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Geotechnical News • December 2014
www.geotechnicalnews.com
CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY NEWS
• Développement durable
Politique et réglementation,
Géorisques et fiabilité,
Communautés nordiques
Les études de cas sont sollicitées. Les
articles sur de nouvelles techniques
d’analyse, des solutions innovantes
à des problèmes et des projets de
recherche sont aussi encouragés.
Toutes questions relatives aux ses-
sions, aux thèmes et au programme
technique peuvent être posées aux
membres du comité local d’organisa-
tion de la conférence:
Pour information générale,
Jean Côté
,
Coprésident de la conférence (géo-
technique)
Michel Allard
, Coprésident de
la conférence (pergélisol)
Pour les
contributions en géotechnique,
Didier
Perret,
Coprésident du programme
technique
Pour les contributions
en géotechnique des régions froides
et sur le pergélisol, Richard Fortier,
Coprésident du programme technique
Membership Registration For
2015
Your Canadian Geotechnical Soci-
ety membership is expiring! You are
encouraged to visit the Canadian
Geotechnical Society website at
to renew your membership for
2015 as soon as possible.
Membership benefits include:
• Online access to the electronic
version of
the Canadian Geotech-
nical Journal
(published monthly)
including all past issues;
• Member pricing for print subscrip-
tions to the
Canadian Geotechni-
cal Journal
;
• A complementary print subscription
to
Geotechnical News
(four issues
annually);
• Online member access only to
past CGS conference electronic
proceedings;
• Member pricing for the CGS-spon-
sored professional development
opportunities, including the Soci-
ety’s popular Annual Conference,
to be held in Quebec City in 2015;
• Preferred member information on
CGS’s spring and fall Cross Coun-
try Lecture Tour featuring recog-
nized National and International
speakers;
• Membership in one of CGS’s
technical divisions – Soil Mechan-
ics and Foundations, Engineer-
ing Geology, Geoenvironmental,
Rock Mechanics, Geosynthetics,
Groundwater and Cold Regions;
• Complementary membership in
the International Society related
to your Division of choice, i.e.,
ISSMGE, IAEG, ISRM, IGS or
IPA. Additional memberships at
preferred second society member
pricing (CSCE, IAH, NAGS, etc.);
• Access to information from CGS’s
technical committees – Profession-
al Practice, Education, Landslides,
Transportation Geotechnique,
Heritage and Mining Geotech-
nique.
We welcome all new and renewing
members and look forward to your
participation in 2015. We are planning
several new programs this year and
encourage you to recommend a friend
or colleague to join the Canadian
Geotechnical Society so that we can
continue to improve upon the benefits
the Society offers our profession.
Members in the News
Dr. Victor Sowa, PEng, PGeo
(BC), FEIC
Canadian Geotechnical Society
Secretary General
2007 to 2014
The Secretary General of the Canadian
Geotechnical Society is the individual
responsible for the effective and
efficient management of the Society’s
affairs. Since 2007, that individual has
been Dr. Victor Sowa, the third Sec-
retary General of the Society. During
his tenure he has provided long-term
knowledge and guidance in his charac-
teristic behind-the-scenes and thor-
ough manner to four Presidents, Vice
Presidents, Executives Committees,
Boards of Directors, and conference
organizing committees. Victor has
kept the Society on an even keel and
moving forward. The Society is where
it is today, in part, due to Dr. Sowa’s
hard work and dedication. Victor is
retiring as Secretary General at the end
of 2014, and at GeoRegina 2014 was
briefly recognized and presented with
a CGS
A.G. Stermac Award
. The fol-
lowing is a little background about our
soon-to-be-retired Secretary General.
Professionally, Victor received his BSc
in Civil Engineering from the Univer-
sity of Alberta and then, as an Athlone
Fellow, went on to graduate studies
at Imperial College of Science and
Technology in 1959, obtaining a DIC
from the Imperial College, and then
obtaining his PhD in Soil Mechan-
ics from the University of London in
1963. His thesis was
“A Comparison
of the Effect of Isotropic and Aniso-
tropic Consolidation on the Shear
Behaviour of a Clay”
, supervised by
Dr. Skempton.
During his professional career, Victor
worked as a geotechnical consultant
with Acres International, Niagara
Victor Sowa.