Seunghee Kim

Seunghee Kim

Contact Information:

Scott Campus (Omaha)
PKI 203G
(402) 554-3547
seunghee.kim@unl.edu

Personal Links:

• Personal website
• Google scholar

Professional Memberships:

• Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience
• Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF)

Charles J. Vranek Associate Professor

Academic Degrees

  • Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Tech, 2012
  • M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 2005
  • B.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, 2003

Certifications

  • Ph.D., P.E.

Hiring a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA)

Dr. Seunghee Kim is looking for a graduate research student to join the Energy-Geosystems research group at UNL. The position can be started immediately. Should you be interested, please contact him directly.

Experience

  • 08/2023-present, Associate Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE
  • 08/2016-07/2023, Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE
  • 08/2014-08/2016, Assistant Professor, Western New England University, Springfield, MA
  • 03/2013-08/2014, Postdoctoral Fellow, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
  • 02/2007-06/2008, Researcher, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Gyeonggi, South Korea
  • 01/2005-01/2007, Assistant Manager, Dongho Co., Ltd., Gyeonggi, South Korea

Curriculum Vitae (CV):

CV_Seunghee Kim_v2024.pdf

Areas of Research and Professional Interest

  • Carbon Utilization & Storage, Geologic Sequestration of Spent Nuclear Fuels (SNF), Natural Hydrogen Production
  • Energy Geo-Storage (e.g., Compressed Air, Hydrogen, Heat), Underground Utilization, and Sustainability
  • Coupling: Fluid Flow in Porous Media + Poromechanics + Heat Transport + Geochemistry
  • Geotechnics for Resilient Bridge/Transportation Infrastructure
  • Demo: Micro-Scale Compressed Air Energy Storage

Research Profiles:

In the News: Powered by the Nebraska Engineering News

Inventions/Patents

  • Kim, S., Hu, J., Hawkins, C., Ball, J., Hosseini Zadeh, A., Mamirov, M., and Harper, N., Recycled Concrete Aggregates Carbonation Treatment, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/304,184, NUtech Ventures.
  • Barry, K.F., Biagini, M.S.G., Santamarina, J.C., Wall, J.J., Le Pape, Y.M.R., Lindberg, J.T., Cha, M. Dai, S., and Kim, S., Void Detection System, US 2013/0192375 A1, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Courses Taught

About Seunghee Kim

Dr. Kim received his B.S. and M.S. from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Georgia Tech. His graduate study focused on the subsurface investigation using surface waves (M.S.) and the geotechnical implications of CO2 geologic storage (Ph.D). He continued his research on this topic as a postdoctoral fellow at the Bureau of Economic Geology, a part of the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining UNL this year, he was an assistant professor at Western New England University, MA. His main research area includes pore-scale study of reactive/multiphase fluid flow in porous media, hydro-chemo-thermo-mechanically coupled processes in energy-geotechnology, and underground utilization. These topics are to tackle challenges for operations such as carbon utilization & geologic storage, geothermal energy, energy storage, and wastewater injection. He has 4 years of industry experience related to the foundation design and the analysis of cut-slopes and tunnels.

Honors and Awards

  • College Distinguished Teaching Award/COE (College of Engineering) Holling Family Master Teacher Award, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2024)
  • 2022-2023 Research Excellence Award, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, College of Engineering (2023)
  • 2022-2023 Folsom Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award, Awardee: Amin Hosseini Zadeh (Advisor: Seunghee Kim), University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2023)
  • UNO Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award for the College of Engineering, University of Nebraska (2021)
  • ARMA (The American Rock Mechanics Association) Future Leaders, Brooklyn, NY, USA (2019)
  • Author Achievement Award, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, TX, USA (2014)
  • Best Paper Award, COMSOL Conference 2013, Boston, MA, USA (2013)
  • KKCNN Adachi Award, 17th KKCNN Symposium on Civil Engineering, Ayutthaya, Thailand (2004)
  • Korean Government Full Scholarship, KAIST (2003-2004)

Funding

  • RAISE: CET: Natural hydrogen and microbial life in the deep subsurface of midcontinent USA impacting geological production and storage, National Science Foundation (August 2024 - July 2029, $1,000,000, PI).
  • Subsurface hydrogen migration and reactions for geological hydrogen production and engineered storage, Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research (January 2024 - December 2025, $170,000, PI).
  • RII Track-4: NSF: Fundamental study on hydrogen flow in porous media during repetitive drainage-imbibition processes and upscaling for underground energy storage, National Science Foundation (January 2024 - December 2025, $290,078, PI).
  • Collaborative Research: RII Track-2 FEC: Supporting rural livelihoods in the water-stressed Central High Plains: Microbial innovations for climate-resilient agriculture (MICRA), National Science Foundation (August 2023 - July 2027, $2,101,812, PI).
  • Resource assessment for carbon dioxide storage via accelerated carbonation reaction with recycled concrete aggregates, U.S. Department of Energy (July 2023 – June 2025, $1,006,450, PI).
  • Local characterization of unbound materials (soils/aggregates) for AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design in Nebraska, Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) (July 2023 - May 2025, $159,036, co-PI).
  • Evaluation of critical shear strength of soils in Nebraska based on revised CPT, NDOT (July 2023 - May 2025, $158,705, co-PI).
  • Building partnership with Sandia National Laboratories to develop novel engineered barrier materials for geological nuclear waste repository, U.S. Department of Energy (October 2022 – September 2025, $750,000, co-PI -> PI).
  • Improvement on the treatment of recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) using carbon dioxide (CO2) for its commercial application – Phase II, Nebraska Department of Economic Development & Hawkins Construction Company (September 2022 – August 2024, $1,023,062, PI).
  • Application of cementitious materials and fiber reinforcement to enhance lime stabilization for Nebraska shale soils, NDOT (July 2022 – May 2024, $142,129, co-PI).
  • Two-phase fluid flow in soft-porous or granular materials under the near absence of gravity, NASA Nebraska EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Development (RID) Program FY2019-2021 (November 2021 – July 2022, $10,000, PI).
  • Crash testing of various bridge guardrails, transitions, and other highway safety features - Phase III, Hawaii Department of Transportation (January 2021 - June 2023, $2,369,485, co-PI).
  • In vitro models of insect wing vein networks for studying insect blood circulation, Nebraska Collaboration Initiative (July 2021 - June 2022, $40,000, co-PI).
  • Assessment of greenhouse gas sequestration resources in Districts 5, 6 and 7 to improve carbon management opportunities in Nebraska, The Nebraska Environmental Trust (July 2021 - June 2023, $394,165, PI).
  • Application of steel sheet-piles for the abutment of water-crossing bridges in Nebraska, NDOT (July 2021 - May 2023, $154,314, PI).
  • Application of biochar as carbon sequestering and beneficial additive in concrete, Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research (January 2021 - December 2022, $170,000, co-PI).
  • Crashworthy foundations for soil-embedded roadside safety hardware, Mid-America Transportation Center (MATC) (September 2020 - February 2022, $122,152, co-PI).
  • Assessing performance of geosynthetic reinforced pavement with a large-scale track wheel test and nondestructive testing tools, MATC (September 2020 - February 2022, $135,000, co-PI). 
  • Improvement on the Treatment of Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) using CO2 for its Commercial Application, NE Department of Economic Development and Hawkins Construction Company (August 2020 - July 2021, $100,000, PI).
  • Characterization of hydro-mechanically coupled fluid transport in deformable porous media and application to convection-enhanced drug delivery, Nebraska Collaboration Initiative (July 2020 - June 2022, $150,000, PI).
  • Multiscale and Multiphysical Testing-Modeling of Inorganic Microfiber-Reinforced Engineered Barrier Materials (IMEBM) for Enhancing Repository Performance, U.S. Department of Energy (September 2020 - August 2023, $800,000, co-PI).
  • Evaluation of Light Pole Foundation Embedment, Alaska Department of Transportation (March 2020 - February 2022, $248,261, co-PI).
  • REU Site: Sustainability of Horizontal Civil Networks in Rural Areas, National Science Foundation (March 2020 - February 2023, $448,597, collaborator).
  • Development of Guideline for the Use of Geosynthetics in Different Roadway Layered System in Nebraska, NDOT (July 2020 - December 2021, $106,536, co-PI).
  • Injection optimization via implementation of mechanically-coupled numerical simulations, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) (July 2019 - August 2019, $5,005, PI). 
  • Pipe-pile-based micro-scale compressed air energy storage for buildings with intermittent renewable energy resources, Nebraska Collaboration Initiative (July 2019 - June 2021, $147,753, PI).
  • Feasibility study: Alternatives to prevent settlements and bumps at bridge approaches in Nebraska, Nebraska Department of Transportation (July 2019 - December 2020, $99,469, PI).
  • Utilization of CO2 to improve recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), Layman Seed Funds (May 2018 - April 2019, $10,000, PI).
  • Design optimization and monitoring of joint-less integral and semi-integral abutment bridges in Nebraska, Nebraska Department of Transportation (July 2018 - December 2019, $142,312, co-PI). 
  • CPT-based pile design, Nebraska Department of Roads (July 2017 - December 2018, $105,846, co-PI).
  • Development of advanced computational/experimental models to elucidate multiphase fluid transport in disordered-deformable porous media, UNL Research Council: Interdisciplinary Research Grants (January 2017 - December 2017, $20,000, PI).
  • Curriculum and Course Development Grant for the Reservoir Engineering Concentration within the Civil Engineering Department, Western New England University (May 2015 - August 2015, $2,000, PI).

Selected Publications

  • Kim, S., Zhang, J., and Ryu, S. (2023). "Experimental Study: the effect of pore shape, geometrical heterogeneity, and flow rate on the repetitive two-phase fluid transport in microfluidic porous media." Special Issue - Interfaces in Microfluidics, Micromachines, 14, 1441. DOI: 10.3390/mi14071441.
  • Hosseini Zadeh, A., Kim, I., and Kim, S. (2023). "Characteristics of CO2 hydrate formation and dissociation at different CO2-water ratios in a porous medium." International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 125, 103883. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2023.103883.
  • Kim, S., Dusseault, M., Babarinde, O., and Wickens, J. (2023). "Compressed air energy storage (CAES): Current status, geomechanical aspects, and future opportunities." Geological Society of London – Special Publications “Enabling Secure Subsurface Storage in Future Energy Systems.” Geological Society, London, Special Publications 528, no. 1 (2022): SP528-2022. DOI: 10.1144/SP528-2022-54.
  • Alhowaidi, Y., Eun, J., Kim, S., Song, C.R., and Jaber, F. (2023). "Field monitoring and analysis of abutment foundation behavior for a curved integral abutment bridge under thermal loading." Transportation Research Record, 1-12. DOI: 10.1177/03611981231159873.
  • Hosseini Zadeh, A., Jeon, M.-K., Kwon, T.-H., and Kim, S. (2023). "Pore-scale experimental study on fluid injection into two-dimensional deformable porous media." International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 160, 104376. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2022.104376.
  • Ko, J., Kim, S., Kim, S., and Seo, H. (2023). "Performance of a compressed-air energy storage (CAES) pile under various operation conditions." Journal of Energy Storage, 57, 106194. DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2022.106194.
  • Yosef, T.Y., Fang, C., Faller, R.K., and Kim, S. (2023). "A multi-material ALE model for investigating impact dynamics of pile-soil systems." Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 164, 107648. DOI: 10.1016/j.soildyn.2022.107648.
  • Bekele, B. M., Song, C., Eun, J., and Kim, S. (2022). "Exploratory seepage detection in a laboratory-scale earthen dam based on distributed temperature sensing method." Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, DOI: 10.1007/s10706-022-02315-2.

  • Schultz, R.A., Heinemann, N., Horváth, B., Wickens, J., Miocic, J.M., Babarinde, O., Cao, W., Capuano, P., Dewers, T.A., Dusseault, M., Edlmann, K., Goswick, R.A., Hassanpouryouzband, A., Husain, T., Jin, W., Meng, J., Kim, S., Molaei, F., Odunlami, O., Prasad, U., Lei, Q., Schwartz, B.A., Segura, J.M., Soroush, H., Voegeli, S., Williams-Stroud, S., Yu, H., and Zhao, Q. (2022). "An overview of underground energy-related product storage and sequestration." Geological Society, London, Special Publications 528, no. 1 (2022): SP528-2022. DOI: 10.1144/SP528-2022-160.

  • Babarinde, O., Schwartz, B., Meng, J., Kim, S., Segura, J., Schultz, R.A., and Soroush, H. (2022). "An overview of geological carbon sequestration and its geomechanical aspects." Geological Society, London, Special Publications 528, no. 1 (2022): SP528-2022. DOI: 10.1144/SP528-2022-51.
  • Kim, S., Hosseini Zadeh, A., Nole, M., Daigle, H., Huh, C., and Kim, I. (2022). "Spontaneous generation of stable CO2 emulsions via the dissociation of nanoparticle-aided CO2 hydrate." Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 208, 109203. DOI: 10.1016/j.petrol.2021.109203.
  • Zhang, J., Zhang, H., Lee, D., Ryu, S., and Kim, S. (2021). "Study on the effect of pore-scale heterogeneity and flow rate during repetitive two-phase fluid flow in microfluidic porous media." Petroleum Geoscience, 27, petgeo2020-062. DOI: 10.1144/petgeo2020-062.
  • Zhang, J., Hosseini Zadeh, A., and Kim, S. (2021). "Geomechanical and energy analysis on the small- and medium-scale CAES in salt domes." Energy, 221, 119861. DOI: org/10.1016/j.energy.2021.119861.
  • Kim, S., Kim, S., Zhang, J., Druszkowski, E., and Sweidan, A. (2021). "Experiment and numerical studies on thermally-induced slip ratcheting on a slope." Infrastructures, 6, 5. DOI: 10.3390/infrastructures6010005.
  • Hosseini Zadeh, A., Mamirov, M., Kim, S., and Hu, J. (2021). "CO2-treatment of recycled concrete aggregates for improving mechanical and environmental properties." Construction and Building Materials, 275, 122180. DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.122180.
  • Hosseini Zadeh, A., Kim, I., and Kim, S. (2021). "Characteristics of formation and dissociation of CO2 hydrates at different CO2-water ratios in a bulk condition." Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 196, 108027. DOI: 10.1016/j.petrol.2020.108027.
  • Jeon, M.-K., Kim, S., Hosseini Zadeh, A., and Kwon, T.-H. (2020). "Study on the viscous fluid flow in disordered-deformable porous media using hydro-mechanically coupled pore-network modeling." Transport in Porous Media, 133(2), 207-227. DOI: 10.1007/s11242-020-01419-8.
  • Pulatsu, B., Kim, S., Erdogmus, E., and Lourenço, P.B. (2020). "Advanced numerical analysis of masonry retaining walls using mixed discrete-continuum approach." Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Geotechnical Engineering (ICE), 173(1). DOI: 10.1680/jgeen.19.00225.
  • Ko, J., Kim, S., Kim, S., and Seo, H. (2020). "Utilizing Building Foundations as Micro-Scale Compressed Air Energy Vessel: Numerical Study for Mechanical Feasibility." Journal of Energy Storage, 28, 101225. DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2020.101225.
  • Zhang, J., Zhang, H., Lee, D., Ryu, S., and Kim, S. (2020). "Microfluidic study on the two-phase fluid flow in porous media during repetitive drainage-imbibition cycles and implications to the CAES operation." Transport in Porous Media, 131(2), 449-472. DOI: 10.1007/s11242-019-01353-4.
  • Kim, I., Caroline, B., and Kim, S. (2019). "Feasibility study: Electromagnetic heating of soils using magnetic nanoparticle-coated geotextiles." Géotechnique Letters, 10(2), DOI: 10.1680/jgele.19.00098.
  • Park, Y.-C., Kim, S., Lee, J. H., and Shinn, Y. J. (2019). "Effect of reducing irreducible water saturation in a near-well region on CO2 injectivity and storage capacity." International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 86, 134-145. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2019.04.014.
  • Bachus, R.C., Terzariol, M., Pasten, C., Chong, S.H., Dai, S., Cha, M.S., Kim, S., Jang, J., Papadopoulos, E., Roshankhah, S., Lei, L., Garcia, A., Park, J., Sivaram, A., Santamarina, F., Ren, X. and Santamarina, J.C. (2019). "Fly Ash Properties and Characterization: A Southeastern USA Study." Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 145(3), 04019003. DOI: 10.1061/(asce)gt.1943-5606.0001986.
  • Kim, S., Espinoza, D.N., Jung, J., Cha, M., and Santamarina, J.C. (2019). "Ch. 17: Carbon Geological Storage: Coupled Processes, Engineering and Monitoring" Science of Carbon Storage in Deep Saline Formations: Process Coupling Across Time and Spatial Scales, Edited by Newell, P. and Ilgen, A., Elsevier, pp. 287-304. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812752-0.00017-4.
  • Park, T., Joo, H.-W., Kim, G.-Y., Kim, S., Yoon, S., and Kwon, T.-H. (2017). "Biosurfactant as an enhancer of geologic carbon storage: Microbial modification of interfacial tension and contact angle in carbon dioxide/water/quartz systems." Frontiers in Microbiology, 8:1285.
  • Kim, S., Ko, J., Kim, S., Seo, H. and Tummalapudi, M. "Investigation of small-scale CAES (compressed air energy storage) pile as a foundation system." Geotechnical Frontiers 2017, 103-112.
  • Kim, S. and Hosseini, S.A. (2016). "Study on the ratio of stress-pore pressure changes during fluid injection and its implications for CO2 geologic storage." Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 149, 138-150. DOI: 10.1016/j.petrol.2016.10.037.
  • Kim, S. and Santamarina, J.C. (2016). "Geometry-coupled reactive fluid transport at the fracture scale: application to CO2 geologic storage" Geofluids, 16, 329-341. DOI: 10.1111/gfl.12152.