W. CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., October 23, 2013— L. David Suits, executive director of the North American Geosynthetics Society, Albany, N.Y., has received the A. Ivan Johnson Outstanding Achievement Award from ASTM International Committee D18 on Soil and Rock. This award is presented to a member whose efforts have produced a particular outstanding result or significant contribution to the work of the committee.
A dedicated ASTM International member for more than 35 years, Suits works on several subcommittees within Committees D18 and D35 on Geosynthetics. He is a founding member and past chairman of D35 and currently leads Subcommittee D35.03 on Permeability and Filtration as well as the D18 group on the Geotechnical Testing Journal, where he serves as a co-editor. Suits is also a member of Committee D04 on Road and Paving Materials and has served terms on the ASTM Standing Committees on Publications and Technical Committee Operations. He has received several standards development and service awards from D18 and D35, and was honored with the ASTM International Award of Merit and title of fellow, ASTM’s highest organizational recognition for individual contributions to standards activities, in 1986.
Suits specializes in soils and geosynthetics testing. He was employed by the New York State Department of Transportation for 37 years, where he held various positions of increasing responsibility, including assistant soils engineer and soil mechanics laboratory supervisor, where he oversaw the performance of all foundation design testing done in conjunction with the department’s $1 billion design and construction program. In 2005, he retired from NYSDOT and became executive and managing director of the North American Geosynthetics Society, a group that provides leadership for the advancement of education and research in geosynthetics.
Outside ASTM International, Suits is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers Geo-Institute and the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS). He has authored or co-authored more than 28 articles and papers on geosynthetics. Suits holds a master’s degree in geotechnical engineering and a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Clarkson University, Potsdam. N.Y.
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