His goal, Lens says, was to enter academia to teach and engage in research after spending 27 years in a professional engineering practice. His research at U VM has focused on risk and reliability quantification, which he notes stems from his interest in geotechnical engineering.

Geotechnical engineering “provides a rational way of addressing the unknowns associated with what is underground,” he notes. “I’ve continued to be fascinated with the field because there is always uncertainty associated with dealing with the underground, and it’s an exciting challenge to reduce that uncertainty.”

While he finishes his thesis work this year, Lens will also be teaching Introduction to Engineering, a first year class, as well as a Senior Design class for engineers and an elective relating to deep foundation engineering and construction.

“I want students to early on become well aware of the breadth of possible career options with having a civil or environmental engineering education,” he notes. “It’s clear that increasingly more is going to be expected of our profession in order for our society to survive on this planet. That means changing how we do our work so we can deliver on those expectations.”

(This story was from the Fall 2015 issue of SUMMIT. You can read more here.)