Dr. Luis Alberto Torres Cruz has commenced his five month sabbatical with the EGEL group. Dr Torres Cruz is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa where he lectures in Strength of Materials and Geotechnical Engineering. Dr. Torres Cruz has earned his BSc in Civil Engineering at the Universidad Del Valle in Colombia. He has been based at the University of the Witwatersrand since 2008 where he completed his PhD about the use of the cone penetration test (CPT) to assess the liquefaction potential of tailings. More recently Dr. Torres Cruz has conducted research on the interpretation of the CPT for identification of soil behavior and on the confined compression behavior of sands under large stress levels (≈ 180 MPa). His sabbatical research at KAUST will primarily focus on the characterization of plastic soils and assessing the variability of critical state lines in non-plastic soil deposits. Dr. Torres Cruz is excited to be able to interact with the vibrant EGEL group and to expand his knowledge on soils during his visit. Welcome Professor Torres Cruz and we hope you enjoy your stay at ANPERC.