Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

Newly promoted Associate Professor David White recently received the 2007 Arthur Casagrande Professional Development Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Geo-Institute Board of Governors. The award selection committee particularly noted White’s achievements in the area of dynamic soil behavior, characterization, and testing using innovative soil system evaluation strategies. This is the highest award for a junior geotechnical engineer in the United States.

“I immediately thought about how lucky I’ve been to have excellent graduate students and eminent mentors,” says White.The prestigious national award was established by family, friends, and colleagues of Arthur Casagrande, a pioneer in soil mechanics, to recognize outstanding achievements in teaching, research, and the practice of geotechnical engineering. It provides professional development opportunities for outstanding practitioners, researchers, and teachers of geotechnical engineering under age 35.

“With this outstanding recognition, David adds yet another rung to ISU’s legacy of academic leadership in the geo­technical engineering field,” says James E. Alleman, Iowa State professor and CCEE department chair.

In the past five years, White has worked on 40 research projects, mainly in the areas of intelligent compaction (the use of  roller-integrated sensors that automatically adjust compaction effort output so as not to under- or over-compact the soil or other surface at job sites), ground improvement, in-situ testing, and pavement foundations. He attributes a large part of his success to partnerships he’s developed with funding organizations, and industry and research colleagues.

For winning this honor, White will receive a certificate and a cash award during the Geo-Institute’s 2008 conference, March 9-12.

White received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1997, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Iowa State University in 1999 and 2000, respectively. In 2005, White received the ISU Foundation Award for Early Achievement in Teaching.