GEOSTRATA, 2015, January/February, 14

Virginia Tech Hosts Ninth Annual Schnabel Engineering Lecture

Virginia Tech welcomed Karen Durham- Aguilera, PE, director of contingency operations for the Office of Homeland Security, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as she presented the Ninth Annual Schnabel Engineering Lecture on November 4, 2014. Durham-Aguilera brings over 34 years of experience to the engineering profession, and has contributed to the field not only in the U.S., but in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

In recent years, Durham-Aguilera has served as the emergency manager for federal engineer disaster relief efforts for major natural disasters. She has also participated in numerous public speaking engagements, technical forums, and multimedia events.

During the lecture, she spoke of how her civil engineering degree prepared her for future opportunities that would arise throughout her career. The degree provided a broad foundation on which she built to help shape national responses to some of the most challenging events of our era.

University of New Hampshire Becomes GSO

The G-I welcomes its 24th Graduate Student Organization — the University of New Hampshire.

New Hampshire’s Mission Statement states that it will be a “student-led body that functions to enhance the educational and personal experience of students in geotechnical engineering at the University of New Hampshire.” One of the GSO’s main commitments will be striving to increase student awareness of the geotechnical engineering profession. The GSO will also work to engage the undergraduate civil engineering population at the University of New Hampshire by promoting participation in student activities organized by the Geo-Institute. The GSO’s chair is Erin Santini Bell at erin. bell@unh.edu.