UC Leadership Visits the Center for Geotechnical Modeling

UC Vice President for Research & Innovation Theresa Maldonado and UC Davis Vice Chancellor for Research visited the CEE Center for Geotechnical Modeling on January 23rd, where they learned about the 45 year history of the facility and plans to maintain the CGM as the premiere facility in the US for centrifuge-based research. The CGM hosts two centrifuges, one with a smaller 1-m radius and a massive 9-m radius. The high-gravity environment created when the centrifuges spin allows for investigation of a host of important problems in geotechnical engineering using scaled models. In the centrifuge these scaled models experience the same forces as the full-scale installations, but can be 100 times smaller. Researchers worldwide have used the CGM to improve engineering practice and build more resilient infrastructure by advancing knowledge of how soils behave when affected by earthquakes, tsunamis, high winds, and major storms. As the CGM looks to the future they are increasingly turning their attention to investigate the impacts of climate change on our infrastructure and natural world.