Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
We study the interface between the natural and built environments with emphasis on ensuring the sustainability and resilience of the world’s infrastructure through large-scale testing, field studies, and numerical simulations. Special topics of interest include:
- Scour and Erosion, including development of new tools to assess scour potential in-situ
- Infrastructure Resiliency, including defining serviceability limit states for dams and levees
- Offshore Energy Storage, through means such as compressed air for tidal and wind energy sources
- Soil Improvement, including soil nailing, compaction grouting, and biocementation
- Earthworks Studies, including assessment of cut and fill criteria and engineered soil behavior
- Seabed Mechanics, including wave-induced response of coastal structures
- Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, including soil liquefaction
- Modeling and Computing, including fuzzy and neural network models
- Granular Mechanics, including granular mixtures and discrete element method modeling
Faculty
Related Courses
| Course Number | Course Name | Fall | Spring |
| CE 548 | Engineering Properties of Soils | C, D | |
| CE 549 | Soil and Site Improvement | TBD | TBD |
| CE 584 | Hydraulics of Groundwater | C, D, E | |
| CE 593S | Dynamics of Soils and Foundations | C, D, E | |
| CE 593U | Unsaturated Soil Mechanics | TBD | TBD |
| CE 741 | Geomechanics of Stress and Deformation | C, D, O | |
| CE 742 | Deformation and Instability of Soils | TBD | TBD |
| CE 744 | Foundation Engineering | C, D, E | |
| CE 746 | Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering | C, D | |
| CE 747 | Geosynthetics | C, D, O | |
| CE 793B | Physico-chemical and Biologial Aspects of Soil Behavior | C, D, O | |
| CE 793N | Modeling and Computing in Geotechnical Engineering | TBD | TBD |
C: on campus, D: online, E: even years only, and O: odd years only.
Graduate Requirements
The Master of Science (MS) degree requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate study, including a thesis of no more than 6 credit hours. The Master of Civil Engineering (MCE) degree requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate study and must include three hours of independent study with a written report. This degree is also available by distance education through Engineering Online.
Course work for the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) normally includes about one year of full time study beyond either MS or MCE degrees. A dissertation reporting the results of an original investigation with contributions to the current state of knowledge is required. Other requirements include one academic year of residence and the passing of a written and oral qualifying examination. While a formal minor cannot be designated, supporting courses outside of the major are encouraged.
Facilities and Centers
Constructed Facilities Laboratory (CFL)
Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence – Natural Disasters, Critical Infrastructure, and Emergency Management