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Honolulu geotechnical engineer Brennon Morioka has been selected as one of five delegates to represent the United States at an international conference in England Sept. 8-13. Honolulu engineer
to represent U.S.Star-Bulletin staff
Morioka, 31, said he submitted an abstract on his research in applying for the International Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference and was shocked that it was accepted.
"I would never have thought I had a chance," he said.
The conference is being sponsored by The International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering to allow geotechnical engineers under age 35 to have their work evaluated by an international audience.
Morioka, 31, is a senior geotechnical engineer for URS Corp., an engineering consultant company. He is the son of Keith Morioka, athletic director at Waipahu High School, and Darleen Morioka Dyer, an administrator in the University of Hawaii College of Business.
He will present research he did as part of his thesis for a doctorate degree in civil engineering last year at UH. He specialized in geotechnical engineering.
His work involved the "liquifaction potential of calcareous sand." After an earthquake or some event causing sustained ground vibrations, he said, sands below the water table get a buildup of water pressure.
The sand grains become suspended in the water and the water pressure starts to separate the particles so they don't touch, he said. As a result, the material has no strength, "so foundations built upon materials that liquefy can fail or get excessive settlement."
Morioka specializes in trenchless technology, allowing installation of sewers and waterlines without digging up the ground.
URS Corp. does classical geotechnical foundation design, but its "niche in Hawaii is trenchless work," he said.
"You dig one small hole here. You dig another small hole 400 or 500 feet away, then tunnel underground instead of having to trench open the whole highway," he said.
Morioka earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of California-Berkeley. He is chairman of the Geotechnical Committee for the Hawaii chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.