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 1006, 2019

• Komijani, M and Gracie, R and Sarvaramini, E, Simulation of induced acoustic emission in fractured porous media, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 113, 2019

• Rivas, Endrina and Parchei-Esfahani, Matin and Gracie, Robert, A two-dimensional extended finite element method model of discrete fracture networks, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 1263, 2019

• Yetisir, Mike and Dusseault, Maurice and Gracie, Robert, On the homogenization and up-scaling of a discrete element method model, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 1367, 2019

• Parchei Esfahani, Matin and Gracie, Robert, On the undrained and drained hydraulic fracture splits, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 741, 2019

• Sarvaramini, Erfan and Dusseault, Maurice B and Gracie, Robert, Characterizing the stimulated reservoir volume during hydraulic fracturing-connecting the pressure fall-off phase to the geomechanics of fracturing, Journal of Applied Mechanics, , 2018

• Ladubec, Chris and Gracie, Robert, Stabilized finite element methods for vertically averaged multiphase flow for carbon sequestration, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 724, 2017

• Gomez Rodriguez, DM and Dusseault, MB and Gracie, R, Cohesion and Fracturing in a Transparent Jointed Rock Analogue, , , 2016

• Komijani, M and Gracie, R, Nonlinear thermo-electro-mechanical dynamic behaviour of FGPM beams, Composite Structures, 208, 2016

• Ladubec, Chris and Gracie, Robert and Craig, James, An extended finite element method model for carbon sequestration, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 316, 2015

• Sarkarfarshi, Mirhamed and Gracie, Robert, Unscented importance sampling for parameter calibration of carbon sequestration systems, Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 975, 2015

• Ghavam, K and Gracie, R, Simulations of reactions between irradiation induced< a>-loops and mixed dislocation lines in zirconium, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 126, 2015