Two Ontario Civil Engineering Students awarded Manuel Fine Scholarships

Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Educational Trust has awarded two Manuel Fine Civil Engineering Scholarships this year to students enrolled in civil engineering programs in Ontario, each in the amount of US$2,500.

Zachary Gerber

Zachary Gerber is a senior civil engineering and management student at McMaster University in Hamilton. Gerber developed his interest in the deep foundation industry working in co-op positions at Bermingham Foundation Solutions, noting in his essay that these opportunities “allowed me to take my knowledge from school and reinforce it with real world experience in the field.” He plans to continue his career in the deep foundations industry, and pursue a master’s degree in geotechnical engineering.

Simone Markus

Simone Markus is a graduate student at Queen’s University in Kingston. Markus noted in her essay that “as I pursued geotechnical engineering, I became interested in soil and rock mechanics. I find these topics interesting because in the rest of civil engineering, where the exact properties of materials can be known, working with soil and rock adds another layer of uncertainty.” After graduation, Markus plans to pursue a career in geotechnical engineering.

The Manuel Fine Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund was established in 2013 and honours Manuel Fine (1929-2018), who served DFI for 24 years in many roles, including trustee, president, executive director, managing editor of Deep Foundations, and in recent years, as publisher of the DFI Journal.

The fund provides scholarships only for civil engineering students attending universities in the Province of Ontario. Fine was a graduate of the University of Toronto.

Donations to the Manuel Fine Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund can be made online at www.dfitrust.org.