NEWS

Students, faculty, and staff from the Louisiana Tech University Trenchless Technology Center (TTC) and student chapter of North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT) attended the 2019 No-Dig Show in Chicago.

While there, students had the opportunity to network with industry professionals and learn more about the trenchless industry and attend sessions and forums. TTC researchers and Tech students John Kraft and Jeb Kraft were recognized as recipients of the Michael E. Argent Memorial Scholarship.

Members of the Louisiana Tech NASTT/AGC at the 2019 No-Dig Show.

“The No-Dig conference is a great opportunity for us as students because we get a chance to interact with industry professionals that we would not get on campus,” Jeb Kraft, senior construction engineering technology student at Louisiana Tech, said. “There are numerous individuals at this conference who are very concerned with cultivating the next generation of trenchless technology, which is us! The exposure to and connections within this industry that we pull from this conference is invaluable to our future.”

“It is an honor to be invited to the No-Dig Show year after year to represent the Louisiana Tech NASTT,” Garet Titus, senior construction engineering technology student, added. “This conference offers unmatched networking opportunities in the trenchless industry. Through the student worker program at No-Dig, we are able to gain first-hand knowledge of this industry in a new and excited setting each year.”

In addition to the 30 students who attended the conference, five faculty and staff members from the TTC were at the conference to promote ongoing research and to learn about new opportunities in the field. Dr. Shaurav Alam, assistant professor of civil engineering and construction engineering technology, associate director of research for the Trenchless Technology Center and advisor for the Louisiana Tech NASTT/AGC chapter, Dr. Tom Iseley, professor of civil engineering and construction engineering technology and associate director of TTC international operations, Dr. John Matthews, associate professor of civil engineering and construction engineering technology and director of the TTC, Amin Azimi, research scientist, and Omar Abdulkareem, research associate, all attended the conference with the students.

“Our highly-motivated and hard-working students impressed the other NASTT attendees,” Alam, said. “I am very proud of their outstanding work at the conference venue.” 

“Once again our students represented Louisiana Tech with professionalism and integrity,” Matthews added. “Numerous NASTT and industry leaders’ commented on the quality of our students and the respect with which they performed their duties and interacted at conference.

The NASTT is a non-profit, educational and technical society dedicated to promoting the benefits of trenchless technology for public awareness through education, training and research. The No-Dig Show provides industry professionals with the opportunity to network and learn more about new developments in the trenchless technology field.