Mughil Ilanthirayan is a PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), based in the Geotechnical Engineering research group at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (IBM), and is part of the GENIUS Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network. His research focuses on energy geostructures, with particular emphasis on energy micropiles as a retrofit solution for existing buildings and their potential contribution to low-carbon heating and cooling.

He holds an MSc in Advanced Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Surrey, where his research interests developed around shallow geothermal energy and numerical modelling. Before starting his PhD, he worked as a junior geotechnical engineer in the UK, carrying out ground investigations for renewable energy infrastructure projects. His broader interests include geotechnical engineering, geothermal energy, numerical modelling and sustainable infrastructure.