He received a B.S. in civil, urban and geosystem engineering from the Seoul National University in Korea. He was awarded an M.S. in the same institute with an emphasis on rock mechanics and rock engineering in 2002. Upon completion of his M.S. degree, he worked as a geotechnical engineer in Korea Infrastructure Safety and Technology Corporation until 2003. He then started his Ph.D. studies in civil engineering with a specialty in geotechnical engineering at Purdue University in 2004 and obtained a Ph.D. degree in 2012. During this period, he worked for Fugro, a renowned geotechnical consulting firm, as a senior project engineer from 2009 to 2012. Seo's research expertise and interests lie in the areas of: