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Two lucky student ambassadors from The Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Science (EMS) returned from a US competition earlier this year, activating sustainable and innovative geotechnical career opportunities for University of Western Australia (UWA) students in the global arena.

The Master of Professional Engineering students, Daniel Ingman and Owen Davis, led by their supervisor, Dr Ryan Beemer from the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, competed at Geotechnical Frontiers 2017, Orlando, Florida, an event for geotechnical, civil and geo-professional communities.

They competed in the GeoWall competition, sponsored by the Geo-Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers and came in a respectable 7th place out of 20 participants. This made them the first international group to have made it to the finals, and the first ever Australian team to compete.

Having returned, the students are enthusiastic about their experience. Team captain, Daniel Ingman said.

“This was one of, if not the best opportunity I have had in my university career. I was surrounded by extremely knowledgeable and well-renowned scholars and engineers throughout the whole conference, as well as competing with and against some of the brightest students in the country.”

“It opened up opportunities within the geotechnical and American engineering field which I had never really explored before and am now considering very strongly,” Ingman said.

Other competing universities included Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, UCLA, University of Texas, UC Davis and Oregon State, top universities, renowned for their Geotechnical engineering departments and some of which had been competing in the same competition for over seven years.

“All in all, this was a fantastic trip that I would definitely do again, I learned so much from the knowledgeable community we connected with and I now have a network of international contacts.” Owen Davis said

“I found value in the site investigation methods and design of offshore pile talks due to my exposure in those areas from units at UWA.”

“I would recommend anyone to choose this opportunity if UWA decide to compete next year, for the opportunities that the conference and competition gives. The competition challenges you mentally in the design as well as emphasising the importance of sound construction practices that are so important in industry,” said Daniel Ingman.

Media references

Lauren Humfrey (UWA Faculty of Engineering Mathematical Sciences) (+61 8) 6488 2260