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David W. Sykora, Ph.D., P.E., G.E.

Principal Engineer

Civil Engineering

Professional Profile


Dr. Sykora specializes in geotechnical engineering and earthquake engineering, including the evaluation of natural hazards, construction defects, system performance, and failures. He has a wide range of project experience including planning studies, building code development, feasibility assessments, engineering analyses, geotechnical design, construction monitoring, geotechnical monitoring, performance evaluations, risk evaluations, and failure analyses for reservoir dams, mine tailings dams, levees, embankments, flood control channels, basins, pressurized and gravity pipelines, commercial buildings, hospitals, schools, manufacturing facilities, natural gas transportation systems and crude oil refineries, a nuclear power plant, gaseous diffusion plants, retaining and revetment walls, soil nail and soil screw walls, bridges, highways, parks, recreation areas, and residential developments. He has experience with drilling and sampling, mass grading, micro-tunneling, slope stability and landslides, expansive soil response, collapsible soil, failures in sensitive saprolite and stiff fissured clays, sinkholes, internal soil erosion (“piping”), loss of lateral support, ground vibrations, foundation design, earth pressures, soil settlement, slope creep, moisture intrusion, earthquake ground shaking, liquefaction, lateral spread, soil-structure interaction, soil-slab interaction, soil-pipe interaction, fly ash amendment, and differing site conditions.

Dr. Sykora earned a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. His major area of study is geotechnical and earthquake engineering. He currently serves as a part-time graduate lecturer on Advanced Foundation Engineering at California Polytechnic University at Pomona.

Dr. Sykora’s professional background includes a combined 25 years of experience as a consulting engineer and in applied government research at the former U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Geotechnical Laboratory. He is a licensed professional engineer in 11 states and licensed geotechnical engineer in California. He has worked on projects in 25 states. He has provided professional design review services under professional contract to a number of municipalities including Malibu, West Hollywood, and Rancho Palos Verdes. Dr. Sykora has international experience on five continents in Canada, Venezuela, Peru, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, Panama, and Egypt. His professional career has benefited from extensive involvement in, and leadership of, multi-disciplinary teams, including working closely with engineering geologists, hydrologists, structural engineers, mechanical engineers, materials engineers, architects, electrical engineers, instrumentation specialists, seismologists and geophysicists.

Dr. Sykora has published hundreds of project reports, over fifty technical articles, and has made scores of oral technical presentations.

  • Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Texas, Austin, 1993
  • M.S., Engineering (Geotechnical), University of Texas, Austin, 1983
  • B.S., Civil Engineering, Purdue University, 1980
  • Chi Epsilon
  • Sigma Xi

    • Geotechnical Engineer, California, #GE2399
    • Professional Engineer (Civil), California, #C54650
    • Professional Engineer, Arizona, #39650
    • Professional Engineer, Colorado, #PE-39008
    • Professional Engineer, Hawaii, #12034-C
    • Professional Engineer, Idaho, #10890
    • Professional Engineer, Illinois, #062-058097
    • Professional Engineer, Louisiana, #33328
    • Professional Engineer, Missouri, #PE-2004001383
    • Professional Engineer, Nevada, #13789
    • Professional Engineer, New Mexico, #17339
    • Professional Engineer, Texas, #100949
    • Professional Engineer, Utah, #6929147-2202

    • California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Graduate School Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering