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Bio

Dr. Dietrich pursues research in the predictive modeling of coastal hazards, especially storm surge, flooding, and erosion along the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts. These models have been used for the design of surge mitigation systems by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for floodplain risk assessment by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and to support operational forecasting for the Department of Homeland Security. He has also applied these models in forecasting of storm surge, as well as oil transport following the BP spill in 2010.

Dr. Dietrich received three degrees from the University of Oklahoma before moving to the University of Notre Dame for his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering. Then he worked as a postdoctoral researcher and research associate for three years at the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

At NC State, Dr. Dietrich teaches courses in fluid mechanics and coastal engineering, including the undergraduate course CE 282 Hydraulics, and the graduate courses CE 580 Coastal Modeling, CE 581 Fluid Mechanics in Natural Environments, and CE 582 Coastal Hydrodynamics.

Area(s) of Expertise

Dr. Dietrich develops computational models for wind waves, coastal circulation, and storm-driven erosion, and then applies these models to high-resolution simulations of ocean behavior. His goals are to understand how coastlines are threatened during storms, how materials are transported in the coastal environment, and how to convey these hazard risks for use in decision support. His research spans the disciplines of coastal engineering and oceanography, numerical methods, computational mathematics, and high-performance computing.