Kate Lauwrens
Nation/Region-nominated Member
South Africa
Name: Kate Lauwrens
Position: Professional Geotechnical Engineer and PhD Candidate, University of Pretoria
Birthdate: August 1990
Email: [email protected]
Kate Lauwrens is a registered Professional Engineer with 14 years of consulting experience in geotechnical engineering. She began her career in transportation geotechnics before specialising in waste and mine-waste facilities, with particular expertise in landfill engineering, containment systems, geosynthetics and slope stability.
Before commencing her doctoral studies, Kate worked at Jones & Wagener as a Waste and Geotechnical Engineer. During her time with the firm, she progressed to Project Manager and became a shareholder. She obtained her BEng in Civil Engineering from the University of Pretoria in 2012 and completed her MEng in Geotechnical Engineering at the same institution in 2019. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Pretoria, investigating the influence of partial saturation on CPTu response and the interpretation of state in tailings.
Kate has also held leadership roles within the geotechnical profession. She served as Secretary of the IGS South Africa (GIGSA) Board during 2023 - 2024 and currently serves as Vice-Chair and Secretary of the SAICE Geotechnical Division for the 2026 - 2027 term.