CTL Engineering Makes Gift to OSU to Bring Back Engineering Lab for Students

OSU students will now have a new engineering lab

The more we invest in students the brighter our future.  Civil engineering students at The Ohio State University will gain hands-on geotechnical experience thanks to a $200,000 gift from CTL Engineering and its President and CEO C.K. Satyapriya.

The generous gift establishes the CTL Engineering Lab in Hitchcock Hall and supports the reinstatement of the Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory (CIVILENG 3541). Complementing a lecture course on the same topic, the lab enables students to test the properties of soils as construction materials.

CTL Supports STEM Outreach and Education

Columbus-based CTL Engineering wanted to support the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering’s geotechnical curriculum because of how critical it is to the civil engineering field, Satyapriya said.

“Before you can build a building you need to have stable ground,” he said. “Students need to know about the capacity of the soils to carry weight, which soils are going to settle and which provide good, stable conditions.”

CK Satyapriya with OSU Students

 

The CTL Engineering Lab At OSU

In the lab course, students learn how to conduct tests to identify different types of soils, identify their properties and determine if they’re suitable as construction materials.

The laboratory component of the geotechnical engineering curriculum was discontinued more than 15 years ago due to staffing constraints and the poor condition of the laboratory space.

The space was completely renovated with all-new furnishings last summer. The $200,000 gift supports the purchase of testing equipment, computers and instruments necessary for students to run the tests.

Now all civil and environmental engineering students will be able to conduct experiments in this required course and see, for example, how clay soils compress significantly under even a moderate load. Connecting theory and practice, those hands-on experiences improve student learning, Pradel said.

“When you do the tests, it’s very different from learning it from the books,” he said. “You’re able to see it and measure it.”

New Testing Equipment

New Testing Equipment

A quicksand experiment is one of the most exciting, Pradel said. Students will make water flow through soil and be able to see the exact moment the soil becomes unstable.

“The next time students are designing, for example, an excavation for a parking lot, they’ll know what can happen if seepage comes to the bottom of your excavation,” he explained. “This ability to visualize things is really important. It gives students a much better understanding of safety and the ability to prevent a disaster.”

See more about OSU’s exciting engineering department!