Integration of NEES Equipment Sites for Geotechnical Engineering Education

Abstract

This paper presents the potential opportunity to integrate Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) equipment sites into undergraduate geotechnical engineering education. The integration plan is to utilize the existing engineering curricula and program and state-of-the-art experimental facilities to provide the students from participating universities with valuable skills. The effort described in this paper will employ Internet web-based technologies allowing for real-time video monitoring, tele-control, and execution of cutting-edge experiments utilizing the NEES facility at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Engaging major experimentation in the typical geotechnical engineering classrooms will provide undergraduate students with broader insight into advanced research equipment and motivate them by creating a new learning environment. The integration plan proposed in this paper can be implemented for other NEES equipment sites and academic institutions as well as across other disciplines of engineering and science.