Engineering honors
Two civil engineering graduate students win national scholarships
10:49 a.m., Dec. 18, 2015--Two civil engineering students at the University of Delaware have won competitive national scholarships from the International Association of Foundation Drilling.
Will Baker has been named the Teri Dres Scholar, and Brian Lowe has been recognized as the Michael W. O’Neill Scholar. Both are first-year master’s students in the research group of Christopher Meehan, associate professor and holder of the Bentley Systems Incorporated Chair in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Honors Stories
National Medal of Science
Warren Award
Meehan’s research expertise lies in geotechnical engineering, the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. This specialty area has broad application to structures built on the earth or using earth materials, such as foundations, retaining walls, pavement subgrades, dams and levees.
Lowe, who earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at UD in 2015, is investigating thermal effects on an instrumented Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Integrated Bridge System (GRS-IBS).
A relatively new technology designed to save both time and money in bridge replacement, GRS-IBS is part of the Federal Highway Administration’s “Every Day Counts” initiative for rapid replacement of deteriorating infrastructure in a fashion that emphasizes efficient allocation of resources.
Baker, a current doctoral student who is also a 2015 UD graduate in civil engineering, is conducting research on Continuous Compaction Control and Intelligent Compaction (CCC/IC). The goal of these technologies is to revolutionize how soils and asphalts are compacted in the field, improving the quality of compaction and the long-term performance of roadways and other geotechnical structures while reducing the need for continuous technician monitoring during compaction.
“It’s especially impressive that two of our students received these competitive, merit-based scholarships this year,” says Meehan. “They benefit from not only the financial support provided for their graduate studies but also the professional connections they make through the IAFD.”
About the International Association of Foundation Drilling
The International Association of Foundation Drilling is an organization of specialty sub-contractors, manufacturers, suppliers and engineers working in the anchored earth retention, drilled shaft, micropile and other related industries.
Over the past 27 years, 321 graduate studies scholarships have been awarded. This year, 17 scholarships were awarded to civil engineering students from various universities across the country.
Article by Diane Kukich
Photo by Evan Krape