Dr. Liu completed his Ph.D. at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. During his Ph.D. stage, Dr. Liu investigated the geotechnical behavior of granite residual soil comprehensively. He has extensive experience in laboratory and microscopic testing of residual soils. He has published widely in international journals including Géotechnique, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, and Canadian Geotechnical Journal. His Ph.D. thesis, titled "Inherent anisotropy of the mechanical properties of granite residual soil and the quantitative evaluation method”, was awarded Excellent Ph.D. Dissertation of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Zhang obtained his BSc and PhD degrees from Jinlin University, China. Dr. Zhang became interested in residual soils 15 years ago. He specializes in performing interdisciplinary research on residual soil from the perspective of geology, soil science, and geomechanics. Dr. Zhang has extensive experience in laboratory and field testing and in-situ monitoring of residual soils. He has also developed several specialized laboratory testing apparatuses for residual soil. Dr. Zhang has published more than 100 research papers as the first or corresponding author and has been granted more than 20 research funds.