The goal of this project is to expose undergraduate civil engineering students to the wide variety of field test equipment they will be encountering in geotechnical engineering practice. This training has not traditionally been included as part of the undergraduate curricula at most universities, yet field testing has as the primary design tools for geotechnical engineering firms. Current industry needs are therefore dictating a change in the focus of undergraduate civil engineering education. This change includes a greater emphasis on interdisciplinary testing techniques. Engineers are relying on geological and geophysical methods in conjunction with geotechnical field test to conduct engineering surveys and determine design parameters. The equipment was selected in an effort to expose students to some other tools most widely used in current practice: a nuclear density device, a dilatometer, and geophysical equipment (seismograph, resistivity meter and magnetometer). Approximately 170 students per year will become acquainted with these new tools through field exercises incorporated into three undergraduate civil engineering courses.
