An Overview of Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering

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Keys to Success in Graduate School (with an
emphasis on research-oriented programs) Joseph
Wartman
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My story (and my perspective) 1)
Practice-oriented undergraduate 2) Engineering
practice 3) MS, then M.Eng 4) Ph.D.
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Recommendation 1 Teach (TA) and really enjoy
this opportunity ( denotes highly
recommended!)
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Recommendation 2 Read, and stay current with
advances in your field(s) of interest (join
societies as a student member)
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Recommendation 3 Balance class and research
(and remember that you really only get credit for
research)
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Recommendation 4 Take the time THINK about
your research
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Recommendation 5 Find a place (train, bike,
walk, office, run, museum) and time (creative
time of day) to think about your work.
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Recommendation 6 Be comfortable with writing
My process 1) write down all you know (long
time) 2) organize it (long time) 3) draft it
(poorly written) 4) revise (for me, up to 15
times, takes a very long time)
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Recommendation 7 Most influential books 1)
Tufte, Visual Explanations 2) Kuhn, The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions (summarized
on web)
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Recommendation 8 Enjoy being a graduate
student, and everything it offers (e.g. freedom,
flexibility, learning, being creative, academic
setting, culture, other students, pushing
yourself and finding new challenges, etc.) Most
people are not this lucky
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Recommendation 9 Recognize that you will know
more about your topic than anyone (even your
advisor).
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Recommendation 10 Reconize that you will be
working very, very hard
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Recommendation 11 Master the literature
review process (recognize quality, be careful of
the web) and learn to comprehend what you read
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Recommendation 12 Learn from others,
especially (1) your advisor, and (2) your
colleagues
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Recommendation 13 Become a master of time
management, and dont procrastinate (difficult)
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Recommendation 14 Have fun