Geotechnical and Foundation Product Development

Every day, we use various products to accomplish the tasks at hand as geotechnical professionals. From software to construction equipment, laboratory test equipment to field testing equipment, these products help to solve the problems we face quicker and with more information than the previous generations of geotechnical professionals ever dreamed possible. One commonality across all products, regardless of technologicial complexities, is that they all started with an idea to solve an existing problem or meet a market need. How did they go from an idea to the products we use today? What are the differences between developing a product from the research or university environment versus the practitioners side? Are there common challenges that all products must overcome during development regardless of the developer's work setting or background? These are likely not skills or insights we were taught as part of our undergraduate or graduate civil engineering programs. So, we decided to pull back the curtain, so to speak, and ask some innovators in our field today to share their real-life experiences with you.