2025.06.02 – Advanced Degree Panel at Clackamas Community College
Kayla participated in an advanced career panel for CCC’s Introduction to Engineering course. Questions were asked about each individual’s personal motivation to pursue (or not pursue) a graduate degree, additional knowledge and skills learned during graduate work that were not gained throughout undergraduate coursework, and if obtaining an advanced degree is necessary for being a successful engineer.
2025.03.14 – SSA Middle School Field Trip to PSU
Kristina (undergraduate researcher) organized a field trip for middle school students in which Fadzai and Sal (PhD student) helped to demonstrate key geotechnical and engineering concepts. Students sieved different types of soils, learned about liquefaction, and made gumdrop and toothpick structures and tested them on a shake table.
2025.02.28 – Community College Transfer Day @ PSU
Fadzai (MS student) and Kayla (PhD Candidate) performed demonstrations to three separate groups of potential community college transfer students for approx. 10 students each. Fadzai, using a tabletop-sized shake table explained the importance of bracing within structures for lateral forces, while Kayla visualized how water can move within the subsurface using a seepage tank and food dye.
2025.02.22 – Youth Infrastructure Fair
Ana, Chelle, and Fadzai (MS students) participated in the second annual Youth Infrastructure Fair at McDaniel High School in Portland! Student participants ranged from elementary to high schoolers, and a variety of demonstrations and visual aids were used to introduce students to the concept and importance of geotechnical engineering.
2025.01.31 – High School Outreach via Saturday Academy
Fadzai (MS student) and Kayla (PhD Candidate) performed an array of demonstrations to approximately 20 high school students as part of a larger collaborative effort within the Engineering Building to showcase working laboratories. Demos included samples of different kinds of soils, the importance of having a geotechnical site investigation, and a Single Degree of Freedom model to show how different earthquake frequencies affect different building heights.
2024.07.09 – Middle School Students
Ana, Fadzai and Chelle (MS students) explained introductory geotechnical engineering concepts to two groups of local elementary school students. A few of the many topics discussed were what an Engineer is and why we are important, Single Digree of Freedom systems, Earthquake Hazards & the PNW, why soils liquify, and how to identify strength of sub materials for structures. Students then participated in a groups and built their own structure and tested them on the shake table until failure.
2024.04.12 – Middle School Students
Ana, Fadzai (MS Students) and Benyamin (PhD Student) demonstrated several geotechnical engineering concepts to a group of approximately 30 middle school students. A simple bucket full of saturated sand tapped with a hammer showcases liquefaction; the cinder block sinks down and sideways, while buried ping pong balls make their way to the surface.
