Dr. José Manuel González is a civil engineer, and holds a PhD in structural analysis from the Technical University of Catalonia (2011). His research activity is developed in the framework of the numerical simulation of structural and continuum mechanics problems, based in the finite element method (FEM) and the discrete element method (DEM).

 He has taken part in projects in collaboration with civil engineering companies in relation with coupled thermo-mechanical analysis of dams (ENDESA) or structural analysis of inflated structures (BuildAir).

 He has been involved in several European and national research competitive projects for the numerical simulation of the structural behavior of tunnels and underground constructions or the development of new constitutive models for engineering materials with special incidence in the field of asphaltic mixes and pavements.

 His present research activity includes the numerical simulation of fracture using the discrete element method, applied to explosions in rocks for tunnel excavation. He also takes part in the study of thermo-mechanical behavior of the inside walls in a fusion reactor for ITER project.

 He is also assistant lecturer in the Polythecnic University of Catalonia where he takes part in three subjects of the Construction degree and in the Master of Science in computational mechanics