Adam Kaplan
Dr. Adam Kaplan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Construction Engineering. He earned his doctorate from the University of Colorado Denver. His dissertation focused on the three-dimensional soil-concrete interface stability of composite dams subjected to seismic loads. He studied the soil-concrete interface behavior using a variety of sophisticated three-dimensional parametric non-linear finite element analyses. Folsom Dam's behavior under strong shaking was one of his tasks.
He was a consultant and researcher for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Pacific Gas and Electricity (PG&E). When hit by a vehicle, he investigated the stress transfer mechanism of roadside barriers sitting on mechanically stabilized earth walls. His findings were immediately incorporated into CDOT's roadside concrete barrier design and construction guidelines. Dr. Kaplan also conducted experimental and numerical analyses for CDOT to better understand the airborne mechanism of sand particles on roadways used in winter deicing and sanding practices. Airborne sand particles are a major concern for car owners and insurance companies in Colorado due to their potential damage to windshields. Windshield replacement and repair costs insurance companies approximately $90 million per year. His findings revealed that pavement elasticity was the primary factor that caused a sand particle to become airborne after being rolled over by a vehicle tire.
He used advanced computer simulations to assess the liquefaction potential of Butt
Valley Dam, a tailings dam owned by PG&E in California. Dr. Kaplan validated the liquefaction
risk during major earthquake events using software packages such as FLUSH, NIKE3D,
and FLAC.
He did several computer models of mechanically stabilized earth walls as an active member of the NIKE Club (a research group of NIKE3D users at the Center for Geotechnical Engineering Science, University of Colorado Denver) and trained new graduate student members to conduct non-linear analyses using NIKE3D.
In 2003, he began his teaching career as a lecturer at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. In addition to teaching, he was the program coordinator for the Civil Engineering Technology program. He was heavily involved in the preparation for ABET accreditation as well as several K-12 outreach projects.
Dr. Kaplan began his career at Kennesaw State University in 2008. He is currently teaching geotechnical and foundation engineering courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His primary research interests include finite element analysis, subsurface exploration using nondestructive testing methods, geotechnical earthquake engineering, and instructional technologies that use tablet PCs.
Dr. Kaplan launched the "Rubble House" research project at KSU in August 2011, in collaboration with Conscience International, Inc. Rubble houses are temporary housing for poor Haitian families who lost their homes in the 2010 earthquake. The rubble houses' walls are made of wire baskets filled with loose rubble generated by buildings that collapsed during the earthquake. In the fall of 2011, a full-scale rubble-house construction and testing project in the middle of the KSU-Marietta campus was a truly unique experience. The analysis and development work is still ongoing. More information on this incredible project can be found at http://engineering.kennesaw.edu/rubblehouse/index.php .
Since 2012, Dr. Kaplan has worked as an ABET Program Evaluator (PEV).
