Prior to his appointment at UWA, Ali Karrech was a Senior Research Scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation until July 2012. He had also held the position of Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Petroleum Institute of Abu Dhabi From 2008 to 2009.

Professor Karrech obtained his Higher Doctorate (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches) in Engineering Sciences from the École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay (Paris, France) in 2013. He received his PhD in Structures and Materials in 2007 and his MSc in Mechanics of Solids, Materials and Structures in 2004, both from the École des Ponts ParisTech (Paris, France). He also holds a multidisciplinary Master of Engineering degree from Tunisia Polytechnic School, awarded in 2001.

Professor Karrech's research expertise is in materials, structures, multi-physics modelling, minerals processing, and computer methods for resource engineering.

Currently, his principal industrial research interests are in the sustainable recovery of critical minerals and the decommissioning of offshore structures.

• Research, teaching and academic service for the Department of Mechanical Engineering;
• Graduate Research Coordinator, School of Engineering (2016-2022);
• Acting director of the Structures Laboratory (Feb. 2015- Jan. 2016).

• Engineering Materials (ENSC1004) -- Unit Coordinator since 2021;
• Finite Element Method (GENG5514) -- Unit coordinator since 2014;
• Surface Mining (MINE4503) -- Unit coordinator since 2014;
• Material behaviour from Atoms to Bridges (ENSC1002) -- Unit coordinator in 2016;
• Resource Extration tehnologies (ENSC3011) -- Lecturer in 2013, 2014, and 2015;
• Risk, Reliability and Safety (GENG5507) -- Tutorials in 2013, 2014, 2015;
• Computational Solid Mechanics (CIVL8140) -- Lecturer 2011 and 2012;
• Numerical Methods and Modelling (GENG4405) -- Lecturer 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Areas I have contributed to as a researcher through peer-reviewed work: 

• Minerals processing (battery minerals, lithium, vanadium, hydrometallurgy, life cycle assessment, and rare earth elements (REEs));
• Energy storage (vanadium flow batteries); 
• Computational solid mechanics (Finite Element Method, Discrete Element Method, etc.);
• Offshore pipeline modelling (buckling, dynamics, fatigue, and decommissioning);
• Modelling of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes;
• Non-equilibrium thermodynamics of natural materials;
• Large deformations and transformations (finite strains and rotations, and instabilities in materials and structures);
• Phenomenological and upscaling-based damage mechanics;
• Dynamics and vibration;
• Granular materials;
• Composite materials;
• Materials characterisation and testing;
• Homogenisation and effective medium theory.