Academic background

Robert holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where his dissertation research considered the effect of vegetation on dike seepage and stability using probabilistic design methods. His educational background is focused on geotechnical engineering, probabilistic design and engineering geology, with a BSc and MSc from Berkeley. Robert is a licensed Civil Engineer (PE) in California (USA), where his private sector geotechnical consulting experience includes a variety of levee, dam and trenchless pipeline projects throughout the state. Having lived and worked in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta in California, he enjoys discovering the similarities and differences for flood defences in the Netherlands.

As a Senior Lecturer, Robert is heavily involved in education, supervising bachelor and master students and teaching courses that cover a wide range of topics, from fundamental engineering methods, programming and probability theory to applied levee design and structural reliability methods. At the moment, Robert is focused on finding ways to integrate computational thinking into various educational modules, including the use of open-source tools like Jupyter Books. He currently leads a faculty project to create and write interactive books with diverse teams, and collaborates with a related university-wide project. Visit our TeachBooks website or get in touch via email if you are interested!

Since Spring 2023, Robert has been the module manager of Modelling, Uncertainty and Data for Engineers (MUDE), a 12 ECTS module taken by all first year MSc students in the Civil Engineering and Geosciences faculty. In the Spring he teaches applied structural reliability for students in the Hyraulic and Offshore Structures track.

Previous courses include Probabilistic Design (CIE4130) and Flood Defences (CIE5314-19).