BRIGHT SPARKS LECTURE - THE FOURTH PAN-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON UNSATURATED SOILS (PANAM UNSAT 2025), OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA
The YMPG in collaboration with the Organising Committee for the Fourth Pan-American Conference on Unsaturated Soils (PANAM UNSAT 2025) in Canada would like to announce the winner of the Bright Spark Lecture Award to one distinguished young geotechnical engineer/academic listed below. He was invited to give keynote lecture on 22-25 June 2025.
Mohammed Shakeel Abid, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The University of Texas at Austin
Bright Spark Lecture Title: "Optimizing ground improvement through unsaturated soil mechanics and geosynthetics"
The Bright Spark Lecture Award was established to promote young members of the ISSMGE to play a major role in various international and regional conferences. Recipients of this award are invited to give a keynote lecture at ISSMGE conferences. All Technical Committee conference organisers and Member Society conference organisers are encouraged to select Bright Spark Lecturers at their conferences. Details regarding the award can be found on the ISSMGE website: https://www.issmge.org/the-society/awards/bright-spark-lecture-award.
We invite everyone, especially young geotechnical engineers, to come and enjoy the lectures. We hope these lectures can inspire and motivate us further to excel in our beloved field, geotechnical engineering.
Winners Bio
Mohammed Shakeel Abid
Dr. Mohammed Shakeel Abid is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in geosynthetics and unsaturated soil mechanics. He earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy, where his work on geosynthetic encased stone columns received national recognition, including the SERB TARE Award, Best Doctoral Research Award, and the IGS Young Geotechnical Engineer Best Paper Award.
His research integrates unsaturated soil mechanics into the design of resilient transportation infrastructure, particularly in response to moisture variability in geomaterials. His ongoing projects include the advanced characterization of geosynthetics with enhanced lateral drainage and the investigation of moisture hysteresis on the mechanical behavior of fouled railway ballastboth aimed at improving infrastructure longevity and performance.
Dr. Shakeel has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and presented at several international conferences. He has also delivered invited lectures and actively contributes to the professional community as a reviewer for leading geotechnical journals. He serves as a committee member for both geosynthetics and unsaturated soils within the ASCE Geo-Institute and the Transportation Research Board. His work bridges fundamental research and practical applications, with a focus on sustainable and resilient solutions in geotechnical and transportation engineering.
