Broadening students? perspective of geotechnical engineering using virtual tours of practice and research worldwide

J.A. KNAPPETT; G. BISCONTIN; C. HERON; P. KIRKWOOD; A.J. LOBBESTAEL; D.G. MANZANAL; C.J. RUTHERFORD; Y. HASHASH; J.M. PESTANA; E. RATHJE

Cambridge

Workshop; International Workshop on Education of Future Geotechnical Engineers in Response to Emerging Multi-scale Soil-Environment Problems; 2014

University of Cambridge

Given the broad range of topics which must be covered in undergraduate degree courses in Civil Engineering, it can be difficult to enthuse students of the economic and social value of geotechnical engineering within civil engineering projects. For many of today?s problems, which have international significance, there is also a need to think more holistically about problems to develop better solutions, and not be limited by traditional subject boundaries (e.g. structural, geotechnical, hydraulic engineering). To address these issues, this paper proposes the use of an international collection of short video presentations based on current research projects and virtual tours of innovative construction projects from around theworld, in each case highlighting the importance of geotechnical engineering to the work. This collection allows students to be made aware of the latest ?technology? being developed within geotechnical engineering research, and provides exposure to different systems of application of such technology around the world, fostering global awareness. This is particularly important for today and tomorrow s graduates who will increasingly be required to work across international borders. An initial set of video presentations was assembled from across US and European research and practice. These were shown toundergraduate student cohorts across the participants with pre- and post-survey questionnaires used to quantify changes in students perception of geotechnical engineering as a result of exposure to the videos.Changes were observed in terms of awareness of global issues, as well as student interest in seeking a career specializing in geotechnical engineering. The video archive developed within the work can be a live resource for academics worldwide, being continually updated as research and practice evolve.