Geotechnical News • June 2018
17
CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY NEWS
C I GE TEC IC L S CIETY NE S
used by communities and practitioners
across the province. Throughout his
career, Mike has worked with a variety
of government agencies, regional
health authorities, industry, and aca-
demia on groundwater resource man-
agement projects, striving to achieve
balance between science and practical-
ity of solutions. He has steadily and
purposefully worked to ensure that
all stakeholders in the groundwater
industry are engaged and feel that their
contributions are recognized.
For his professionalism, leadership,
and profound contributions to the
protection of British Columbia’s and
Canada’s groundwater resources, the
CGS Groundwater Division and the
IAH-CNC are pleased to award
Mike
Wei
with the 2017
Robert N Far-
volden Award
.”
2017 CGS Awards -
G. Geoffrey Award
Dr. Arvid Lanva
Dr. Arvid Landva
was the winner
of the 2017 G. Geoffrey Meyerhof
Award of the CGS’s Soil Mechanics
and Foundations Division. Established
in 1993, this award honours Professor
Meyerhof (1916-2003), the first Presi-
dent of the CGS, for his outstanding
life-long contributions to the profes-
sion and the CGS, and for his numer-
ous achievements that have received
worldwide recognition.
Arvid’s citation reads: “A long-time
and noted figure in the world of
geotechnical engineering,
Professor
Arvid Landva
has made extensive
and significant contributions towards
the advancement of geotechnical
engineering, both academically at the
University of New Brunswick and as
a senior geotechnical consultant with
Jacques Whitford.
For nearly three decades, Dr. Landva
taught courses in basic and advanced
soil mechanics and embankments,
mentoring students and bringing criti-
cal “out of the box” thinking to his
multitude of projects, both inside and
outside of academia.
In earlier years, he made major con-
tributions to the classification of peat
and the evaluation design and analysis
of foundations seated on these difficult
materials. In later years, he started
ground-breaking research in the area
of waste mechanics using large scale
laboratory equipment and test fills
to characterize these heterogeneous
materials. Dr. Landva was one of the
first to treat waste fill as a geotechni-
cal material and to develop specialized
laboratory and field testing methods
for the evaluation of waste materials.
For his many achievements over a
long and storied career, the CGS Soil
Mechanics and Foundation Division
is pleased to honour
Professor Arvid
Landva
with the
2017 G. Geoffrey
Meyerhof Award
.”
2017 CGS Awards -
John Franklin Award
Dr. Ming Cai
Dr. Ming Cai
was the winner of the
2017 John Franklin Award of the CGS
Rock Mechanics Division. Established
in 1993, this award honours the past
President of the International Society
for Rock Mechanics (ISRM), John
Franklin (1940-2012), for his out-
standing contributions to the Canadian
and international rock mechanics com-
munities, and to the CGS.
Dr. Cai’s citation reads: “Professor
Ming Cai, Geomechanics Research
Chair at Laurentian University’s
Bharti School of Engineering, is
widely recognized for his outstanding
contributions to the study of Canadian
and international rock mechanics.
His numerous technical publications
include work related to rock support
in difficult ground conditions, the
interpretation of acoustic emissions
and micro-seismic monitoring, and
proposed quantitative approaches to
estimating the peak and residual rock
mass strengths using the Geological
Strength Index, to name but a few.
Dr. Cai seeks opportunities for new
products that are simple, cost-effective
and exhibit superb dynamic capaci-
ties – his development of four rock-
burst products and the granting of five
patents illustrates his expertise in this
field.
His industrial experience includes
work with the Tokyo Electric Power
Services Company, and serving as
general manager of the Asia Busi-
ness Group of the Mansour Group of
Companies. In addition to his teach-
ing at Laurentian, he includes stints at
his alma mater at Beijing’s Tsinghua
University, the Kunming Univer-
sity of Science and Technology and
Zhengzhou’s North China University
of Water Conservancy and Hydro-
Electric Power.
For his exceptional service as a
teacher, mentor, author and engineer,
Professor Ming Cai
is a deserving
recipient of the CGS Rock Mechan-
ics Division’s 2017
John A. Franklin
Award
.”
2017 CGS Awards -
Stermac Award Winner
Alex Baumgard
Alex Baumgard
, past-chair of the Soil
Mechanics and Foundations Division
was a recipient of CGS’s
2017 Ster-
mac Award
.
Alex’s citation from the October 2017
award ceremony reads: “An active
participant in the Canadian Geotechni-
cal Society for many years, Dr. Alex
Baumgard’s commitment to the orga-
nization is marked by his willingness
to go the extra mile to support all man-
ner of tasks – many on short notice.
His recent contributions include
chairing the Soil Mechanics and
Foundation Division of the Canadian
Geotechnical Society for more than 4
years. Alex has been directly involved
with a number of CGS initiatives,
including most recently the selection
and review of the papers submitted
by CGS members to the 19th Interna-
tional Conference on Soil Mechanics
and Geotechnical Engineering held
September 2017 in Seoul, Korea.
As a principal engineer in BGC Engi-
neering’s Vancouver office, he brings a
wealth of experience in the assessment
