Kang, Wang receive top prizes at 2023 Geosynthetics Conference

2/15/2023 McCall Macomber

Written by McCall Macomber

Congratulations to Mingu Kang and Han Wang, who received first and second place, respectively, at the 2023 Geosynthetics Conference student research showcase on February 7.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering doctoral students, both mentored by Erol Tutumluer, showcased their geosynthetics research and findings for an audience of industry experts.

Kang received first place for his Federal Aviation Administration research on the mechanical stabilization of airport pavement. He analyzed geosynthetics sections built at FAA’s National Airport Pavement Test Facility and developed an approach to estimate the stiffness of full-scale pavement using embedded sensors.

Mingu Kang, a CEE doctoral student in Erol Tutumluer’s research group, presents his first-place Federal Aviation Administration research at the 2023 Geosynthetics Conference on February 7 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mingu Kang, a CEE doctoral student in Erol Tutumluer’s research group, presents his first-place Federal Aviation Administration research at the 2023 Geosynthetics Conference on February 7 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Wang received second place for her Illinois Center for Transportation and Illinois Department of Transportation research on the effectiveness of geosynthetics in soil and aggregate stabilization. Her research uses bender-element sensor technology, which sends a shear wave through a prepared test specimen and measures the speed of the shear wave, to evaluate pavement’s stiffness and strength with various geosynthetics.

Han Wang, a&nbsp;CEE doctoral student in Tutumluer&rsquo;s research group, presents her second-place research on the IDOT-ICT project, &ldquo;<span style="font-size: 0.8em;">R27-234: Effectiveness of&nbsp;</span>Geosynthetics<span style="font-size: 0.8em;"> in Soil/Aggregate Stabilization&mdash;Evaluation Using Bender Element Sensor Technology.&rdquo;</span>
Han Wang, a CEE doctoral student in Tutumluer’s research group, presents her second-place research on the IDOT-ICT project, “R27-234: Effectiveness of Geosynthetics in Soil/Aggregate Stabilization—Evaluation Using Bender Element Sensor Technology.”

Congratulations to Kang and Wang on their achievements! Their efforts showcase geosynthetics’ potential to enhance the performance, durability and sustainability of our transportation systems.


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This story was published February 15, 2023.