Professor John McCartney, an expert in unsaturated soil mechanics, geosynthetics engineering, and energy geotechnics has been awarded the 2025 Shamsher Prakash Award and Lecture by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Selected by the Society’s Geo-Institute, Professor McCartney is recognized for his "contributions to understanding the dynamic and thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils and geosynthetic-reinforced soils in transportation and energy geotechnics applications".
McCartney’s fundamental contributions to unsaturated soils are being used to solve pressing challenges at the frontiers of geotechnical engineering, including buffer systems for nuclear waste repositories, cover systems for landfills, storage of thermal energy in the subsurface, and improvement of the performance of geosynthetic-reinforced structures and deep foundations using heating. His work is also being applied to study seasonal variations in the response of pavement systems and the seismic-induced volume change of unsaturated soil layers.
The Shamsher Prakash Award is named after a renowned professor of geotechnical engineering and soil dynamics at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. The Shamsher Prakash Award and Lecture is presented annually to a younger geotechnical engineer for outstanding research or professional practice contributions in the area of geotechnical engineering or soil dynamics. Professor McCartney will be delivering the 3rd Prakash Lecture at the ASCE Geotechnical Frontiers, Louisville, KY on March 3, 2025. Professor McCartney’s lecture is titled Unsaturated Soil Mechanics at the Frontiers of Geotechnical Engineering.
Distinguished Professor Ahmed Elgamal will also deliver the H. Bolton Seed Lecture on Sunday, March 2, 2025.