Kevin graduated with a BSc and MEng in Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering in 2019 from University College Dublin.  He has been a PhD candidate in TU Delft since October 2019 and is carrying out research as part of the Improved Axial Capacity of Piles in Sand (InPAD) project under the supervision of Prof. Ken Gavin.  Prior to the PhD, Kevin has garnered substantial experience in the offshore industry and has worked in numerous countries on offshore site investigations and wind-farm construction.

Kevin’s current research is related to reviewing and refining existing CPT-based pile capacity methods for piles in sand – namely precast, screw injection and driven cast-in-situ piles. A particular emphasis is being placed on improving methods and techniques stipulated by the current Dutch design standards (NEN 9997-1), with the aim of developing a design method which is both safe yet financially and environmentally sustainable.

Within the project, Kevin is primarily involved with the execution and analysis of full-scale axial pile load tests in the field. To date, three testing programmes have been performed at multiple locations throughout the Netherlands: one test at Maasvlakte and two different sites in Delft. Within the project, Kevin also contributes to the development of numerical models and laboratory tests to further improve the understanding and knowledge of the pile behaviour. 

Kevin is also working on the ASHVIN project: a project which aims to introduce digital twin technologies to the construction industry in order to enable energy-efficient projects and improve project planning and asset maintenance programmes. A key component of this work is the analysis of long-term monitoring data of quay walls and examining the effectiveness of these monitoring systems and understanding the physical processes which they represent. 

Kevin’s previous research has also involved the use of inferential statistics and machine learning techniques to enhance settlement prediction techniques based on the collation of large amount of in-situ and laboratory testing data.

Kevin has supervised numerous Bachelors and Masters students over the course of their final year project. He also assists with numerous Bachelors and Masters courses at the university, including Soil-Structure Interaction, Deep Excavations and Design of Structures and Foundations I and II.

Kevin is also involved on the Faculty PhD Council and regularly organises events for PhD students throughout the department