King Chin

PE

Performance-Based Design Discipline Lead, Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Fate led me to this line of work.

Hired

  • 1998

Location

  • Redmond, WA

“Fate led me to this line of work,” King muses, recounting his twisted career path. As part of a high school career counseling process, King underwent a physical exam. The exam revealed that he was color blind, ruling out electrical engineering, one of his long-time career interests. King’s counselor recommended civil engineering as the next-best fit. After a civil engineering degree, King was intrigued by structural engineering, but when he applied to graduate school, the closest assistantship he could get was in geotechnical engineering. King accepted the fateful assistantship offer, which led him to the engineering specialty he enjoys today.

At GeoEngineers, King is a principal geotechnical engineer with business development and project management roles. He often leads numerical and earthquake engineering projects that require highly technical analysis of complex soil-structure interaction problems. King cites one project as an example of the level of innovation and outside-the-box thinking GeoEngineers encourages. “The Olive 8 shoring design project is a poster child of a project, demonstrating great collaboration between the owner and consultants to develop a highly technical and innovative engineering solution by considering cost-benefit-risk effects.”

In his free time, King turns his attention to relaxing. “I love going to parks with my wife and my dog. I like hanging out with friends, sharing stories and drinking beers. I enjoy playing golf and doing exercises that will help me stay in shape—at least that is what I think, but the beer drinking is winning the battle!”

 

Articles
  • “Evaluation of Seismic Response of a Class F Site Using Equivalent Linear and Nonlinear Computer Codes,” by King Chin, Braydan DuRee and Whitney Trent, presented at the 5th International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics, San Diego, CA, May 2011
  • “Design of Permanent Soil Nail Walls Using Numerical Modeling Techniques,” presented at the Earth Retention Conference 3, Bellevue, WA, August 2010
  • “Design and Construction of an Innovative Shoring System at a Challenging Urban Site in Seattle, Washington,” by Shaun Stauffer and King Chin, presented at the Earth Retention Conference 3, Bellevue, WA, August 2010
  • “Procedures for New Wharf Design,” by Pooja Jain, Dave Phelps and King Chin, presented at ASCE 2010 Ports Conference, Jacksonville, FL, April 2010
  • “Comparison of Panama Wharf Performance Using Numerical Analysis and Limit Equilibrium Methods,” by King Chin, presented at Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics IV, Sacramento, CA, May 2008

Selected Project Experience

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