Columbia University was the birth place for the world's first geotechnical centrifuge. Bucky, a professor of the School of Mines, published his works on the  Use of Models for the Study of Mining Problems in 1931 and additional papers in 1934 and 1935.

• Bucky, P.B. (1931). "Use of models for the study of mining problems." Technical Publication No. 425, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 3-28.
• Bucky, P.B. and Fentress, A.L. (1934). "Application of principles of similitude to design of mine workings."  Technical Publication No. 529, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 3-20.
• Bucky, P.B., Solakian, A.G., and Baldin, L.S. (1935). "Centrifugal method of testing models." Civil Engineering, 5(5), 287-290.
• Demonstration in 1939?

The centrifuge is now making way back to Columbia University. We have installed a 200g centrifuge, which was donated by the largest construction firm from Japan: Kajima Corporation. This is one of the first-rate centrifuges among the US universities, in terms of size and capacity. The centrifuge is housed in the basement of Carleton Laboratory, sitting on the rock foundation. The available space is just big enough to house the machine.