Southern Illinois University Edwardsville research assistant Siavash Zamiran has been awarded the inaugural GeoConfluence Research Scholarship from the St. Louis Chapter of the Geo-Institute of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He was recognized during GeoConfluence, the association’s annual conference, on Friday, Nov. 4 in St. Charles, Mo.
Zamiran is a doctoral candidate in the SIUE School of Engineering’s Cooperative PhD Program in Engineering Science with Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The scholarship will support his dissertation research, “Seismic Investigations of Retaining Wall Structures.”
“This scholarship funding will be used for developing a program that assists engineers through the nation to design retaining walls based on earthquake characteristics in their specific seismic zone” said Zamiran. “My future professional goal is to continue engineering research with experimental and numerical studies, and increase my publications in conferences and scientific journals. I would like to be active in different areas of geotechnical engineering in both academic and industrial environments.”
The GeoConfluence Research Scholarship promotes research in the field of geotechnical/geoenvironmental engineering, particularly that which will benefit the state of practice in the Midwest and can be implemented by regional engineers.
Zamiran’s extensive research activity during his doctoral studies includes the study of retaining walls’ behavior during earthquakes, subsidence and stability evaluation of Illinois coal mines, and the study of levees due to flooding and soil erosion, among other projects.
The scholarship includes up to $3,000 to be used for specific educational tools and equipment, materials and travel needed to fulfill a thesis/dissertation. As part of the award, Zamiran will present his research results at a future GeoConfluence conference.
Photo: (L-R) Siavash Zamiran, doctoral candidate and GeoConfluence Research Scholarship recipient, Pravin Jha, chairman of the GeoConfluence Research Scholarship Subcommittee, Kord Wissmann, president of Geo-Institute, and Sandeep Goud Burra, scholarship recipient.