This is a Presidential Young Investigator award. The research will include continued development of instrumentation and testing devices in the area of geotechnical engineering, as well as expansion of involvement in hazardous waste engineering. Current research dealing with the development of ultrasonic crack detection for a new in situ stress measurement system will continue. Work in the hazardous waste area will diverge into two areas. First, development of a cone penetration device (Envirocone) that allows ground water and vadose zone sampling, and second, a combined program with several biologists yielding several projects; including a biosensor for the Envirocone to detect trace carcinogens, a laboratory model to study biocontamination of geotextiles, and a potential technique to electro-osmotically move bacteria through soil.
