Richard Cavagnaro Award (SA/NT)

This award perpetuates the memory of Richard Cavagnaro (1941-2006), who was a respected member of the South Australian Geomechanics community and a long standing SA/NT chapter committee member. Richard worked for a number of consulting firms, local government organisations and universities and devoted much time and support to the development of young geotechnical professionals during his working life.

Basis of the award

The Richard Cavagnaro Award is given to the best presentation at the Young Geotechnical Professionals (YGP) evening of the SA/NT Chapter. The opportunity to be a speaker is open to students and young professionals from the full spectrum of the geotechnical professions, including geotechnical engineering, engineering geology and environmental geotechnics. Presentations need not be overly technical or theoretical, and may focus upon any aspect of geotechnical research or practice, which is of interest to the profession.

Selection

Nominees must be under the age of 35. Undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as practicing professionals with not more than 5 years experience are encouraged to participate. A call for abstracts is distributed in July during years in which a YGP evening will be held. Nominees should submit their abstracts by the due date (typically end of September). AGS Committee members from the SA/NT chapter will select candidates to present at the October AGS SA/NT chapter meeting (held on the third Monday in October).

Presentations

The format of the presentation evening follows that of an ANZ Young Geotechnical Professionals Conference, whereby each speaker will have 10 minutes to present their chosen topic, followed by question time. Judging and presentation of the award is done on the evening by a panel of AGS committee members who provide feedback and assess the presentations for their technical merit, originality, ingenuity, lessons learned from the experience and presentation quality. The Richard Cavagnaro award and a cash prize are presented for the best presentation of the evening.

Past winners