This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award will investigate and formalize new approaches for learning from geotechnical data, and inform the next generation of liquefaction evaluation tools. Soil liquefaction remains a leading cause of earthquake damage worldwide. The rarity of earthquakes poses an enduring challenge, geosystems are complex and hard to sample, and the uniqueness of each requires predictive inferences beyond the existing database. Owing to cutting-edge instrumentation and experimentation, new reconnaissance approaches, and generous resources for data storage, the increasing availability of geotechnical data, combined with open-source algorithms, creates an opportunity to exploit the potential of Data Science for reshaping our engineering toolbox. Aligned with NSF’s Big Ideas on Harnessing the Data Revolution and Convergence Research, this CAREER award will open new avenues for integrating physics-based and data-driven methods to accelerate discoveries in geotechnical engineering and develop robust validated geotechnical tools that will facilitate integration with multi-hazard analysis capabilities and broadly contribute to reducing earthquake risk and increasing societal resilience. The standards of practice will also be elevated by formulating efficient test programs that meet economic constraints. Through an organic education plan, this CAREER grant will prepare the geotechnical engineers for the workplace of the future by fostering four core competencies: (i) interdisciplinary thinking to achieve creative solutions in research and practice, (ii) Data Science literacy to harness the power of engineering data, communicate information visually, and deliver reproducible, and transparent products, (iii) diversity to develop geoengineering solutions on a wealth of perspectives and experiences, and (iv) communication skills to engage in teamwork and effective dissemination. All data will be archived and made publicly available in the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Data Depot.
The research aims to investigate, prove, and formalize the application of Physics-Guided Data Science in liquefaction evaluations by working at three scales with a wealth of numerical and experimental data. The objectives are to probe known, and discover new, high-dimensional interactions of soil properties, loading, and responses for liquefiable soils at the element and centrifuge model scale, and explore the transfer of knowledge to a field case history. The scope includes: (i) development of transferable mechanics-based engineering models, (ii) quantitative validation framework for numerical models, (iii) methodology for reduction of suspected biases in experimental and numerical data, (iv) smarter experimental design targeting key predictors for responses of interest, and (v) smarter site investigation campaigns to identify risk-driving vulnerabilities. The T-shaped education plan will develop pedagogical approaches that include: (i) case-based student-centered hybrid teaching modules, (ii) interactive user experiences introducing students to basic concepts of earthquake engineering and data-enabled decision making, (iii) training and support of Earth Science teachers from underserved districts, (iv) outreach to pre-middle school girls and ladder mentoring of female students to address diversity and inclusion, and (v) establishment of a new series of department- and college-wide activities investigating interdisciplinary thinking. This CAREER grant will also provide summer support to three graduate students working in Hazards Engineering to formalize interdisciplinary conversations and accordingly pursue innovative research avenues.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
