Instructors
Maung Myat, M.Sc. P.E.
Maung Myat received his MS in Geological Engineering from Missouri S&T in 2004. He is currently working on his PhD in Geological Engineering with a focus on non-invasive geophysical imaging of Karst features. Prior to joining Missouri S&T as a part-time faculty, he taught for over two years at the US Army Engineer School to Engineer officers. Maung also has over 10 years of engineering experience both in the private as well as public sectors focusing on site development projects. <mtmtf8@mst.edu>
Mike Whitworth, Ph .D.,
Associate Professor of Geological Engineering
Mike Whitworth received his Ph.D. from Purdue University and then worked at New Mexico Tech for seven years before coming to Missouri University of Science and Technology. His research interests are osmotic processes in fine-grained materials, developing water treatment methods using natural materials, geologic site characterization, and development of new remediation techniques. He teaches courses in geological aspects of hazardous waste management, and remediation. <mikew@mst.edu>
J. David Rogers, Ph.D., P. E., R.G.,
Associate Professor of Geological Engineering,
Hasselman Chair In Geological Engineering
Dr. Rogers received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1982. He founded two consulting firms in geological and geotechnical engineering, which operated in the San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan areas between 1984-2001. Prior to affiliating with Missouri S&T, he was on the faculty of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at U.C. Berkeley from 1994-2001. His areas of interest include assessment of natural hazards, such as landslides, rockslides, debris flow, ground settlement, ground shaking, liquefaction, flooding, and volcanic eruptions. He is most recognized for his work in forensic evaluations of dam and levee failures. >
Mohamed G. Abdelsalam, Ph .D.,
Assistant Professor of Geology and Geophysics
Dr. Mohamed G. Abdelsalam received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), USA in 1993. He is now an associate professor in the Department of Geological Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) after 6 years as an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences at UTD. Dr. Abdelsalam expertise is in the area of applications of remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and cyber-mapping to wide range of geological, geomorphological and environmental issues. He is currently directing Missouri S&T remote sensing laboratory which is equipped with ample hardware and software for digital image processing of orbital remote sensing data, GIS modeling, and cyber-mapping data acquisition, analysis and visualization. In addition, he has been an active researcher in the area of geological and geomorphological evolution of major drainage systems using the Nile in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia and a case study. <abdelsam@mst.edu>
James E. Vandike, M.S., R.G.
Jim Vandike received his MS in Geology from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1979. He has worked as a hydrogeologist with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources since 1978 and has been the Groundwater Section Chief at the Water Resources Center in Rolla since 1994. He has taught part-time at the Missouri University of Science and Technology since 1998, teaching classes in hydrogeology and karst hydrogeology. His areas of interest include groundwater recharge/discharge relationships, groundwater exploitation, and karst hydrogeology.
Leslie Gertsch, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of Geological Engineering,
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Mining Engineering
Dr. Gertsch's PhD is in Mining Engineering, from Colorado School of Mines (1989). After working at the U.S. Bureau of Mines, she joined the Excavation Engineering and Earth Mechanics Institute of the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), researching rock excavation, and the CSM academic faculty, teaching rock mechanics, statics, dynamics, and instrumentation. While at CSM she was the Director of the CSM Center for Space Mining. After teaching mining engineering at Michigan Technological University, since January 2003 she has been at MS&T, dividing her time between teaching geological engineering and doing research at the Rock Mechanics and Explosives Research Center. Particular research interests currently include innovative rock fragmentation as well as excavation and mining on the Moon, Mars, asteroids, comets, and anywhere else we need raw materials. <gertschl@mst.edu>
Neil Anderson, Ph.D., P.Eng., P.G.,
Professor of Geological Engineering
Professor Anderson received his Ph.D. from the University of Calgary, Canada. His primary interest is the application of non-invasive geophysical imaging technologies. Dr. Anderson routinely acquires geophysical data in support of geotechnical site characterizations, the assessment of built structures, geohydrologic studies and archeological investigations. <nanders@mst.edu>
Norbert H. Maerz, Ph.D., P.Eng., Program Head,
Associate Professor of Geological Engineering,
Senior Research Research Investigator, Rock Mechanics and Explosives Research Center
Dr. Norbert H. Maerz received his Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo, Canada in 1990. He is now an associate professor in the Department of Geological Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology after 10 years of working as a consultant. He is also the past president of WipWare Inc, a company selling image analysis software to the mining and materials handling industries. He has extensive consulting experience in the field of geotechnical engineering and physical hydrogeology. In addition, he has been an active researcher in the field of rock engineering and methods of rock characterization. He is experienced in the field of instrumentation and automated digital data acquisition, reduction, display, and analysis. His areas of interest include rock mass classification, rock engineering, slope stability, joint genesis, and computer applications and image processing in geological engineering. <norbert@mst.edu>
Jeffery D. Cawlfield, Ph.D., P. E.,
Professor of Geological Engineering
Dr. Jeffrey D. Cawlfield is a Professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology. Dr. Cawlfield received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1987 and joined the faculty at Missouri S&T that same year. He has won a number of Missouri S&T Outstanding Teaching Awards, Faculty Excellence Awards, and the Missouri S&T Student Advising Award presented by the Alumni Association. Dr. Cawlfield has served on the Committee for Effective Teaching for the past six years. Dr. Cawlfield's research and teaching are focused on groundwater and contaminant transport analysis, probabilistic modeling, and computer applications. His research has been funded by the Dept. of Energy, the Dept. of Agriculture, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. <jdc@mst.edu>