Dr. Adam G. Tennant
Associate Professor of Engineering
Contact
- atennant@usi.edu
- Business and Engineering Center, 2022
- 812-464-1892
Bio
Adam Tennant believes his academic career and 10 years of experience working as an engineer prepared him to be a valuable researcher and instructor. His professional experience as an engineer has provided him with a broad view that will be useful in assisting students with projects and assignments. Tennant has worked on several multi-million dollar projects as both civil and cost engineer involving dredging, flood control, and ecosystem restoration at the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Chicago District). His doctoral dissertation was conducted at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) with his experimental work performed at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). In his Ph.D. research, Tennant explored the flexural behavior of cement stabilized soil block both experimentally and through advanced numerical analysis. He will be teaching several courses in the engineering department such as soil mechanics, geotechnical engineering, and fundamentals of engineering.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS, ACADEMIC HONORS, & AWARDS
- Professional Engineer State of Illinois (Active)
- Tri-Service Certified Cost Engineer (Active)
- Order of the Engineer (Active)
- Fulbright Award (2009)
- University Fellowship (2005-2006)
- Department of Civil & Materials Engineering Scholar (1999)
- Olive and Alfred L. Kuehn Scholarship (1999 & 2000)
Education
- Ph.D., Civil Engineering, , 2016
- MS, Civil Engineering, , 2004
- BS, Civil Engineering, , 2001
Research Interests
- I have been involved in research from the undergraduate level in several fields. During my Masters studies I worked in areas including fiber optic sensors and conducted a review of bridge inspection for Illinois Department of Transportation. My Ph.D. research involved earthen construction, specifically cement stabilized soil blocks (CSSB) in flexure. This experimental program was carried out at the Indian Institute of Science under the supervision Dr. Reddy, an expert in CSSB masonry. I was given this opportunity through the Fulbright program that I was awarded based on my proposal.
- After my time in India I worked with Dr. Foster, my adviser at UIC, where we developed a unique finite element model with enhanced elements to handle discontinuities and a plasticity model to predict the behavior of the material after initial yielding. Overall, my doctoral work advanced our understanding of earthen masonry in several ways. Beginning with a full set of CSSB experimental results that included basic background information such as soil characteristics, to a set of experiments in flexural wallette testing that has never been performed and documented. Secondly, taking this experimental data and looking at the results to see if an existing masonry building code requirements are met. Finally, this same experimental data was used again to inform and verify a CSSB finite element application with a theoretical constitutive model, further expanding knowledge in this field.
- I have a strong interest in continuing research in sustainable construction materials but would like to expand my research into various other fields including construction estimating , biomimicry, And complexity based studies.
Courses
- ENGR 107, Fundamentals of Engineering
- CE 381, Soil Mechanics