Thigma Consulting consists primarily of the principal, Dr. Lynn B. Reid.  Dr. Reid received her B.S.E. in Geological Engineering from Princeton University, her M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Dundee in Scotland, and her Doctorate in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has working experience in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from hazardous waste groundwater modelling to unsaturated irrigation to vertical seismic profiles analysis to geostatistics to computer support. Dr. Reid has lived in New Jersey, Boston Massachusetts, Perth Western Australia, Sydney New South Wales, and Scotland. Thigma Consulting is now located in Chicago, Illinois, USA, a surprisingly nice city with weather that makes her glad she works indoors. For more information, you can view or download her computer-oriented or full resume.

Recently I was flattered by being asked for a copy of my doctoral thesis, "A functional inverse approach for three-dimensional characterization of subsurface contamination." I am currently working on generating a black-and-white version in Adobe PDF format, but I've got to configure all sorts of programs and sweep the cobwebs out first. You can download my first attempt, which is quite fuzzy looking but does contain all the figures (2.8MB, 232 pages). I'll work on generating more accessible versions, possibly online; check back later.

We're often asked about the rationale behind our name. Thigma is derived from the Greek root meaning "touch." Botanists may recognize the similarly derived word "thigmatropic," which describes directional growth under pressure. One joke about the name is that it is "Sigma, with a lisp." Even this interpretation is apt, if you consider Sigma to be a scientific term, and lisping to represent a softer interpretation of hard-to-understand scientific symbols. The numerological interpretation of Thigma is that of a carpenter, or construction. From a pragmatic point of view, Thigma is also short, easy to remember, and had an available web site.

The symbol in the upper left corner of the site represents a Buddhist hand gesture, or mudra. Vitarka is the symbol of rational discourse and teaching, and the force of truth. The symbols behind the links are dorjes, Tibetan Buddhist symbols. The page backgrounds are a repetition of the phrase "Om Mani Padme Hum," a Buddhist compassionate mantra.