“Geotechnical and Sustainable Geo-Energy Engineering - A Multidisciplinary Perspective” 
by Oladoyin Kolawole, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate at Texas Tech University

Geotechnics is an engineering discipline that deals with the behavior of geomaterials (soil and rock) from an engineering perspective. The world is currently being threatened by geohazards, such as landslides, ground motion, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, droughts, and other hazards from surface and subsurface structures. The mitigation of these hazards and protection of our environments require technical knowledge and application of geotechnical and sustainable geo-engineering. However, as engineers, irrespective of our expertise and engineering discipline, we all have a role to play in geohazard mitigation and environmental protection. The efficient development and application of engineering technology to sustainability and resilience of geomaterials require a multidisciplinary approach. The presentation will show how we can integrate different engineering disciplines (such as mechanics of materials, biotechnology, fluid mechanics, chemical engineering, geotechnical engineering, and geo-environmental engineering) to address problems related to sustainability and geohazard mitigation.

Dr. Oladoyin Kolawole integrates experimental and computational geotechnics to improve the understanding of failure in geo-systems and develop novel applications that address problems related to geomaterials, sustainable energy resources, and the environment. His research interests include geomechanics, biogeomechanics, sustainable energy, geo-hazard mitigation, and fluid transport in geo-systems. He holds a Ph.D. degree from Texas Tech University, an M.S. degree from University of Miskolc, Hungary, and a B.S. degree from Rivers State University (RSU), Nigeria. Dr. Kolawole is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Texas Tech University. He previously worked as a Teaching and Research Assistant at Texas Tech University, where he taught undergraduate and graduate engineering courses. He has published over 30 technical papers. He volunteers as a peer reviewer for Nature Scientific Reports, and other reputable scientific journals, in addition to mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Kolawole is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA). During his leisure time, Dr. Kolawole and his wife, Praise, enjoy playing tennis, hiking, traveling, and cooking.