Geotechnical Engineering at Kennedy Space Center

Did you know that the load capacity of the road between the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and the launch pads at Kennedy Space Center has long been a significant constraint in the design of space vehicles including the venerable Saturn V and upcoming Space Launch System (SLS)? If the intersection of civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and aerospace engineering sounds exciting, then I encourage you to attend a lunchtime talk by Dr. George Filz titled “Geotechnical Engineering at Kennedy Space Center” on Thursday, February 16^th at 12:15 in Hugel 100. Since the talk will begin promptly at 12:15, I advise that you arrive a few minutes early to get lunch. Information about the talk and the speaker is provided below.

If you are planning to eat lunch during the talk, please take 10 seconds and complete the Qualtrix survey: https://lafayettec.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_02owWjIZTjolUAR

Abstract for the talk: NASA is renovating the infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center to accommodate a new generation of heavy lift space vehicles that will exceed the demonstrated capacity of existing infrastructure components.  This presentation focuses on overall stability of the transporter that carries heavy lift vehicles along the crawlerway from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pads, crawlerway surface treatment for track-mounted and rubber-tired transporters, Vehicle Assembly Building foundations, and stabilization of slope protection slabs to resist shaking from rocket blasts.

About the speaker: George Filz is the Charles E. Via Professor of Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech, where he has been teaching and conducting research in geotechnical engineering for 27 years.  Before this, he worked in private engineering practice for 8 years.  His bachelor's and master's degrees are from Oregon State University, and his doctoral degree is from Virginia Tech.  Professor Filz's teaching, research, and practice interests include foundation engineering, soil-structure interaction, ground improvement, and seepage barriers.  He has been recognized with several awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, including: the Middlebrooks Award, the Croes Medal, the Florida Project-of-the-Year Award, and the Wallace Hayward Baker Award.  He is the 2016-2017 Cross-USA Lecturer for the ASCE Geo-Institute.