GGSS led two Center for Geotechnical Modeling (CGM) facility tours this past Fall 2019 quarter.

For the first tour, GGSS hosted a group of ~30 incoming UC Davis engineering transfer students from the Avenue E Transfer Bridge program. We first provided a presentation to the students about earthquakes and the roles of engineers in understanding and mitigating their effects to infrastructure. The students then broke into smaller groups and rotated between different CGM facility labs, including the main shop, model preparation room, and large centrifuge rotunda. At each station, GGSS volunteers led interactive presentations and demonstrations. Special emphasis was placed on the interdisciplinary nature of our work, something we believe is important for mid-level engineering undergraduates.

For our second tour, 17 GGSS volunteers hosted about 45 high school freshmen from the Grass Valley area. The students were experiencing a third day in a row of widespread power outages and school cancellations, so we were proud to keep their education alive that week. We provided an introductory presentation tailored for a high school audience and then provided our typical rotating tours throughout the CGM facility. During the tour, students had the chance to watch a shake-table demonstration. New to this tour, GGSS collaborated with the UC Davis structural engineering group, who helped lead a discussion regarding their large-scale base plate test being built at the outdoor CGM strong floor.