Teaching

“The instruction was excellent. The professor was extremely thorough in presenting all of the relevant and most important details to effectively convey the core concepts in an efficient and easily understood manner. Ultimately he leaves the students with an extremely solid understanding of the material, an improved sense of engineering judgment, and a framework for how to implement these two for success in professional practice.”
“This was a fascinating course that I really enjoyed taking. I appreciate Prof Zekkos dedication and enthusiasm when teaching. I think this course was very applicable to work done in the geotechnical profession, and I appreciate his wealth of knowledge on the subject and about the industry. Thank you for the semester!”</>
“Professor Zekkos does an amazing job of relating classroom learning to real life problems and solutions. I am leaving this course confident in my ability to recognize problems and apply the appropriate improvement methods.”
“Overall this was a great course and I learned a lot about a wide variety of ground improvement techniques, as well as other geotechnical aspects.”

“I like the applicability of this course. I really enjoyed the way this taught and I feel like I am leaving this course with a strong improvement on my engineering skills pertaining to a field I am pursuing.”
“Excellent course!!! I found each and every lecture absolutely fascinating! I never enjoyed a class at UM as much as I did this one. Professor Zekkos was an excellent instructor. Always well prepared for class and answered all questions. The homework was for the most part reasonable difficulty. However I wish the homeworks were more design-orientated. For instance, given these parameters, design an landfill containment system etc. That would probably be my largest “issue” with the class, which isn’t really much of an issue. Once again, this was a great class – thank you for everything professor!”

“Professor Zekkos’ enthusiasm for the subject matter was often contagious. He is a great professor who cares about making sure his students truly grasp the importance of geotechnical engineering.”
“I loved having Professor Zekkos as an instructor. I usually have trouble staying awake in early classes, but had no problem paying attention in 345. His enthusiasm made me interested in geotech and I learned a lot from his class.”
“Professor Zekkos, I really liked your emphasis on thinking beyond just getting a good grade in class, and focusing on becoming a better engineer.”
“Lectures were very good. I’m sure I’ll never meet another person that likes geotech more than Prof. Zekkos. It’s nice to learn from people who love to teach their subject.”
“Very well taught so that the book wasn’t really even needed!”
“The instruction for this course has been excellent. I am learning a great deal. Professor Zekkos has done an amazing job teaching the material to our class. He is very inspirational and he is an excellent role model.”
“I really enjoyed how most everything we learned was related back to the real world and our engineering judgement. It is nice to know that we really are being prepared for the real world and not just taking classes to pass them and get good grades. The examples done in class were very helpful, and I really liked seeing pictures and receiving emails from you about Geotech happenings recently. It helped to spark my interest outside of the classroom.”

“One of the strongest points in this course is the homework. I like the homework that makes the students put theories, equations, and so on from the class into practice. Even though it takes so much time to do the homework, it is so worth for the experience in engineering practice.”
“The instruction was clear and presented in a logical manner. There seemed to be a reassuring connection between class concepts and real world applicability.”
“Very good course. I especially liked the semester project, and I learned a lot from having to do outside research on my own. It helped seeing many of the methods we discussed in class actually being used in the Publications”
“I enjoyed the method in which lectures were presented. The explanations were clear, and the explanation of concepts on the blackboard was helpful in learning the material. The homework assignments and research project were interesting and relevant. The instructor was very enthusiastic about the subject and imparted this to the students.”