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Sponsored by ASCE's Geo-Institute's Technical Committees

INSTRUCTORS: 
Junliang Tao, Ph.D., M. ASCE
Alejandro Martinez, Ph.D., M. ASCE
Paola Bandini, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE
Sheng Dai, Ph.D., P.E., M. ASCE
Douglas Cortes, Ph.D., M. ASCE
Leon van Paassen, Ph.D., M.ASCE

Purpose and Background

This session explains the concepts of bioinspired design and describes the development of several bioinspired technologies, from concept to prototype development and testing, including new bioinspired robots and sensing systems, piles and soil nails, rock drilling, and energy-efficient soil penetration devices for terrestrial and extraterrestrial subsurface exploration.

Benefits and Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify three or more examples of biological or nature-based strategies that have been used to develop effective solutions in geotechnical engineering.
• Identify that there are important differences (e.g., scale, temporal, stress levels, material properties) between the biological analogs and the bio-inspired engineering solutions.
• Describe two or more advantages of the bioinspired technologies compared with current methods.
• Learn about cutting edge research and novel biogeotechnologies.
• Understand how strategies found in nature can be used to develop solutions to engineering problems.
• Be exposed to unconventional, out-of-box geotechnical solutions.

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Achievement of the learning objectives will be assessed through a short post-test.

Who Should Attend?

Consulting geotechnical engineers
Mining engineers
Specialty contractors in the foundations/anchors
Site investigation/Site Characterization Technicians
Mining, and rock drilling industry sectors
Geotechnical engineering researchers
Public agency staff that manage infrastructure

Outline

• Bio-inspired active underground sensing network enabled by burrowing robots and vibrational communication
• Snakeskin-inspired piles and soil nails: from bio-inspiration to systems integration
• Development of bioinspired laterally expansive piles
• The hole story of rock drilling angelwing clam
• Bio-inspired geotechnics in landed extraterrestrial subsurface exploration

How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs

To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 1 year of purchasing the course.

How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?

1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]