A CEE Sampler
Peter Shanahan
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
An Introduction to Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and environmental engineers address the interactions between people and the built and natural environments. This lecture series provides an overview of the problems solved by civil and environmental engineers as well as some of the current research in MIT's CEE department. If you are a freshman considering CEE as a major or anyone interested in learning a little more about our department and discipline, we welcome you to attend one or all sessions.
Contact: Jeanette Marchocki, 1-281, x3-7106, jmmarch@mit.edu
Seawalls: Are they Sons of Beaches or not?
Professor Ole Madsen
The evolution of the Town of Chatham, MA, beaches following the breach of Nauset Beach in January 1987 and subsequent construction of seawalls will be presented along with some experimental results on erosion and deposition in front of seawalls.
Mon Jan 7, 03-04:00pm, 3-133
Transportation Issues for the 21st Century; Challenges for CEE
Professor Joseph Sussman
Transportation provides services vital to a functioning society and economic development, but also creates negative externalities such as air pollution and excessive energy use. These issues have both a technological and an institutional aspect. This lecture through several examples will illustrate some approaches to dealing with the opportunities and problems in the transportation realm.
Tue Jan 8, 03-04:00pm, 3-133
Collapse of the Nicoll Highway
Professor Andrew Whittle
As Boston completes the Big Dig, the civil engineering community in Singapore is recovering from the catastrophic failure of an excavation for the new MRT Circle Line subway in April 2004 that killed four people. This talk will summarize the forensic investigations that have uncovered the underlying structural, geotechnical and construction causes of the failure.
Wed Jan 9, 03-04:00pm, 3-133
A tale of two scales How the microscale governs fluid flow in the Earth's subsurface
Ruben Juanes
Fluid flow in the subsurface is an integral part of the global cycle of water and carbon. Predicting such flows is difficult because the fluids migrate through very intricate porous media. I will present two examples of multiphase subsurface flows directly related to climate change (present and past. I will show how processes that occur at the pore scale dictate the overall pattern of the flow at the geologic scale.
Thu Jan 17, 03-04:00pm, 5-134
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CAN NEW TECHNOLOGY HELP IN FINDING THE TREASURE OF OAK ISLAND?
Professor Andrew Whittle, Professor Brad Hager
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Oak Island is situated off the coast of Nova Scotia approximately 375 miles North of Boston. It has been the centre of a 200+ year mystery and treasure hunt since the discovery of a deep man-made shaft, referred to as the ‘Money Pit,’ in 1795. The complexity of the underground workings, the presence of a unique man-made flood system and legends of buried pirate gold have intrigued, challenged and mystified treasure seekers (including the young Franklin Roosevelt), conspiracy theorists and engineers. Many attempts to excavate within the Money Pit have been thwarted, initially by flooding through the man-made flood tunnel and later by flooding through pervious zones in the underlying anhydrite rock. The current owners ‘The Rock Management Group’ are looking for new methods to explore the Money Pit – by either stabilizing the pervious ground to facilitate excavation of a shaft or by using remote sensing techniques to more precisely define the underground configuration of the original works. Do MIT students have the solutions that can lead to recovery of the buried treasure?
Contact: Shoshanna Saxe, ssaxe@mit.edu
History of Oak Island & the Money Pit and Technical Challenges of Excavations
Professor Andrew Whittle, Professor Brad Hager
10:00 am -11:00 am in Room 1-390- The history of Oak Island and the Money Pit, Presented by: The Rock Management Group.
11:00 am-12:00 pm in Room 1.390- The technical challanges of excavations within the Money Pit. Presented by: Les MacPhie of SNC-Lavalin.
Mon Jan 28, 10am-12:00pm, Room 1-390
Join the Hunt for Buried Treasure
Professor Andrew Whittle, Professor Brad Hager
Information session for would-be treasure hunters/prospectors.
Organization of student teams.
Mon Jan 28, 01-04:00pm, 1-350
Presentation of Findings to Review Panel
Professor Andrew Whittle, Professor Brad Hager
Prizes for best student team solutions.
Fri Feb 1, 01-03:00pm, 1-350
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