By AMANDA JAMES

aaj006@latech.edu

 

It is not every day a student receives an international award for his or her work, but John Matthews, a graduate student of engineering, has set a precedent for students everywhere. 

Matthews won the Best Student Paper award from the International Society for Trenchless Technology at the 23rd International No-Dig Conference and Exhibition, held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Sept. 19-21. 

Dr. Raymond L. Sterling, director of the Trenchless Technology Center and a professor of civil engineering, has overseen Matthews’ work.

“The award demonstrates that John has been able to tackle a problem of international interest on fairly tight deadlines to produce an excellent product,” Sterling said.

“An award like this brings recognition to Tech on an international level, and for John, it will be something nice to put on his resume.

“It shows he is capable of doing work of very high caliber, and that is what employers are looking for.”   

Matthews’s paper was titled “Interactive Software for Selection of Technologies for Installation and Replacement of Utilities” and was co-written with his adviser, Dr. Erez Allouche, the associate director of the Trenchless Technology Center and an assistant professor of civil engineering.

Matthews said Dr. Zhenyang Duan, a former graduate of Tech, was the programming adviser for the project.

Matthews’s paper involved a software program developed with the National Utility Contractors Association.

“The program will be used by engineers when they are evaluating what trenchless methods might be available for their project,” Matthews said.

“They will not use this program in the field, but when they need to do a project for whatever reason, they can put their project-specific data into the program and the trenchless methods capable of doing the project will then be given.

“They will also be given the level of risk associated with each method based on the project data.”

Matthews said he has been working on this project since June. 

“We are only allowed to put 20 hours a week [on our timesheet], but I know [I worked] more than that,” Matthews said.

“This was a lot of work, a lot of hours. It took all my free time during the day.”

He said his hard work has been worth the effort.

“It’s an honor to have an international award like that at a big conference,” Matthews said.

“And now it seems like everyone knows about it. A lot of work was put into it, and it pays off.”

Students have noticed Matthews’s hard work.

Daniel Hill, a graduate student of engineering, has observed Matthew’s work habits. “From what I have seen, John has really put a lot of work into this project,” Hill said.

“Actually, I think every time that I see him, he is working on that project.”

Hill said that Matthews’s award is well-deserved.

“The fact that he won the award says it all.”