Kim de Rubertis Student Scholarship Awards

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Applications for the 2023 Kim de Rubertis Student Scholarship Awards Now Open!

Application deadline extended until February 13, 2023

To foster career paths for young professionals, the USSD Scholarship Award program looks to award undergraduate and graduate students in the field of dams, levees, and water resources; and provide opportunities in professional organizations.

The scholarship award is given annually to students whose academic program and plans have the potential to develop practical solutions to design and construction challenges related to dams, levees and other water resources.

 

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Four scholarships were presented during the 2022 USSD Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Diego, CA:

Lucas Rivera, MS, New Mexico State University, $10,000 – Field Scaling of Enzyme-Induced Carbonate Precipitation for Erosion Control in Sloping Ground
Brittany Russo, PhD, University of California, Berkeley, $8,000 – Non-invasive Levee Health Monitoring using Data Fusion and Machine Learning for Infrastructure Resiliency against Climate Change
Jason Poff, BS, Brigham Young University, $7,000 – Stream Slope Map to Predict Drowning Potential at Low-head Dams
Irene Liou, PhD, University of California, Davis, $5,000 – Decision-making framework for seismic safety of dams given large uncertainties

 

Scholarships Sponsored By

AECOM
ASI Group
Barnard Construction
Bechtel
Black & Veatch
Canary Systems
Carpi Tech
CEATI
Flow 3D Hydro
Forgen
Freese and Nichols
Gannett Fleming
GEI Consultants
Geosyntec
KC Construction
Kiewit
Kleinschmidt
McMillan Jacobs
Terra Insights (Measurand)
RIZZO
Schnabel Engineering
Slate Geotechnical
WEST Consultants
Worthington Products
Tiffany Adams
John France
Greg Paxson
Mike Rogers

Previous Recipients

Four scholarships were presented during the 2021 USSD Virtual Conference:

   

Jingwen He, University of Texas, Austin, Ph.D. Civil Engineering, $5,000 – Development of Seismic Fragility Relationships for Earth Dams

 

     

Francisco HumireGuarachi, University of California, Davis, Ph.D. Geotechnical Engineering, $5,000 – Effect of Gradation and Grain Size on the Liquefaction Behavior of Coarse-Grained Soils

 

         

Julia Loshelder, University of Arkansas, Ph.D Civil Engineering, $5,000 – Remote Sensing Methods to Monitor the Change in Water Content in Dams

 

         

Golsa Mahdavi, University of Colorado, Boulder, Ph.D. Civil (Structural) Engineering, $5,000 – Deterioration of Concrete Dams from Alkali Aggregate Reaction

Four scholarships were presented during the 2019 USSD Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, IL:

 Jack Cadigan, Louisiana State University – $5,600 Design Trends and Guidance for Substratum Pressure Relief Wells for Dams and Levees Using Computational Methods

 

Amy Getchell, Purdue University – $4,800 Alternative Use of Synthetic Nanoclay for Permeation Grouting in Dam and Levee Engineering

 

Michael Kiernan, Auburn University – $4,800 Improving Methods to Evaluate the Effect of Strain-Softening Clays on the Stability of Dams

 

 

Tyler Oathes, University of California Davis – $4,800 Implementing the Effect of Strain-Rate on Strain-Softening Clays into Nonlinear Dynamic Analyses

Four scholarships were presented during the 2018 USSD Annual Conference and Exhibition in Miami, FL:

El Hachemi Bouali, Michigan Technological University – $8,000   Numerical Analysis of Embankment and Berm Settlement based on InSAR Remote Sensing Measurements

 

Sean Salazar, University of Arkansas – $6,000  Satellite Based Radar Remote Sensing for Monitoring of Dams

 

Carolyne Bocovich, Colorado School of Mines – $4000  Investigation of Backwards Erosion by Data Driven Modeling

 

Johnathan Blanchard, University of Arkansas –  $2,000 Relative Humidity Inhibitive Coatings for the Reduction of Degradation Caused by Active Alkali-Aggregate Reactions in Dams 

 

 

Scholarship Finalists-1

 

Four scholarships were presented during the 2017 USSD Annual Conference and Exhibition in Anaheim, California;

  • Sean Salazar, University of Arkansas
    Remote Sensing for Monitoring of Dams, $10,000
  • Jennifer Ostrowsky, Utah State University
    Evaluating the Ductility, Volumetric Stiffness and Permeability of Soil‐Cement for Cut‐off Wall Backfill Materials, $3,000
  • Kalie Poston, Tennessee Technological University
    Parametric Study of Levee Saturation for Undrained Rapid Drawdown Analysis, $1,000
  • Carolyne Bocovich, Colorado School of Mines
    Investigation of Backwards Piping Erosion by Data Driven Modeling, $1,000

 

Two scholarships were presented during the 2016 Annual Meeting and Conference in Denver.

scholarship

Ali Asghari Tabrizi, a PhD Candidate at the University of South Carolina, received a $10,000 scholarship to support his research, Collection of Perishable Data and Numerical Investigation of Earthen Embankment Failures during the 2015 South Carolina Flood.

Timothy Koch, State University of New York, received a $1,000 scholarship to support his research, Remote Detection and Characterization of Dams using LiDAR Elevation Data.

 

Four scholarships were presented during the 2015 Annual Meeting and Conference in Louisville during April.

Lourdes Boulware, a PhD student at Utah State University, received a $10,000 scholarship to support her research, Modeling Geomorphic Features in Levee Reliability Analyses.

Ryan Meier, University of Southern California; Alexander Sturm, University of California, Davis; and Ali Asghari Tabrizi, University of South Carolina, received $1,000 scholarships.

Four scholarships were presented during the 2014 Annual Meeting and Conference in San Francisco during April.

Beena Ajmera, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, received a $10,000 scholarship to support her research, Cyclic Shear Strength Characteristics of Cohesive Materials.

Matthew W. George, Brigham Young University; Jonathan F. Hubler, University of Michigan; and Christopher Krage, University of California, Davis, received $1,000 scholarships.

Three scholarships were awarded during February 2013.

Michael F. George, University of California, Berkeley, received a $10,000 scholarship to support his research, Scour of Discontinuous Blocky Rock.

Allison G. Danner, Oregon State University, and Minal L. Parekh, Colorado School of Mines, received $1,000 scholarships.

Three scholarships were awarded on April 25.

Mark S. Raleigh, a graduate student at the University of Washington, received a $10,000 scholarship to support his research, Improving Representation of High-Elevation Snowpack for Summer Water Supply Forecasting.

Allison G. Danner, Oregon State University, and Jack A. Montgomery, University of California, Davis, received $1,000 scholarships.

Three scholarships were awarded on April 13.

Adam J. Lobbestael, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, received a $10,000 scholarship to support his research, Using Engineered Cementitious Composites to Enhance Risk Mitigation for Levee Systems.

Clinton Carlson, University of Michigan, and Julie A. Vano, University of Washington, received $1,000 scholarships.

Three scholarships were awarded on April 14.

Tiffany E. Adams, Virginia Tech, received a $10,000 scholarship to support her research, Stability of Levees with Deep Mixed Shear Walls.

Jack Montgomery, University of California, Davis, and Ryan Van Leuven, Utah State University, received $1,000 scholarships.