Meet the People

Scott L. Deaton, Ph.D. – President

My geotechnical field experience includes a lot of data gathering and organizing

With a PhD on my business card, you must be wondering what I know about field data collection for geo-engineering. Thankfully, more than the titles imply. I worked for a civil engineering consulting firm for several years after completing my BS and MS degrees. While there, much of my time was spent in the field collecting data and then generating project reports with it.

One example, which eventually led to some of our more recent software products, was construction quality control. As an engineering technician, I was involved in a lot of QA/QC projects where concrete testing and field density testing of soils were required. At the time, I thought that the data collection and reporting process seemed quite tedious and labor intensive, so a seed was planted. There had to be an easier way to collect all this field data.

These field experiences helped in developing our geotechnical software

I got to explore an easier way as a graduate student. While in graduate school, a beta version of PLog was developed by one of the graduate students working with David (Prateek Goel). During this beta development, we even raced engineers to see if we could log faster on the PDA than they could on paper. PLog won!

From that time on I have worked to improve PLog and develop other software to help geotechnical engineers, geologists and engineering technicians with their work.

Far from being an academic purist, my daily work puts me in contact with the users of our software. They have real problems, questions, and concerns. I listen to them and use their input to continually improve our software.

J. David Frost, Ph.D., P.E. – Chairman

I have collected a lot of geotechnical field data as a geotechnical consultant

If I were to identify the one word that ties all my engineering interests and experiences together, it would be “forensics”. However, as opposed to the definition that pre-supposes that something bad has happened for forensics to be necessary, I prefer a much broader definition that says forensics is simply about gathering information, and not just after a catastrophic event.

Collecting information after natural and man-induced catastrophic events such as earthquakes, hurricanes and terrorist attacks are among the highlights of my personal activities in post-disaster forensics. However, my experiences in practice and academia have all led me back to the same starting point – that data (and I mean of both high quality and in sufficient quantity) is critical to the success of every project.

Whether monitoring instrumentation on an artificial sand island in the Arctic at -40oC (-40oF if you prefer) or recording earthquake damage in India at +40oC, I’ve come to appreciate not only the importance of data but also how you collect it! Unlike the popular phrase that says “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”, when it comes to engineering data, “What happens or doesn’t happen in the field, does come into the lab and the office”.

Collecting geotechnical data in the field is only the beginning

But there is a little more to my personal philosophy about data and ultimately information (OK – the academic in me has to talk a little too!) – data is only the starting point. There are other important attributes about every piece of data that transform it into information. These attributes are the where and when of the data – at what location did you gather the data and at what time (academics called these the spatial and temporal attributes of the data).

You can easily turn your field data in to project information

If you give me just data points (no time or location), then I have – data. But, if you give me those same data points and where/when you recorded them, now I can use the data points as part of an information story. This information story is what drives, and often separates, our company’s approach from others’. We believe that as soon as you start collecting data for a project, if it is immediately usable (and this is why digital data collection is so central to our vision), you can use it to enhance the current project. Further, by knowing where and when it was collected, the impact of other events and conditions can be factored into your understanding.

Katie Aguilar – Product Manager

You may be wondering how a girl like me got involved in a company with Scott and David. The answer – academics. I was in graduate school with Scott .

From geotechnical field work to gathering historical project information.

My field experience began during my undergrad. I worked as a co-op student for a geotechnical firm. While there I made concrete molds in the field, performed field density tests, pounded DCPs, and worked behind a drill rig logging boreholes. Due to an injury I also experienced typing field and lab reports for a few weeks. It’s tedious work.

After my graduate work I worked for the same consulting company where Scott had worked previously (he recommended me to the company). While there I performed more field work, but more often was retyping data into programs for analysis and report development. I never thought of there being another more efficient way of managing data. It was a part of the job. So was going to the trailers of bankers boxes and rummaging around for historic project information, after running around to find the engineer who worked on the project and knew the project information.

During this time I decided I preferred working with the clients to working in the field – so I went back to school (again) to get my masters in business. As I neared graduation, I started looking for a job where I could combine my geotechnical and business interests. I contacted Scott and David. Their reaction was “We have an opportunity for you”. I was sold and returned to Atlanta.

Managing your geotechnical/geoenvironmental data does not have to be complicated.

I never thought of how all the data I collected in a rush in the field could be organized. It was simply a lot of dirty pages with data scribbled on them. You had to get it to drafting quickly so you had logs available to visualize your information, and from there re-enter the data to make cross sections for stability analysis, counting your samples and sample types for billing, and cross-checking them with the lab samples. It’s amazing to realize all that you can do with your data without rewriting it.