Adnan Aydin, associate professor of geology and geological engineering, continues to find fulfillment in helping students set a course for successful careers.
“Due to the nature of the courses I teach, laboratory and field exercises are essential components of the learning process,” Aydin said. “The students take the lead to design and conduct the tests, and analyze the gathered data and orally present their findings. As a teacher, I am delighted to hear from the former students that they realize how well-equipped they are in terms of both the fundamental concepts and the practice at the onset of their careers.”
One of Aydin’s former students wrote: “Knowing that you were my professor for geophysics, I thought you would like to hear that what we learned in that class especially is very helpful for what I am doing now. The company was very pleased with the knowledge in geophysics I had from that one class, and it is all thanks to you …”Another former student said: “I remember when you told me one day about how powerful the proper use of statistics and data analysis [was] and how one day it would be a very useful skill to have. Well, that day has happened! I went back to my bookshelf and dusted off my statistics textbook. After reading and doing some more research, I found the analysis that I needed to be doing! Everything went great, and the project really came together because of it. Just wanted to say thanks for all you taught me in that class and all of the others we had together.”
Aydin spends a lot of time and effort to source, acquire and set up all the field or laboratory facilities, but he said the geological engineering department and the School of Engineering have been responsive, which makes it possible to offer these facilities to students without delay or having to compromise quality.
During his career, Aydin has served in various roles in the department, school and university, and he has contributed substantially to the professional community in various capacities. He has received fellowships from the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey, the British Council in the United Kingdom and the School of Graduate Studies of the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. Aydin also earned the best thesis award for his work on engineering geological mapping of the site area of a proposed nuclear power plant in southern Turkey, and he is an honorary professor of Jilin University’s College of Construction Engineering in China.
“My direct experience as a design engineer of actual tunnel, slope, foundation and highway projects and as a contract researcher in charge of complex in-situ testing and monitoring projects in difficult settings is an invaluable asset in both graduate and undergraduate instruction and supervision of geological engineering students,” Aydin said.
He has been the principal investigator of 13 different funded projects and a co-investigator of more than two dozen projects on topics including rock weathering and microstructure in Hong Kong, liquefaction in the Philippines, tunneling in Turkey, stability of giant landslides in China, groundwater flow in Australia and microtremors in Mississippi. In the process, he has supervised five Ph.D. candidates, three master’s degree in philosophy students and more than 30 Master of Science thesis projects.
“Most of my research has been published in a large number of full articles in the leading SCI-listed journals of the relevant fields, many of which are among the most frequently cited papers on the particular subjects,” he said.
“I decided to accept my position on the faculty at the University of Mississippi because of its reputable geology and geological engineering programs,” Aydin said. “I expect my students to be active participants in both my Rock Mechanics and Geophysics courses.”
Aydin’s research interests are rock and soil characterization, testing, monitoring and modeling. He has published extensively on a wide range of topics in the field of engineering geology. He serves on the editorial board of the international journal Engineering Geology and is the author of international standards for two test methods.
“We were very pleased when Dr. Aydin joined the faculty as he has very strong geological engineering credentials that are so essential for our large undergraduate B.S. in Geological Engineering program,” said Joel Kuszmaul, chair and associate professor of geology and geological engineering. “The institution from which Dr. Aydin received his undergraduate degree is accredited by the same ABET accreditation commission that addresses our own B.S.G.E. program. This has given him continuing strengths in curriculum design and in serving our ongoing accreditation needs.
“Beyond these qualifications, Dr. Aydin has proven to be very adept at providing graduate courses that respond to the changing needs of our students. This is helping to ensure our programs serve our current students’ needs. Finally, Dr. Aydin’s recognized international reputation in field methods in rock mechanics is a tremendous asset to our undergraduate and graduate programs in geological engineering,” Kuszmaul added.
A UM faculty member since 2007, Aydin received his Ph.D. from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1994. After a couple of short assignments in industry and academia, he took the position of assistant professor of engineering geology at the University of Hong Kong, where he taught for nine years. He also received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geological engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey.
