Teaching

Our teaching philosophy in Geotechnical Engineering is rooted in creating a student-centered environment that prioritizes critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration. We aim to bridge the gap between theory and practical engineering applications, ensuring students are well-prepared for leadership roles within the field. Our approach involves hands-on projects, multimedia resources, and open discussions to deepen engagement and understanding.

We are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and supportive classroom environment that values diversity and equity. By embracing real-world challenges and encouraging active learning, we strive to provide students with the knowledge and skills essential for success in both industry and academia.

Fall 2024

CE320: Soil Mechanics

Semester: Fall 2024

Course Instructor: Dr. Nitin Tiwari

Course TAs: Sudarshan Shrestha, Mukul Bhattarai

In this course, you will explore the fundamental principles of soil mechanics, including soil's physical and mechanical properties, soil classification, flow through soils, effective stresses, geostatic stress and stresses due to applied loads, one-dimensional consolidation, introduction to shear strength, and soil compaction. By the end of this course, you will be able to analyze and solve fundamental soil mechanics problems and apply these principles to practical engineering scenarios.

CE-320L-002: Soil Mechanics Laboratory Experiments

Semester: Fall 2024

Course Instructor: Dr. Nitin Tiwari

Course TAs: Sudarshan Shrestha, Mukul Bhattarai

The Soil Mechanics Lab is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in the fundamental principles of soil mechanics through a series of practical laboratory exercises. This course complements theoretical knowledge gained in soil mechanics lectures by offering practical applications and experiments.

CE-421-001: Foundation Design

Semester: Fall 2024

Course Instructor: Dr. Vijay Puri

In this course, students will apply soil mechanics principles to foundation design, focusing on subsurface exploration, bearing capacity, and settlement analysis of shallow foundations. Topics include lateral earth pressures, retaining wall design, and the capacity and settlement of pile foundations under vertical axial loads. By course end, you will have a practical understanding of foundation design for various structural applications.

CE522 - Advanced Foundation Engineering

Semester: Fall 2024

Course Instructor: Dr. Prabir Kolay

Case histories of foundation failure, bearing capacity theories, shallow foundations, deep foundations, piles under vertical and horizontal loads, pier foundations, foundations for difficult soil conditions, soil improvement.

CE523 - Soil Dynamics

Semester: Fall 2024

Course Instructor: Dr. Vijay Puri

Problems in dynamic loading of soils, dynamic soil properties, liquefaction, dynamic earth pressure, foundations for earthquake and other dynamic loads.

Spring 2025

CE-421-001: Foundation Design

Semester: Spring 2025

Course Instructor: Dr. Nitin Tiwari

In this course, students will apply soil mechanics principles to foundation design, focusing on subsurface exploration, bearing capacity, and settlement analysis of shallow foundations. Topics include lateral earth pressures, retaining wall design, and the capacity and settlement of pile foundations under vertical axial loads. By course end, you will have a practical understanding of foundation design for various structural applications.

CE520 - Advanced Soil Mechanics

Semester: Spring 2025

Course Instructor: Dr. Vijay Puri

Advanced theories in soil mechanics, stress distribution in soils, seepage, consolidation, shear strength, settlement analysis and stability of slopes.

CE521 - Soil Improvement

Semester: Spring 2025

Course Instructor: Dr. Prabir Kolay

Methods of soil stabilization, compaction, dynamic compaction, chemical treatment, compaction piling, stone columns, dewatering, soil reinforcement with stirrups, geomembranes and geogrids, ground freezing, stabilization of industrial wastes.

CE525 - Foundations for Dynamic Loads

Semester: Spring 2025

Course Instructor: Dr. Vijay Puri

Dynamic loads due to natural and man-made phenomena, damage to humans and the environment, property loss, analytical models for response analysis of foundation-soil systems for steady state, seismic and impact loads, design criteria, determination of soil properties, stiffness and damping of foundation-soil systems, design of shallow and deep foundations for various types of dynamic loads, computer applications, case histories of damage.

Course Offered

CE320: Soil Mechanics

In this course, you will explore the fundamental principles of soil mechanics, including soil's physical and mechanical properties, soil classification, flow through soils, effective stresses, geostatic stress and stresses due to applied loads, one-dimensional consolidation, introduction to shear strength, and soil compaction. By the end of this course, you will be able to analyze and solve fundamental soil mechanics problems and apply these principles to practical engineering scenarios.

CE-320L-002: Soil Mechanics Laboratory Experiments

The Soil Mechanics Lab is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in the fundamental principles of soil mechanics through a series of practical laboratory exercises. This course complements theoretical knowledge gained in soil mechanics lectures by offering practical applications and experiments.

CE-421-001: Foundation Design

In this course, students will apply soil mechanics principles to foundation design, focusing on subsurface exploration, bearing capacity, and settlement analysis of shallow foundations. Topics include lateral earth pressures, retaining wall design, and the capacity and settlement of pile foundations under vertical axial loads. By course end, you will have a practical understanding of foundation design for various structural applications.

CE422 - Environmental Geotechnology

Geotechnical aspects of land disposal of solid waste and remediation, solute transport in saturated soils, waste characterization and soil-waste interaction, engineering properties of municipal wastes, construction quality control of liners, slope stability and settlement considerations, use of geosynthetics and geotextiles, cap design, gas generation, migration and management.

CE423 - Geotechnical Engineering in Professional Practice

Application of principles of geotechnical engineering in a real-world setting; planning, managing and executing geotechnical projects; developing proposals and geotechnical project reports; interpreting and using recommendations developed by geotechnical engineers; total quality management, professional liability and risk management.

CE426 - Seepage and Slope Stability Analysis

Seepage through soils; numerical and physical modeling of two-dimensional flow; basic mechanism of slope stability analysis; analytical methods in analyzing slopes; slope stabilization.

CE431 - Pavement Design

Design of highway pavements including subgrades, subbases, and bases; soil stabilization; stresses in pavements; design of flexible and rigid pavements; cost analysis and pavement selection; and pavement evaluation and rehabilitation.

CE520 - Advanced Soil Mechanics

Advanced theories in soil mechanics, stress distribution in soils, seepage, consolidation, shear strength, settlement analysis and stability of slopes.

CE521 - Soil Improvement

Methods of soil stabilization, compaction, dynamic compaction, chemical treatment, compaction piling, stone columns, dewatering, soil reinforcement with stirrups, geomembranes and geogrids, ground freezing, stabilization of industrial wastes.

CE522 - Advanced Foundation Engineering

Case histories of foundation failure, bearing capacity theories, shallow foundations, deep foundations, piles under vertical and horizontal loads, pier foundations, foundations for difficult soil conditions, soil improvement.

CE523 - Soil Dynamics

Problems in dynamic loading of soils, dynamic soil properties, liquefaction, dynamic earth pressure, foundations for earthquake and other dynamic loads.

CE524 - Advanced Soil Testing

Review of basic laboratory tests on soils, hands-on training for performing advanced laboratory tests on soils such as: triaxial compression, flexible wall permeability, one-dimensional consolidation, and California bearing ratio, understanding ASTM standards, sample preparation, data reduction and interpretation, and development of detailed laboratory test reports.

CE525 - Foundations for Dynamic Loads

Dynamic loads due to natural and man-made phenomena, damage to humans and the environment, property loss, analytical models for response analysis of foundation-soil systems for steady state, seismic and impact loads, design criteria, determination of soil properties, stiffness and damping of foundation-soil systems, design of shallow and deep foundations for various types of dynamic loads, computer applications, case histories of damage.

CE526 - Seepage and Slope Stability Analysis

Seepage through soils; numerical and physical modeling of two-dimensional flow; basic mechanism of slope stability analysis; analytical methods in analyzing slopes; slope stabilization. Additional project and presentation required for students taking this course instead of CE 426. Students who have taken CE 426 are ineligible to enroll.