Geo-Institute Director’s Cut

On Director's Cut, Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews G-I members about anything and everything. You might hear about their favorite geotechnical project, their favorite music, or their favorite pie. In Episode 35 of Season 6, our guest is Alba Yerro-Colom of Virginia Tech!
SHOW NOTES:
- Why is it natural that a Virginia Tech person picks Metallica for the music in their episode? Check this out and you'll understand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC8LLYMp4M4
- Here's the numerical modeling software Alba developed: https://github.com/Anura3D/Anura3D_OpenSource/wiki
- As you might suspect, there are thousands of websites telling you what you should do when you visit Barcelona. Here is just one: https://www.trvbox.com/our-top-10-things-to-do-in-barcelona/
- Learn more about the human towers of Catalunya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iSHfrmGdyo
- This is not Alba's research site, but I find NASA does a pretty good job of explaining things to the public. Here's a landslide prediction page related to the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPMM): https://gpm.nasa.gov/landslides/
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
Music courtesy of very cool Seattle band Head Like A Kite. Song is Director's Cut from the 2010 album Dreams Suspend Night. Check them out at http://www.headlikeakite.com.
 

On Director's Cut, Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews G-I members about anything and everything. You might hear about their favorite geotechnical project, their favorite music, or their favorite pie. In Episode 33 of Season 6, our guest is Morteza Mirshekari of Atlas Engineering, GeoIntegrate, and the San Diego and Orange County G-I chapters!
SHOW NOTES:
- Here's the excavator song by Blippi. Try not to sing along. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAguWAJTmBM
- GeoIntegrate is easy to find (and easy to use): https://geo-integrate.com/
- There are surprisingly few places to go learn Farsi. Here's a free resource if you're interested: https://easypersian.com/
- Get all the info you need on Geo-Congress at http://www.geocongress.org! We'll be in Salt Lake City for the 30th Geo-Congress in just a few months!
- To learn more about Chabahar and Iran's South Coast, start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chabahar
- Stick around til the end to see Morteza describe the kamancheh, a traditional Iranian instrument that he plays!
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
Music courtesy of very cool Seattle band Head Like A Kite. Song is Director's Cut from the 2010 album Dreams Suspend Night. Check them out at http://www.headlikeakite.com.
 

On Director's Cut, Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews G-I members about anything and everything. You might hear about their favorite geotechnical project, their favorite music, or their favorite pie. In Episode 20 of Season 5, our guest is Theresa Engler of the Deep Foundations Institute!
SHOW NOTES:
- The Can Can Sale page stays up all year, apparently: https://www.shoprite.com/cancan
- In case you're not old enough to remember Wild America, here's the deal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_America_(TV_series)
- We talked about Geotech Tools during the IFCEE question - find out more and create your account at https://www.geoinstitute.org/geotechtools/
- All the info you need about DFI 49! https://www.dfi-events.org/dfi49
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
Music courtesy of very cool Seattle band Head Like A Kite. Song is Director's Cut from the 2010 album Dreams Suspend Night. Check them out at http://www.headlikeakite.com.
 

On Director's Cut, Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews G-I members about anything and everything. You might hear about their favorite geotechnical project, their favorite music, or their favorite pie. In Episode 21 of Season 5, our guest is Michael Bennett of Gannett Fleming and the author of the Geotechnical History Blog!
SHOW NOTES:
- Turns out there is a BIG market for railroad spikes: https://www.ebay.com/b/Collectible-Railroad-Spikes-Nails/95163/bn_3052681
- Get started on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park! https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm
- The story of Elfreth's Alley in Philadelphia is a pretty fascinating one! https://www.elfrethsalley.org/
- You can read ALL of Michael's posts from the Geotechnical History Blog at http://www.geoinstitute.org, including his entry for Geopalooza! https://geoinstitute.org/news/ethereal-discovery-connection-between-soil-mechanics-and-dawn-relativity-physics
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
Music courtesy of very cool Seattle band Head Like A Kite. Song is Director's Cut from the 2010 album Dreams Suspend Night. Check them out at http://www.headlikeakite.com.
 

On Director's Cut, Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews G-I members about anything and everything. You might hear about their favorite geotechnical project, their favorite music, or their favorite pie. In Episode 32 of Season 6, our guest is Bruce Kutter of the University of California Davis!
SHOW NOTES:
- Here's a type of vetch - looks great but goes crazy and takes over everything. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicia_villosa
- Here's Bruce's Wellington Prize winning paper on tunnel uplift:https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/%28ASCE%29GT.1943-5606.0000489
- Start here to find out more about Ray Brown: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Brown_(musician)
- The rules for the 2026 Geo-Challenge will be out soon - you could win the Geo-Wall!
- Bruce never says the name of his walk-in music - it's Autumn Leaves! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_Leaves_(1945_song)
- Learn more about the geotechnical centrifuges here: https://cgm.engr.ucdavis.edu/
- Here's the full list of Norman Medal winners: https://www.asce.org/career-growth/awards-and-honors/norman-medal/norman-medal-past-award-winners
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
Music courtesy of very cool Seattle band Head Like A Kite. Song is Director's Cut from the 2010 album Dreams Suspend Night. Check them out at http://www.headlikeakite.com.
 

On Director's Cut, Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews G-I members about anything and everything. You might hear about their favorite geotechnical project, their favorite music, or their favorite pie. In Episode 22 of Season 5, our guest is Kshama Roy of DNV!
SHOW NOTES:
- You should DEFINITELY sign up to review conference papers for G-I! https://www.geoinstitute.org/volunteer-review-conference-papers
- Take an aerial tour of Newfoundland - it's an incredibly beautiful place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjZX6RdpnU0
- Get to the CGS conference this year to see the student competitions (and a great geotech conference!) https://www.geomontreal2024.ca/
- Start learning about the muskeg here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskeg
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
Music courtesy of very cool Seattle band Head Like A Kite. Song is Director's Cut from the 2010 album Dreams Suspend Night. Check them out at http://www.headlikeakite.com.
 

SHOW NOTES:
- Not surprisingly, the Large Carnivore Management Association says cheetahs are NOT good pets. https://cheetah.org/press-releases/large-carnivore-management-association-says-cheetahs-are-not-pets
- Here's info on the Indian River Inlet project: https://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Indian-River-Inlet/
- Need a good cheesesteak in Philadelphia? Here's Dalessandro's: https://dalessandros.com/
- As we get closer to Halloween, here's the info on Eastern State Penitentiary: https://easternstate.org/halloween
- Find a G-I chapter near you - there's definitely one nearby! https://www.geoinstitute.org/chapters/find-a-chapter
- Some intel on Philadelphia English so you can speak like a native: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_English
- Stick around at the end for a Haitian Salade Russe recipe! Here's one variety: https://www.caribbeangreenliving.com/haitian-salad-russe-recipe/
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
Music courtesy of very cool Seattle band Head Like A Kite. Song is Director's Cut from the 2010 album Dreams Suspend Night. Check them out at http://www.headlikeakite.com.
 

On Director's Cut, Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews G-I members about anything and everything. You might hear about their favorite geotechnical project, their favorite music, or their favorite pie. In Episode 30 of Season 6, our guest is Juan Pestana of Geosyntec!
SHOW NOTES:
- Want to archive your emails like Juan? Here's one way: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/archive-in-outlook-for-windows-25f75777-3cdc-4c77-9783-5929c7b47028
- The ASCE Katrina report is here (paywall): https://ascelibrary.org/doi/book/10.1061/9780784408933
- Here's our Younger Member Committee session on getting your P.E. license: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZgJaPclEps
- We couldn't use Genesis or Phil Collins for Juan's episode, because they haven't given Youtube a blanket license!
- Here's a great starter talk on geotechnical numerical modeling from Katerina Ziotopoulou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxuNISfAoCk
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
Music courtesy of very cool Seattle band Head Like A Kite. Song is Director's Cut from the 2010 album Dreams Suspend Night. Check them out at http://www.headlikeakite.com.
 

On Director's Cut, Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews G-I members about anything and everything. You might hear about their favorite geotechnical project, their favorite music, or their favorite pie. In Episode 24 of Season 5, our first of two special Father's Day episodes, our guests are Geo-Legend Peter Robertson and his daughter Kelly Cabal of ConeTec!
SHOW NOTES: 
- Their combo short course isn't on the web (that I can find), but Peter has a Youtube channel with ALL KINDS of great technical content! https://www.youtube.com/@RobertsonCPTWebinars
- For those unfamiliar with engine block heaters, here's some intel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_heater
- Do you want a conehead "hat?" They're surprisingly easy to find! You too can be a conehead! https://www.amazon.com/Conehead-Headpiece-Freaks-Coneheads-Costume/dp/B00RC0DUK8
- Learn more about CalGeo here: https://www.calgeo.org/
- Enjoy Peter's Geo-Legends interview here: https://www.readgeo.com/geostrata/october_november_2023/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1919268
- Happy Father's Day to everyone in the geotech community! We'll be back with a bonus Father's Day episode later this week! The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
Music courtesy of very cool Seattle band Head Like A Kite. Song is Director's Cut from the 2010 album Dreams Suspend Night. Check them out at http://www.headlikeakite.com.
 

On Director's Cut, Geo-Institute Director Brad Keelor interviews G-I members about anything and everything. You might hear about their favorite geotechnical project, their favorite music, or their favorite pie. In Episode 29 of Season 6, our guest is Jonathan Hubler of VIllanova University, one of G-I's Program Committee members for ASCE2027!
SHOW NOTES:
- This is the fourth and final episode of our 2025 Labor Day Director's Cut Extravaganza!
- There's an audio glitch! It didn't fade out at the beginning!
- Here's a Car and Driver piece on rejected custom plates: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42512651/best-worst-of-rejected-vanity-plate-names-of-2022/
- The Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance (GEER) Team that went to Yellowstone has their report here: https://www.geerassociation.org/?view=geerreports&id=106&layout=default
- Find your local chapter here: https://www.geoinstitute.org/chapters
- Look for a special Director's Cut with memories of Bob Koerner soon! - Check out the ASCE2027 website at http://experience.asce.org - we're thrilled to have Jonathan on the G-I team for that event!
- Stick around at the end for a special story about Jonathan's days as a prospective student tour guide at Drexel!
- Special bonus: see if you can tell the moment that Kristin Sample-Lord did the Carlton dance in front of Jonathan's office window to distract him from this very important interview.
The Geo-Institute is a technical society with about 12,000 geotechnical engineers and geologists as members. Find out more or join at http://www.geoinstitute.org.
Music courtesy of very cool Seattle band Head Like A Kite. Song is Director's Cut from the 2010 album Dreams Suspend Night. Check them out at http://www.headlikeakite.com.