Since 1999, the Ralph B. Peck Award from the ASCE Geo-Institute has recognized outstanding contributions to the geotechnical engineering profession through the publication of “thoughtful, carefully researched case history or histories, or the publication of recommended practices or design methodologies based on the evaluation of case histories.”

IGS North America congratulates chapter member and former IGS President, Dr. Jorge Zornberg, P.E., F. ASCE, who was selected as the 2024 Peck Award Winner. Dr. Zornberg presented the lecture in Vancouver, British Columbia during GeoCongress 2024.  See a video of it below.

Dr. Zornberg holds the Brunswick-Abernathy Regents Professorship in Soil Dynamics & Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He has over 35 years of experience in research and practice in geotechnical, geosynthetics, transportation, and geoenvironmental engineering. In 2023, he recognized with Honorary Membership in IGS North America–one of only five members to achieve this honor since the chapter’s founding in 1988,

The GSI Board of Directors has made their selections for this year’s GSI Fellowship awards from a number of proposals from universities around the world. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students studying geosynthetics. Requests for proposals (RFP’s) for the upcoming seventh year of the program will be announced this winter. In order to be eligible, students must focus on a geosynthetic topic, have passed their candidacy examination, and be recommended by their advisor. The recipients for the 2013–2014 GSI Fellowship Awards are as follows:

• Class 6(a) — 1st Year Funding at $10,000 per Student

  No.: 1-13

  Name: Jongwan Eun

  University: University of Wisconsin

  Advisor: Craig Benson

  Topic: Transport Parameters in Coextruded Geomembrane Containing Ethylene Vinyl-Alcohol

   

  No.: 2-13

  Name: Yu Qian

  University: University of Illinois

  Advisor: Erol Tutumluer

  Topic: Geogrid-Ballast Interaction and Geogrid Application in Railroad Reinforcement using Image-aided Discrete Element Method

• Class 5(b) — 2nd Year Funding at $5,000 per Student

  No.: 2-12

  Name: Xunchang Fei

  University: University of Michigan

  Advisor: Dimitrios Zekkos

  Topic: Impact of Municipal Solid Waste Biodegradation on Separator Geotextile

• Class 4(c) — 3rd Year Funding at $5000 per Student

  No.: 3-11

  Name: Felix Jacobs

  University: RWTH Aachen University

  Advisor: Martin Ziegler

  Topic: Large Scale Biaxial Compression Testing of Geogrid Reinforced Soil

Please contact Jamie Koerner at jrkoerner@verizon.net for additional information on the students and their respective projects or go to www.geosynthetic-institute.org/gsifellows.htm for a complete history of the fellowship program.

At the recent ASTM Meeting in Indianapolis several NAGS Members received awards.

• ASTM International President’s Award (Awarded to a person who has less than 7 years activity in ASTM and has made major contributions to the committee(s) they are members of.) Selected by the President of the Society.
  Awarded to:
  Dr. John McCartney for 2012. for work Committee D18 on Soil and Rock Committee
  D18 Committee on Soil and Rock Awards

• Hogentogler Award (Best paper award)
  Fawzy M. Ezzein and Richard J. Bathurst – For “A Transparent Sand for Geotechnical Laboratory Modeling,” ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal, vol.34, No. 6 (Nov 2011), pp 590-601.

• A. Ivan Johnson Outstanding Achievement Award
  L. David.Suits– For Service as Editor of the Geotechnical Testing Journal

Prof. John S. McCartney – 2013 ASTM Award Winner

John S. McCartney, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo., has been announced as the recipient of the 2013 President’s Leadership Award from ASTM International. The President’s Leadership Award recognizes individuals early in their ASTM career who have significantly advanced the Society’s mission through extraordinary accomplishment, example and vision, and is presented to two ASTM members annually. This year’s other recipient is William C. Griese, standards development and green initiative manager at the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) in Anderson, S.C. McCartney has served on Committees D18 on Soil and Rock and D35 on Geosynthetics.

As well we are proud to have John as a long standing Member of NAGS and as the Co-Chair of the Student Activities for GeoAmericas 2016 – the 3rd Pan-American Regional Conference on Geosynthetics.  Congratulations and thanks to John from NAGS!