Beena Ajmera, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at North Dakota State Univerity, has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the Oldrich Hungr Award from the International Consortium on Landslides. As the winner of the award, Dr. Ajmera will deliver a keynote lecture related to her research at the Fifth World Landslide Forum to be held in Kyoto, Japan in November 2021.
The award is named in honor of professor Oldrich Hungr, who was a landslide scientist and Emeritus Professor of Engineering Geology at the University of British Columbia. Hungr made pioneering contributions to landslide research and science, and he was best known for his work on the mobility of landslides and developing a software series that could model complex landslide flows.
Dr. Ajmera’s primary research interests lie in geotechnical earthquake engineering/soil dynamics, static and dynamic behavior of soils and rocks, static and dynamic laboratory soil testing, fundamental behavior of geomaterials from mineralogical and chemical analyses, use of recycled materials in soil modification, ground improvement techniques, and soil and rock slope stability.
Dr. Ajmera joined the faculty at North Dakota State University in 2018. Prior to joining the faculty at North Dakota State University, she was an assistant professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at California State University, Fullerton
Dr. Ajmera earned her bachelor’s degrees and master’s degree in civil engineering at California State University, Fullerton. She holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.