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Andrew Slaughter

Tue, 2007-10-30 14:05 — andrew.slaughter

 

Department

Civil Engineering

Degree

PhD

Email

slaughter@montana.edu

Personal Web Page

Personal Web Page
Slaughter.jpg

Ophir School

Teacher Partner

Dave Neal (5th grade)

Fellowship Year

2008

2007
Research

My current research focuses on near-surface faceted snow crystals, which is a layer of snow that forms in the uppermost layer of a snowpack.  When buried, this layer is a common weak interface for slab avalanches.  The goal of my PhD research is to further quantify the conditions conducive to forming near-surface facets.  For example, the amount of incoming solar radiation or air temperature.  This is primarily accomplished through numerical means.  Using an established thermal model and senstivity analysis the relative importance of each input parameter may be determined. Coupling these results with experimental data should allow for the most important parameters to be identified.

 

Bio

I am currently a PhD student at Montana State University (MSU) in the Civil Engineering department, with an emphasis in applied mechanics studying under Dr. Adams. My primary area of research is snow and avalanches, focusing specifically on determining the conditions necessary to form a well known avalanche weak layer known as near-surface facets. Additionally, am involved with an ongoing research project studying the development of snow penitents, which are surface features common in high mountains of South America.

Prior to studying snow and avalanches at MSU, I received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Michigan Technological University where I focused my studies on structural engineering. I then completed my M.S. in Civil Engineering at Washington State University (WSU), where I worked with wood-plastic composites and producing these materials for structural uses and future building code approval