Professor Nguyen obtained his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Civil Engineering from the Université de Sherbrooke, and his PhD in Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics from McGill University. He has been a senior specialist in geosciences at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) since 1982, and an adjunct professor at McGill since 1995 and at the University of Ottawa since 2008. At the CNSC, he is responsible for assessing safety and environmental aspects related to the nuclear energy cycle and developing research programs in geomechanics and hydrogeology associated with those aspects. As an adjunct professor, he supervises and co-supervises graduate students and post-doctoral fellows and has given many invited lectures and seminars.
Professor Nguyen is an expert in geomechanics, hydrogeology and coupled thermal-hydro-mechanical processes in geological formations. He is frequently requested to provide his expert opinion on the geoscientific aspects of radioactive waste management in Canada and internationally by organizations such as the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He is currently collaborating with Canadian and international organizations (such as the Institut de Radioprotection et Sûreté Nucléaire (France) and the German Geological Survey) in many research projects on the thermal-hydro-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated bentonite and argillaceous rocks. Professor Nguyen is currently seeking motivated candidates at a doctoral or post-doctoral level with a solid background in engineering sciences and mathematical modelling, preferably with applications in geomechanics to work under his supervision on some of those projects.
Professor Nguyen is perfectly bilingual in the two official languages.