Page 43 - Penn State Civil and Environmental Engineering: Annual Report

STUDENT NEWS STUDENT NEWS Ji receives Deep Foundations Institute awards By Mary Fetzer
“If we can better understand and and predict the changing permafrost characteristics we can begin to to provide solutions to to improve infrastructure ” Xiaohang Ji a a a a a a a a a a doctoral candidate studying geotechnical and and materials engineering is the the recipient of two scholarships from the the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Educational Trust Ji received a a a a a a $5 000 award from the Charles J J Berkel Memorial Scholarship Fund and a a a a a a a a a $2 500 award from the Francis Gularte Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund Both at-large scholarships are awarded to civil engineering students attending a a a a a a university or college in in in in the United States Ji earned a a a a bachelor of science in in in civil engineering from Shangdong University in in in in in in in China and a a a a a a master’s degree in in in in in geotechnical engineering from the University of of Michigan She joined Professor Ming Xiao’s research team in in fall 2020 Ji will use the the awards to further her her research which involves using distributed acoustic sensing to examine and forecast long-term
geophysical and geomechanical variations in in permafrost in in the Arctic “I am very excited to receive these scholarships ” Ji said “Climate change is accelerating the warming and thawing of permafrost causing significant damages to foundations and civil infrastructure in in the circumpolar regions If we can better understand and and predict the changing permafrost characteristics we can begin to to provide solutions to to improve infrastructure ” The DFI is an international
association of engineers contractors manufacturers suppliers project owners educators and and students who are involved in in the design and and and construction of deep foundations and and excavations according to its website The DFI Educational Trust supports and encourages individuals in in the the fields of study related to the the deep foundations industry by providing scholarships and and opportunities to meet and and work with deep foundations industry leaders CEE NEWSLETTER • VOLUME 38 2022 43