Thursday, October 15, 2015 | By Lindsay Cashin
Professor Wijewickreme of UBC Civil Engineering has been named President-Elect of the Canadian Geotechnical Society. This appointment will commence in January 2016, and will be followed by a two-year term as President, beginning January 2017.
With a membership base exceeding 1,200 across Canada and globally, the Canadian Geotechnical Society is “the premier organization for geotechnical engineers and geoscientists in Canada and is dedicated to advancing knowledge and creating opportunities for the sharing of information by practitioners in a broad range of geotechnical disciplines.”
Professor Wijewickreme has been an active member of the Society for over fifteen years. He has held a number of Chairs, directorships, and committee memberships across the organization, and currently serves as Vice President Finance.
As incoming President-Elect, Professor Wijewickreme sees an exciting opportunity to empower the general membership to take action in support of the Society’s objectives, and to recognize and reward members for their grassroots-level efforts toward achieving them. He notes, in particular, the need to “better involve young professionals” in the Society’s efforts relating to outreach, academic and practitioner collaboration, policy and regulatory development, and more. He says of this honour: “The Canadian Geotechnical Society has established an international reputation that is second to none. I am honoured to have been chosen by the Nominating Committee of the Canadian Geotechnical Society as the Society’s President-Elect in 2016, and I look forward to serving the CGS as President.”