Dr. Kord J. Wissmann has a range of experience in company leadership, research and development, geotechnical engineering, and business development activities. He currently serves as President and Chief Engineer of Geopier Foundation Company, where he directs commercial activities, leads research into new ground improvement developments, and supervises the technical activities of Geopier’s worldwide network of geotechnical engineers.

In addition to his work at Geopier, he serves as president of the ASCE Geo-Institute. He is the recipient of 15 U.S. patents, six of which are used on an everyday basis within North America’s ground improvement industry. He is the co-inventor and developer of Geopier’s Densipact system, which efficiently provides lateral confinement during compaction of loose, sandy soil. Dr. Wissmann’s leadership has been instrumental in geopier’s global growth with local construction partners in more than 20 countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

Prior to joining Geopier Foundation Company, Dr. Wissmann was Project and Principal Engineer for Shannon and Wilson in St. Louis, Missouri, where he specialized in the analysis, design, and construction of marine structures on the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers. Dr. Wissmann’s work included the analysis, design, and construction observation of single line and cellular cofferdams, levees and earthen dams, dewatering systems for temporary construction and flood events, and liquefaction hazard assessments for critical structures such as additions to nuclear power plants. While in St. Louis, Dr. Wissmann also served as an adjunct professor at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois where he taught foundation engineering in 1997, 1998, and 1999.

Earlier, Dr. Wissmann was Associate Design Engineer at Fluor Daniel, Inc. in Irvine, California, where he worked on the geotechnical engineering and design of very large industrial projects in the United States and Asia. He has worked on a large number of projects in building foundation, liquefaction abatement, industrial facilities, and transportation and infrastructure. Included in these projects were housing and parking structures, sporting venues, and Virginia Tech campus buildings. His experience focuses on geotechnical analysis and design for foundation systems, soil improvements, seismic and liquefaction susceptibility assessments and geotechnical instrumentation.

Dr. Wissmann was inducted as an Academy of Geo Professionals Diplomate in 2010 and has published more than 37 technical papers and articles. In addition, he has been a guest lecturer for more than 100 short courses and workshops, including the 10th annual Schnabel Engineering Lecture in November 2015 at Virginia Tech. Previously, he won the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.