2007 PGS Workshop & 5th G.A. Leonards Lecture
4:00 p.m., Monday, May 7, 2007, Room 206, Stewart Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
The Role of Geotechnics in Supplying Future Energy Needs
Dr. Suzanne Lacasse
Director, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute
Oslo, Norway
Dr. Lacasse completed her Civil Engineering studies at Ecole Polytechnique and MIT. She served as a Lecturer and Head of the Geotechnical Laboratory at MIT from 1975 to 1982. She joined the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in 1980 and was appointed NGI's Managing Director in 1991. Dr. Lacasse has made numerous contributions to the geotechnical engineering profession, particularly in the areas of laboratory and in situ investigations, foundation engineering and design, offshore platform analysis and design, and applied probabilistic analyses for foundation design. She received, among other awards, the K.Y. Lo Medal of the Engineering Institute of Canada for excellence in engineering, a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Sciences and Technology in Trondheim, and the Effective Teaching Award in Civil Engineering at MIT in 1978. She presented the 2001 ASCE Terzaghi Lecture. She was president of the Canadian Geotechnical Society in 2003-2004. She is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineers, the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Abstract of Presentation:
Increasing demand for energy poses new challenges to the geotechnical engineer. Our profession has greatly contributed to energy supply. Yet this contribution is often underestimated. The contribution fo geotechnical engineering to energy supply in the future is indispensable. Achievements and challenges in this respect are illustrated with examples from the oil and gas industry, hydropower, geo-thermal energy, storage of CO2 and nuclear waste and geo-solutions for exploiting wind energy. Always, environmental sustainability should be at the forefront of the prioritized solutions. Possible global warming and extreme weather causing more frequent than before natural disasters are also factors that will influence the future energy supply. The lecture focuses on: engineering more cost-effective, yet technologically improved and safer, solutions, encouraging innovation and preserving the environment. To meet these challenges, an alliance of good practice and research is required. The examples will illustrate that the profession needs, more than before, to act proactively in encouraging dialogue among client, designer, consultant, contractor and scientist, to include automatically the environmental component and to integrate hazard and risk assessment in the decision-making for the selection of optimum solutions. Only then can geotechnical engineering add value by saving lives, improving performance, reducing costs and exploiting natural resources in a responsible manner.
Geotechnical Workshop: Workshop Theme: Geotechnics and Supplying Future Energy Needs
(8:00a.m.-3:30p.m. (includes lunch) Stewart Center Room 202, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN)
2007 Workshop Program with Highlighted Links to Presentations
Reception and Banquet Reception 6:30p.m., Banquet 7:00 p.m., Monday, May 7, 2007, Shively Media Center (5th floor of Ross Ade Stadium Suites), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. (Reservations are required.)