William Z. Zakka

Recent News

Dec 12, 2025 Coordinated and organized the 2025 EERI Distinguished Lecture featuring Prof. Shideh Dashti (CU Boulder), in collaboration with the the EERI Northern California Chapter and the Berkeley Student Chapter. 

Nov 14, 2025 Presented a poster on dynamic analyses of a shallow-founded port facility at the 9th Annual Geotechnical Engineering Research Symposium at UC Berkeley. Keynote presentations and panel discussions were memorable and insightful.

Nov 04, 2025 Had the pleasure of presenting my work on nonlinear effective stress site response analysis at the Port of Wellington at the Geo-Extreme 2025 conference in Long Beach, CA. 

Aug 21, 2025 Excited to annouce that I have been elected as President of the EERI student chapter at UC Berkeley for the 25-26 academic year.

May 13, 2025 Participated in the PM4Sand/PM4Silt Short Course at UC Davis. It was great learning from Prof. Boulanger and Prof. Ziotopoulou, and interacting with industry professionals and fellow graduate students.

May 09, 2025 Attended the 43rd Annual Geosystems Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series at UC Berkeley where we celebrated the career of Prof. Nick Sitar and all his contriutions to the field.

Apr 03, 2025 Served as a judge for the 22nd Annual Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition organized by the EERI Student Leadership Council. It was great to interact with bright students from across the world.

Mar 19, 2025 Organized and led an earthquake prepardness workshop with the UC Berkeley EERI student Chapter. Featured speakers included industry and government experts.

Feb 20, 2025 Introduced high school students at ICA Cristo Ray Academy to Geotechnical Engineering and Earthquake Engineering, in collaboration with the UC Berkeley's EERI chapter and CEE².

Jan 25, 2025 Attended the Prof. James K. Mitchell memorial event at UC Berkeley. Had the pleasure of learning a lot about the late Prof. Mitchell and his influence in geotechnical engineering. 

Dec 06, 2024 Excited to share that I have successfully passed my PhD Qualifying Exam. I am very greatful to my examination commitee for the great feedback and discussion.

Nov 22, 2024 Presentated a poster entitled: "Evaluating Nonlinear Effective Stress Site Response at The Port of Wellington" at the 8th Annual Geotechnical Engineering Research Symposium at UC Berkeley. 

Education

Honors & Awards

• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP) - National Science Foundation (2024)

• Kleinfelder Fellowship in Geotechnical Engineering - UC Berkeley (2022)

• University of Texas College Scholar - UT Austin (2022)

• Canning Award - UT Austin (2021)

• Emory and Ella Peterson Endowed Presidential Scholarship - UT Austin (2021)

• Jones & Carter, Inc. Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Civil Engineering - UT Austin (2021)

• James F. and Bernice M. Hinton Endowed Presidential Scholarship - UT Austin (2020)

Professional Licenses and Certifications

• Engineer-in-Training (Civil) - California, License No. 179299 (2023)

• Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Highjer Education - UC Berkeley (in progress)

• AIARE 1 Certificate - American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (2024)

• Certificate in Humanitarian Engineering - UT Austin (2022)

Find my updated CV here: Download CV (pdf)