Anthony LaRegina and Ashley Hyde
Anthony and Ashley, two of our senior members are conducting research this summer at TCNJ through the Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience (MUSE) Program. They are working with Dr. Bechtel and Dr. Krstic in the analysis of how the contribution of shear to the total lateral deformation changes as the exposed length of a polymer pile increases. They are using the Finite Element software STRAND7 to conduct a P-y analysis of currently available polymer based pile products. The ultimate goal of their research is to provide a reference for geotechnical engineers to use to determine if and how they will consider shear deformations.
Erin Lafferty
This summer, Erin has an internship with Modjeski and Masters in the Structures Department out of their Philadelphia, PA office. As part of her internship, Erin assists Engineers with their daily tasks in order to design and manage projects toward milestone submissions. She is responsible for drafting various bridge elements in AutoCAD, checking basic structural design calculations, checking bar schedules, and performing quantity takeoffs. At Modjeski and Masters, Erin has been gaining valuable experience in Bridge Engineering by seeing how the team works through the design process to present reliable designs and accurate plan sets to their regional clients.
