Kyle Rollins received his BS degree from Brigham Young University and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. After working as a geotechnical consultant, he joined the Civil Engineering faculty at BYU in 1987, following his father who was previously a geotechnical professor. He has supervised more than 130 graduate students and published over 190 papers.
His research has involved liquefaction assessment of gravels, lateral resistance of piles and pile groups, passive resistance of bridge abutments, lightweight cellular concrete for retaining structures, and various soil improvement techniques. His studies typically include full-scale testing to determine “ground truth” behavior. With an apparent love for high energy environments, Prof. Rollins studied dynamic compaction for treating collapsible soils. He pioneered the use of blast-induced liquefaction to evaluate lateral pile resistance and downdrag in liquefied sand. He also used a Statnamic “rocket sled” to evaluate the dynamic resistance of pile groups and drilled shafts. Prof. Rollins was the chair of the Geo-Institute technical committee on soil improvement, and ASCE has recognized his work with the Huber research award, the Wellington prize, and the Wallace Hayward Baker award. In 2009, he was the Cross-Canada Geotechnical lecturer for the Canadian Geotechnical Society. More recently, he received the Utah Governor’s medal for science and technology and the Osterberg Innovation Award from the Deep Foundation Institute.
Potential Lecture Topics
- Large-scale testing to evaluate Lightweight Cellular Concrete (LCC) backfills behind MSE and cantilever walls.
- Lateral resistance of piles and pile groups behind MSE walls.
- Design for liquefaction-induced pile downdrag from full-scale blast liquefaction tests.
- Lateral load behavior of pile groups based on full-scale field tests.
- Gravel liquefaction assessment based on direct correlations with Vs and DPT from worldwide databases.
- Lateral resistance of piles and pile groups in liquefied sands from blast liquefaction testing.
- Passive force-deflection behavior of skewed bridge foundations from large-scale tests.
- Skin friction on drilled shafts in gravelly soils.
- Ground improvement methods for increasing lateral pile resistance in weak soils
- Ground improvement for liquefaction mitigation.
- Identification and treatment of collapsible soils.
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