UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Mahsa Khosrojerdi, a doctoral candidate in civil engineering at Penn State, has recently been named the recipient of the South Central Chapter Scholarship provided by the International Association of Foundation Drilling (ADSC)’s Industry Advancement Fund.
“I was so thrilled when I got the email that I won this scholarship,” Khosrojerdi said.
The $3,000 scholarship is awarded to civil engineering students whose focus is in geotechnical and/or structural engineering. The funding is intended to stimulate the involvement of highly qualified engineers in the industry and to aid in research on drilled shafts and anchored earth retention systems.
Khosrojerdi’s research focuses on providing a guideline for designing the engineered fills used for bridge support and developing prediction models for estimating the deformations of geosynthetic reinforced soil walls, abutments and piers and also the settlement of foundation placed on reinforced soil. Her studies involve analyzing short-term and long-term performances of these structures by developing a numerical model that realistically captures the behavior of these structures.
Upon graduation, she hopes to become a professor and conduct high-quality research at a top-ranked university.
Through this scholarship, Khosrojerdi will have the opportunity to meet industry leading contractors, engineers, equipment manufacturers, technical affiliates and others at the IFCEE 2018 annual meeting from March 7-10 in Orlando, Florida.
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my advisers, Dr. Ming Xiao and Dr. Tong Qiu, for their great support during these three years of my study at Penn State,” Khosrojerdi said.
Khosrojerdi received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Iran.
The International Association of Foundation Drilling is an organization of specialty sub-contractors, manufacturers, suppliers, and engineers working in the anchored earth retention, drilled shaft, micropile and other related industries. ADSC’s goals for industry improvement include investment in education and research; thus in 1986 the Industry Advancement Fund (IAF) was formed. Over the past twenty-seven years, through the contributions made to the IAF, 321 Civil Engineering Graduate study scholarships have been awarded.