Geo-Institute (G-I)

The Geo-Institute (G-I) Orange County (OC) Chapter was founded in 2013 to allow our members to interact with other professionals in the geotechnical field of civil engineering.  We regularly send active OC Branch members to G-I Congresses held on an annual basis across the country.  We hope the OC Branch members will learn new ideas and find interesting speaker topics that we can bring back to our local branch members.  Periodically G-I OC holds joint events with the OC Branch during branch general meetings.  The OC Branch and the G-I OC work together to provide continuing education events that are relevant to G-I members. We hope you will come out and participate in our institute and work with us to build a strong foundation.

The 2019-2020 G-I OC Board of Directors

• Chair: Michael Givens, PhD, PE, PG
• Vice Chair: Ali Bastani, PhD, PE, GE 
• Treasurer: Mohsen Mahdavi Kharanaghi, PhD, PE
• Secretary: Sunil Arora, PE
• First Director / YMF Liaison: Adeleine Tran, PE
• Past Chair: Pavlo Chrysovergis, PE

2020 Continuing Education Seminar

On Thursday, February 6, 2020, the ASCE OC Geo-Institute and Professional Development Committee co-hosted our annual Continuing Education Seminar.  This year's focus was on geotechnical seismic design and performance-based design. The presenters and their respective presentations are as follows:

Introduction:

• Featured Speakers, ASCE OC Geo-Institute, and Professional Development Committee

Dr. Marshall Lew, Ph.D, PE, GE with Wood Environment and Infrastructure solutions, Inc.:

• "Performance-Based Earthquake Geotechnical Design and Analysis"

Professor Kevin Franke, Ph.D, PE of Brigham Young University:

• "Performance Based Liquefaction Hazard Analysis"

Professor Shideh Dashti, Ph.D of University of Colorado, Boulder:

• "Physic-Informed Semi-Empirical Probabilistic Models for Predicting Building Settlement and Tilt on Liquefiable Ground"

November 2019 Technical Tour

On November 1, 2019, ASCE Orange County Geo-Institute had a great turnout at our technical tour on vibro (aggregate) piers. Students and professionals got an opportunity to learn/review the engineering behind this ground improvement system and observe first-hand how it was installed in the field. Many thanks to Hayward Baker and Layton Construction for sharing your project and allowing us to host this fun and educational site visit with our G-I members!  The presentation can be downloaded from the link below:

Dr. Jim Gingery, Ph.D., PE, GE with Hayward Baker:

• "Settlement Control Using Aggregate Piers"

August 2019 Joint OC G-I & CalGeo Dinner Meeting

Photo: CalGeo

On August 29, 2019, the Orange County Geo-Institute and CalGeo co-hosted a dinner meeting featuring Dr. David Baska of Terracon, who presented on "Seismic Design Updates for the 2019 California Building Code." Dr. Baska discussed the seismic provisions of the new code from a geotechnical engineer’s perspective and shared his experience with implementing the provisions into practice. The presentation can be downloaded from the link below:

Dr. Dave Baska, Ph.D, P.E, G.E, CEG, with Terracon:

• "Seismic Design Updates for the 2019 California Building Code"

July 2019 ASCE OC Branch & G-I Luncheon

On July 18, 2019, the Orange County Branch and Geo-Institute co-hosted a luncheon featuring Professor Scott J. Brandenberg of UCLA, who presented on “Effects of Earthquakes to California’s Water Distribution System.” Professor Brandenberg discussed an extensive research study on the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, which included field testing, centrifuge modeling, laboratory testing, development of fragility functions, and development of a system reliability analysis procedure. The presentation can be downloaded from the link below:

Professor Scott J. Brandenberg, Ph.D, P.E., M.ASCE, Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering of UCLA:

• "Effects of Earthquakes on California's Water Distribution System"

May 2019 Dinner Meeting

On Tuesday, May 28, 2019, the ASCE OC & LA Geo-Institute co-hosted a dinner presentation by Dr. Robert Kayen.  The presentation discussed the results of an 11-year international project that gathers new Vs site data and develops probabilistic correlations for seismic soil liquefaction occurrence. The presentation can be downloaded from the link below:

Introduction:

• Featured Speaker, ASCE OC Geo-Institute, and ASCE LA Geo-Institute

Dr. Robert Kayen, Adjunct Professor, of UCLA, UC Berkeley, Senior Scientist of U.S. Geological Survey:

• "Shear Wave Velocity of Liquefied Soil"

2019 Continuing Education Seminar

On Friday, February 22, 2019, the ASCE OC Geo-Institute and Professional Development Committee co-hosted our annual Continuing Education Seminar.  This year's seminar focused on several ground improvement methods.  The presenters and their respective presentations are as follows:

Introduction:

• Featured Speakers, ASCE OC Geo-Institute, and Professional Development Committee

Dr. Lisheng Shao, Ph.D, PE, GE with Hayward Baker:

• "Optimized Ground Improvement Program – Combined Treatment Technologies"

Professor John Harvey, Ph.D, PE of UC Davis:

• "Lime and Cement Treatment for Subgrade Stabilization"
• "Subgrade Soil Stabilization Guidelines"

Professor Kyle Rollins, Ph.D, PE of Brigham Young University:

• "Pre-fabricated Vertical Drains for Reducing Liquefaction Potential Based on Full-Scale Shaking Table Tests"

More Information

Below in the "Related News" section are some articles from past events.  For more information contact [email protected].