Advisor
Joseph P. Vantassel, PhD
For his undergraduate studies, Dr. Vantassel attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, focusing on the areas of geotechnical engineering, geology, and structural engineering. He earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering in 2016. During his undergraduate studies, he held a number of professional appointments including: construction inspector at the Massachusetts's Department of Transportation, undergraduate researcher at the University of Minnesota's Large-Scale Structure's Lab, project engineer at Schnabel Foundation Company, and undergraduate researcher at Rensselaer's Geotechnical Centrifuge. For his graduate studies, he attended The University of Texas at Austin, earning his M.S. in May of 2018 and Ph.D. in December of 2021. His graduate studies focused on the intersection of geotechnical engineering, geophysics, and software engineering. In September 2021, he joined the Texas Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) to work on problems related to machine-learning and big-data. He joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech as an Assistant Professor in December 2022.
Personal Research Website
Current Members
Mohammadhossein Ahmadi
Doctor of Philosophy | December 2027
Project: Multi-physics real-time, look-ahead while drilling using deep learning.
Mahbubah Ahmed
Doctor of Philosophy | December 2027
Project: Using distributed fiber optic sensing to inform real-time, look-ahead while drilling.
Sanish Bhochhibhoya
Master of Science | December 2023
Doctor of Philosophy | May 2027
Project: Real-time imaging using seismic waves and deep learning.
Arden Dioslaki
Master of Science | December 2026
Project: Data-driven approaches to digitizing historical geotechnical data.
Jin Kim
Post-Doctoral Associate | January 2028
Project: Safe and uncertainty-aware deep learning models for geotechnical applications.
Aleksandre Jaoshvili
Master of Science | December 2026
Project: Data-driven approaches to interpret Measuring While Drilling measurements.
Samuel Nakai
Master of Science | December 2026
Project: On robustly quantifying aleatoric uncertainty with surface wave methods.
Past Members
Balakumar Anbazhagan
Project: Data-driven methods for robust predictions of site response.
Doctor of Philosophy | December 2025
Co-Advisor: Adrian Rodriguez-Marek
Currently: Seismic Engineer at Rizzo International
Kushal Sharma Wagle
Project: Development of a data-driven model to predict Vs30 from mHVSR.
Master of Science | May 2025
Currently: Assistant Project Engineer at Ardaman & Associates
Abhijeet Acharjee Jeet
Project: Non-invasive measurements of permafrost using surface wave methods.
Master of Science | May 2024
Currently: Assistant Project Engineer at Ardaman & Associates
Ujjwal Gupta
Project: Guidelines for using machine learning in geotechnical practice.
Master of Science | December 2023
Currently: Staff Engineer at Tensar
