Tadesse Meskele, PhD, PE

Senior Engineer

Tadesse joined GRI in April 2013 following the completion of his doctoral studies in geotechnical engineering at Oregon State University. At GRI, Tadesse has been involved with a broad range of geotechnical, earthquake, and foundation engineering projects in Oregon and Washington providing technical support and managing projects through both design and construction. His responsibilities include developing and executing field investigations and laboratory testing programs, completing engineering analyses, preparing technical reports, and observing geotechnical aspects of construction. In addition to the general geotechnical engineering practice, Tadesse has extensive experience in the areas of probabilistic and deterministic seismic hazard evaluation, seismic ground motion characterization, nonlinear dynamic soil response modeling, liquefaction and lateral spread evaluation and mitigation, seismically induced ground deformation, dynamic soil-structure interaction, seismic design of foundations, seismic slope stability, development of earthquake ground motion for dynamic structural analyses, and performance-based seismic design for a wide variety of civil infrastructures.

Where is your hometown? How did it shape who you are today?
I’m originally from Ethiopia and grew up in a developing country where the basic infrastructures like roads, bridges, water lines, and power lines are extremely lacking. Therefore, I became interested in engineering from an early age with a desire to contribute to projects that involve building civil infrastructures.

What is your favorite book/article?
My favorite book is the Count of Monte Cristo, an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas in 1844 which is translated to several languages.

Favorite meal?
My favorite meal is Injera with Shiro Wat. It is a typical Ethiopian dish.

Favorite activity outside of work?
Watching European league soccer (real football), walking or hiking, and reading.

Education
PhD Civil Engineering (Geotechnical Specialty), Oregon State University
MS Water Resources Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium)
BSc Civil Engineering, Arba Minch University, Ethiopia