Scott William Sloan (2 July 1954[5] – 23 April 2019[3] was laureate Professor[6][7][8] of Civil Engineering at the University of Newcastle.

[4] He went on to study at the University of Cambridge where he was awarded a PhD in 1981 for numerical analysis of incompressible and plastic solids using finite elements.

His certificate of election reads:[1] Professor Sloan is distinguished for the development of pioneering new methods which can be used to predict the ultimate limit states of geostructures such as tunnels, dams, highways and foundations.

Being able to estimate the limit load accurately is complicated by the fact that the behaviour of geomaterials is dilatant, nonlinear, heterogeneous, anisotropic and dependent on the pore pressures and ground water conditions.

His research has made fundamental contributions to the science of geomechanics, enabling engineers to model complex geomaterial behaviour in a robust manner, leading to cheaper and safer civil infrastructure worldwide.Sloan was named as the Government of New South Wales Scientist of the Year in 2015[citation needed] and gave the Rankine Lecture in 2011.