Alumni Profiles: Simran Johal

An Engineering Geologist with a passion for geothermal energy development and international development. Geology, engineering geology and geothermal energy fields.

I am an Engineering Geologist with a passion for geothermal energy development and international development. I first started studying Earth Sciences at UCL, where I developed an interest in applying geology to human structures and needs.

Caption: 2022 - Started working for ARUP as a Graduate Engineering Geologist.

Therefore, I began to take classes in Soil mechanics and civil engineering. At the same time, taking part in international development such as investing in infrastructure of rural Kenyan schools, even prospectively inspecting for where to drill boreholes (!), gave me a flare for wanting to do more in the field. Similarly with UNICEF, observing the water engineering solely reliant on gravity in rural Ethiopia was an eye opener to the resilient projects I wanted to work on.

Caption: UNICEF - UCL EfID WASH Summer Programme - Ethiopia.

I then decided to pursue a master at ETH Zürich in Engineering geology. The course covered a range of geological applications to structures, energy and nuclear waste repositories. The geofluids and geothermal energy research group present at ETH further grew my interest in geothermal energy research. Therefore, I got the opportunity to intern for Geo Energie Suisse as a geothermal geologist, analysing a range of data sets from the Bedretto underground lab, a geothermal research tunnel within the Ticinese Alps). The experience, despite being heavily affected by covid-19 restrictions was invaluable and allowed me a peak into the developing geothermal energy research field. The work partaken in the internship was also presented at an industry drilling conference.

Caption: At Grimsel Pass - Switzerland.

My thesis research led me to understand how graph theory and fractal geometry can influence fracture network permeability, leading to some cool fieldwork in the grimsel mountains using UAVs t image surface fractures within the grimsel granodioroite.

Caption: Chur Pass - Switzerland

Finally, I decided to apply to work for Arup. There was so much I knew that was going on in the company ranging from bridge foundations to geothermal energy, and the experts driving these fields. I’ve just started working for Arup and have quickly realised that there is so much to explore and discover!

Links:

LinkedIn profile

Alumni Profiles

Find out about what careers Earth Scientists have gone into and how we keep in touch with our Alumni:

William Davis

After completing a 1st class Masters degree in Geophysics in 2017, Will pursued a PhD in Earth Sciences at the Univ. of California, Berkeley and is now the J.W. Miles Fellow in Geophysics at Scripps. His research focuses on machine learning & stochastic differential equations.

Agathe Detanger

A multicultural Environmental Geoscientist with a passion for the environment and currently working in the waste management and valorisation sector. At UCL I served as the Student Academic Representative and undergraduate mentor.

Simran Johal

An Engineering Geologist with a passion for geothermal energy development. My interest span from geology to engineering geology and geothermal energy fields. At UCL I was able to take classes in soil mechanics and civil engineering to expand my qualifications.

Rachel Bilsland

Earth Scientist pursuing her interest in volcanology, working towards PhD at Leeds University. Her project, modelling surface deformation due to magma migration through mush zones is part of EU- funded research focussing on strengthening volcanic forecasting and interpreting volcanic activity using deep learning.

Cristiano Fortuna

Hydrogeologist working in water management sector focusing on water resources and water quality monitoring and improvements. I have experience working in the Flood Risk sector with emphasis on GIS skills, incident management and public engagement.

Jo Reynolds

Low Carbon Geophysicist at British Petroleum. I’ve been lucky enough to work in various exploration teams and spent seven months in central Carbon Ambition team, directly contributing to bp's Net Zero agenda. I am able to combine my passion for low carbon with my geophysical skillset.

Grace Campbell

Senior geologist specialising in natural hazard and risk projects working with designers, engineers and international development consultants to increase the resilience of society and the built environment to earthquakes, flooding, landslides and climate change-related shocks and stresses.

Matt Wincott

Geo-environmental consultant at a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy. My work involves a great deal of site work, analysis and reporting to clients. We investigate chemical and physical ground conditions, providing remediation and geotechnical recommendations.

Roberto Bugiolacchi

Planetary Scientist, teacher and musician currently an Assistant Professor at the Key State Laboratory of Lunar & Planetary Sciences in Macao, China. Roberto's research focuses on analysis and geochemical interpretation of multispectral images of the Moon.

Terry Cotton

Exploration Geologist working in the mining industry, looking at the structural and geochemical aspects of mine operations, designing diamond-drill programmes, mine planning and ore-reserve calculation.