ASCE has honored John Scott McCartney, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, with the 2025 Shamsher Prakash Award and Lecture for his contributions to understanding the dynamic and thermos-hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils and geosynthetic-reinforced soils in transportation and energy geotechnics applications.
McCartney’s research focuses on unsaturated soil mechanics, geosynthetics engineering, energy geotechnics, and tire-derived aggregates (TDA). His research involves a combination of laboratory measurements of the thermos-hydro-mechanical properties of saturated and unsaturated soils, development and use of advanced sensors and testing methods in unsaturated soils, physical modeling of instrumented geotechnical structures at different scales (laboratory scale, geotechnical centrifuge scale, field scale), and use of numerical modeling to understand complex coupling encountered when subjecting soils to changes in temperature, water content, and externally applied stresses.
His prolific scholarly contributions include some 160 journal papers, including 13 review papers and five discussions/closures. He has also published 166 conference papers, many in ASCE venues. McCartney has been a highly active and successful mentor to his students. He has graduated 16 Ph.D. and 25 master’s theses/report students. Five Ph.D. students have continued to faculty positions and others work in geotechnical practice.
The Shamsher Prakash Award and Lecture was instituted by the Board of Direction in 2021 to recognize outstanding research or professional practice contributions in the area of geotechnical engineering or soil dynamics.
