Shawn P. Kelley, Ph.D., an associate with GeoDesign Inc., has been named a Governor of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Region 1. Region 1 covers all of New England, New York, New Jersey, and Puerto Rico. Founded in 1852, ASCE represents more than 146,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. Mr. Kelley, a firm shareholder who works out of GeoDesign’s Windsor, VT office, manages civil engineering projects related to geotechnical engineering. He specializes in earth retention and slope stabilization projects, deep and shallow foundation design, geotechnical instrumentation, and in-situ soil testing. Mr. Kelley also manages GeoDesign’s soil testing laboratory in the company’s Vermont office. He has served on the Board of the Directors for the Vermont Section of ASCE for several years, including a two-year term as president from 2007-2009. Mr. Kelley also serves on the ASCE national Web Advisory Task Committee. Mr. Kelley holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Established in 1995, GeoDesign, with offices in Vermont, Connecticut and New York, is a privately held engineering consulting firm that completes environmental investigation and remediation projects, geotechnical projects and construction engineering services throughout the Northeast for private clients, industry, developers, contractors and municipalities.
The UMASS chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) held their 2nd Annual 5K Run For Water on October 3rd. The 5K road race which started at the Visitors Center and looped around the campus kicked off EWB’s fundraising efforts for the 2009-2010 school year. The group made $500, which will go toward funding their projects in western Kenya and Assis Brasil, Brazil. In both projects EWB students work with communities to help them improve the quality of the community water sources. This past summer, six EWB students traveled to the Village of Namawanga in Kenya and constructed two spring boxes. The Brazil Project team is currently working on a new spring box and hand pump design that can be constructed entirely out of materials easily available to the rubber tappers of Assis Brasil. The major fundraising event for EWB takes place in May with the annual EWB Auction Night. Auction Night attendees enjoy music, food and entertainment while bidding on items donated by area businesses and residents. To learn more about Engineers Without Borders and their projects and events you can go to www.ecs.umass.edu/ewb.
Jodi Ozdarski, the academic assistant in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, is the 2009 recipient of the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award. Since arriving at UMass Amherst as a typist in 1985, she rose through the ranks to become the CEE’s academic assistant in 2001. In that capacity she supports the department’s complex efforts during the ABET reviews, maintains student files, produces the undergraduate handbook and faculty advising guide, advises graduate students, works with the graduate program directors, coordinates the department’s semiannual Career Fairs, and helps with the CEE Open House. As one of her award recommendation letters comments, “Jodi performs all these tasks with a level of professionalism, sense of obligation, and joyful spirit that is beyond admirable.”
Other remarks in the sheaf of recommendation letters from colleagues and faculty members back up this statement 100 percent. They variously refer to Ozdarski as “an indispensable staff member,” “knowledgeable, efficient, yet patient and extremely well-liked,” and “positive, insightful, and responsive.” Her commitment is also referred to as “legendary,” and she is noted for her “personal interest in all the students.”
One telling comment sums up the scores of compliments heaped upon her in the recommendation letters: “Jodi is that rare individual who continues to grow in her job, finds every day exciting, and discovers new and welcomed ways to make the lives of others better.”
The list of other college award winners, honored earlier in the year, is as follows: Cheryl Brooks, Director of Career Planning and Student Development, Chancellor’s Citation; William Leonard, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Outstanding Teaching Award; Hossein Pishro-Nik, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Barbara H. and Joseph I. Goldstein Outstanding Junior Faculty Award; Massimo Fischetti, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and Dimitrios Maroudas, Chemical Engineering Department, Senior Faculty Awards. (September 2009)
SAN ANTONIO, TX—The University of Massachusetts Amherst was recognized as the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) 2009 Student Chapter Award recipient at the ITE 2009 Annual Meeting and Exhibit, held August 9–12, in San Antonio, TX, USA. The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s student chapter was recognized for its outstanding chapter organization, activities and efforts to foster the close association of students with practicing professionals. David Hurwitz and Sam Gregorio accepted the award. Each year ITE sponsors an awards program to honor outstanding achievement in transportation engineering and distinguished service to ITE. The awards bestow international recognition upon the recipients and increase the public's awareness of the role and responsibilities of the transportation professional. The purpose of the Student Chapter Award is to encourage student chapters to achieve the objectives set forth in their charter and to provide a means for ITE to recognize outstanding accomplishments in such activities. ITE is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting mobility and safety needs. ITE facilitates the application of technology and scientific principles to research, planning, functional design, implementation, operation, policy development and management for any mode of ground transportation. Through its products and services, ITE promotes professional development of its members, supports and encourages education, stimulates research, develops public awareness programs and serves as a conduit for the exchange of professional information. Founded in 1930, ITE is a community of transportation professionals including, but not limited to transportation engineers, transportation planners, consultants, educators and researchers. Through meetings, seminars, publications and a network of nearly 17,000 members, working in more than 90 countries, ITE is your source for expertise, knowledge and ideas. For a complete listing of all of ITE’s 2009 award winners, visit the ITE Web site at http://www.ite.org/AnnualMeeting.
(from http://ite.org)
Civil Engineering alumni Amy Cerato has been named by President Barack Obama as one of 100 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. Amy Cerato, A.M.ASCE., assistant professor in the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science within the College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma, receives the highest national honor bestowed on young professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Cerato is motivated by the dual challenges posed by today's crumbling infrastructure and an aging civil engineering profession. "We must encourage young students to consider careers in civil engineering," she said. "We need highly educated civil engineers to combat (our) aging infrastructure and population expansion." Cerato received a PhD in Civil Engineering (Geotechnical) from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in February of 2005. Her dissertation was titled Scale Effects of Shallow Foundation-Bearing Capacity on Granular Material.
(From http://asce.org)
