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Special Lectures

H. Bolton Seed Award Lecture

Sunday, February 25 | 5:00 – 6:30 pm

Insights on Seismic Soil-Structure Interaction for Bridges from Large-Scale Field Tests

Kyle M. Rollins, Ph.D., M.ASCEKyle M. Rollins, Ph.D., M.ASCE

Kyle M. Rollins, Ph.D., M.ASCE received his BS degree from Brigham Young University and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. After working as a geotechnical consultant, he joined the Civil Engineering faculty at BYU in 1987, following his father who was previously a geotechnical professor. He has supervised more than 130 graduate students and published over 190 papers.

His research has involved liquefaction assessment of gravels, lateral resistance of piles and pile groups, passive resistance of bridge abutments, lightweight cellular concrete for retaining structures, and various soil improvement techniques. His studies typically include full-scale testing to determine “ground truth” behavior. With an apparent love for high energy environments, Prof. Rollins studied dynamic compaction for treating collapsible soils. He pioneered the use of blast-induced liquefaction to evaluate lateral pile resistance and downdrag in liquefied sand. He also used a Statnamic “rocket sled” to evaluate the dynamic resistance of pile groups and drilled shafts.

Prof. Rollins was the chair of the Geo-Institute technical committee on soil improvement, and ASCE has recognized his work with the Huber research award, the Wellington prize, and the Wallace Hayward Baker award. In 2009, he was the Cross-Canada Geotechnical lecturer for the Canadian Geotechnical Society. More recently, he received the Utah Governor’s medal for science and technology and the Osterberg Innovation Award from the Deep Foundation Institute.

Shamsher Prakash Lecture

Monday, February 26 | 5:00 – 6:30 pm

What Spatial Area Influence Seismic Site Response

Brady R. Cox, PhD, PEBrady R. Cox, PhD, P.E.

Dr. Cox is a Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Utah State University (USU). Prior to joining Utah State, he served on the faculty of The University of Texas for eight years and The University of Arkansas for six years. Dr Cox specializes in issues related to seismic design and in-situ site characterization for major civil infrastructure projects and critical nuclear facilities.

His research efforts combine experimental field testing with computational analyses for subsurface imaging purposes and multi-dimensional seismic wave propagation simulations. He has led teams deployed to collect seismic site characterization data at ground motion recording stations, soil liquefaction sites, and structural failures following significant earthquakes in the U.S. and around the world (e.g., Ecuador, Haiti, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Turkey).

Dr Cox is a recipient of the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers (PECASE), which he received in a ceremony at the White House from President Barack Obama. He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and has taught eight different courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels at three different universities.

Karl Terzaghi Lecture

Tuesday, February 27 | 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

Soil Models in Prediction, Design and Geotechnical Problem Solving

Andrew J. Whittle, Sc.D., P.E., P.Eng, NAE, FICE, F.ASCEAndrew J. Whittle, Sc.D., P.E., P.Eng, NAE, FICE, F.ASCE

Andrew J. Whittle is the Edmund K. Turner Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. His research deals with the development of constitutive models for soil behavior and their application in predicting the performance of foundations and underground construction projects. He has also carried out extensive research on wireless sensor networks for monitoring underground infrastructure notably in the detection and localization of leaks in water pipe networks and was Chief Scientific Advisor for Visenti Pte. (now a Xylem Brand company).

He is a licensed professional engineer (PE, New York State and P.Eng., Alberta) and an active consultant who has worked on more than 30 major onshore and offshore construction projects. He was an expert involved in the investigations into the collapse of the Nicoll Highway in Singapore and has also served on review panels for hurricane protection systems in New Orleans (NRC), ‘stem-to-stern’ safety of the Big Dig tunnels (Boston), and causes of construction delays for the XRL project (Hong Kong). He served on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, 2009-2015.

Dr Whittle is a Co-Editor of the International Journal of Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics (since 1999). He has published more than 260 papers in refereed journals and conferences and received several awards for his research work and papers from the American Society of Civil Engineers, is an Honorary Professor at Tsinghua University (2019) and was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2010. He was a CGS Cross-Canada Lecturer (2007) and the ASCE-GI Cross-USA lecturer (2018). He is scheduled to present the 61st ASCE Karl Terzaghi Lecture (2024).

Ralph B. Peck Lecture

Wednesday, February 28 | 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Roadways on Expansive Clays: Characterizing the Problem and Solving it with Geosynthetics

Jorge G. Zornberg, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCEJorge G. Zornberg, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE

Prof. Zornberg has over 35 years of experience in practice and research in geotechnical and geosynthetics engineering. His research focuses on transportation geotechnics, environmental geotechnics, geosynthetics, unsaturated soils, and expansive clays.

From 2010 to 2014, Prof. Zornberg served as president of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS). He served the Geo-Institute of ASCE in numerous roles, including chair of its Geosynthetics Technical Committee, its 2017 Geo-Congress, and its International Activities Council. He has authored over 550 technical publications, written several book chapters, and been awarded three patents. Prof. Zornberg received numerous prestigious awards, including the Mercer Lecture, ASCE’s Croes Medal, the IGS Award, ASCE’s Collingwood Prize, as well as the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) awarded by the President of the United States. In 2019, the IGS established the “Zornberg Lecture,” an honorary lecture recognizing his contributions to the discipline of geosynthetics.

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