NOTE: This release contains a correction from the Geosynthetic Institute to one of the awarded research topics. The correction is noted in the red, bold font in the table.

The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) is pleased to announce the first class of GSI Fellowship Awardees.  This announcement is a result of a worldwide solicitation of requests-for-proposals.  Five (5) proposals were selected for awards.  They are as follows:

University Advisor Student Topic
Virginia Tech University George Filz Michael McGuire Geosynthetically reinforced pile supported embankments
Drexel University Grace Hsuan Connie Wong Durability specification development for corrugated HDPE pipe
RWTH Aachen Martin Ziegler Axel Ruiken Geogrid behavior when used in wall and slope applications

University of Athens

Michael Sakellariou Elena Kapogianni Geosynthetic reinforced soil slope stability under seismic conditions
University of Kansas Jie Han Xiaoming Yang Geocell behavior when used to reinforce aggregate bases

The fellowships carry a stipend of $10,000 and are renewable for a second and third year pending successful outcome of past work and promise of continued success in future work.

Visit the Geosynthetic Institute Fellowships page for additional details on each student and project. 

A new solicitation for proposals will be announced in the spring of 2009. Contact Marilyn Ashley by email (mvashley@verizon.net) or Bob Koerner (robert.koerner@coe.drexel.edu) for more information.

The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) can be found online at www.geosynthetic-institute.org.