We are proud to announce that Dr. Hongwei Liu, Geotechnical E.I.T. at KGS Group, has been awarded an Honourable Mention for the 2023 R.M. Quigley Award, for his paper published in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal: Experimental investigation and numerical modeling of piezoelectric bender element motion and wave propagation analysis in soils. The paper was co-authored with Dr. Giovanni Cascante, University of Waterloo, Dr. Pooneh Maghoul, Polytechnique Montréal, and Dr. Ahmed Shalaby, University of Manitoba.

The R.M. Quigley Award is given out each year, as well as three honourable mention awards, to the best paper published in Canadian Geotechnical Journal. Bob Quigley was one of the leading geotechnical engineers in Canada and one of the founders of the discipline of geoenvironmental engineering. His high research standards were reflected in his winning of the Canadian Geotechnical Society’s best CGJ paper award in 1980 and 1993, and the award was then named in his honour.

The 2023 awards were presented at the Canadian Geotechnical Society’s Annual Conference – GeoSaskatoon Awards Banquet.

A big congratulations to Hongwei and all of the co-authors!

KGS Group won four Awards of Excellence at the annual Association of Consulting Engineering Companies Manitoba (ACEC-MB) Awards! Most notably, the New Museum Building for the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada project won the prestigious Keystone Award, which is presented to the firm that achieves the highest score of all projects and is deemed the best overall project.

KGS is honoured to have been recognized for the work done on these four projects. Congratulations to the teams who worked on these projects in all capacities, roles and responsibilities.

Read more about each of the projects and the work our team did below.

New Museum Building for the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

Award of Excellence and KEYSTONE AWARD (Building Engineering Category)

The new Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada is a world-class, state-of-the-art facility destined to become a signature attraction. At 86,000 square feet, the facility contains more than 20 aircraft, six of which are suspended, 14 galleries, meeting rooms, classrooms, a gift shop and an observation lounge that overlooks active runways.

A multidisciplinary team collaborated to achieve the complex requirements of the museum building and to bring interactive galleries to life, showcasing impressive aircraft displays. KGS Group experts designed an energy efficient facility that targets LEED silver certification and demonstrates a 39.1% annual energy savings in the final energy model.

Lafleche Dam Low Level Outlet Conduit Remediation Project

Award of Excellence (Municipal & Water Technology Category)

The Lafleche Dam in southwestern Saskatchewan was originally constructed in 1958. The dam’s reservoir (Thomson Lake) is used for municipal water supply, irrigation and recreation. The dam offers flood protection, and its low-level outlet (LLO) conduit is needed for reservoir management and riparian flow passage.

In 2018, an inspection of the conduit revealed severe deterioration of the pipe which presented a significant dam safety risk due to internal erosion. KGS developed a solution using an array of innovative conduit replacement and rehabilitation methods, including trenchless technologies coupled with state-of-the-art instrumentation to monitor the dam during critical high risk construction stages.

Pauingassi First Nation Landfill Expansion Project

Award of Excellence (Environmental Category)

The Pauingassi First Nation Landfill Expansion Project created a new integrated resource management centre for this remote community. Success was achieved even though the COVID-19 pandemic and 2021 forest fires impacted the schedule. An innovative design overcame challenging site conditions, integrated community requests, preserved local heritage resources and Traditional Land Use Areas, and mitigated existing environmental impacts.

The result is a practical, environmentally sound, sustainable and aesthetically pleasing waste management facility that also addresses waste diversion. This project is a model for successful collaboration between Indigenous communities, contractors, consulting companies and government agencies.

Fort Severn Winter Road Relocation Study

Award of Excellence (Transportation Category)

Winter roads are lifelines for remote northern communities. Climate change has severely reduced the serviceability and sustainability of the Fort Severn winter road that was constructed through organic terrain and lakes. Alternative winter road route options were developed with the community by using climate sensitive routing and construction strategies optimized through geotechnical investigations and a helicopter reconnaissance program. 

The study developed a plan for a climate-resilient winter road network that will enable vital access to the community despite the challenges of climate change. This new approach to winter roads considers environmentally and culturally sensitive areas while setting the community up for future all-season access.

Dr. Rob Kenyon, Senior Specialist Advisor, was recently honoured with the prestigious G. Geoffrey Meyerhof Award from the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS). This award recognizes outstanding contributions in soil mechanics and foundation engineering.

Rob’s nomination for this award, along with co-editor Ken Skaftfeld, was precipitated in part due to their tireless work on the revised Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual. Rob and Ken spent countless hours motivating members of the geotechnical community to contribute to, and complete, the 25 chapters of the 5th edition. Engineers across Canada will soon see the benefits of their efforts.

However, Rob’s contributions to geotechnical knowledge, practice and the profession extend far beyond the manual. He has given his time to numerous positions within CGS. Notably, he will become President of CGS for the 2023-24 term after serving as President-Elect this past year. He also dedicates his time to influencing the next generation of engineers through a teaching position at the University of Manitoba.

As a highly regarded expert in the field, Rob’s expertise is sought-after across Canada and beyond. He is perhaps best known for his technical leadership during numerous major flood events, including the Red River Flood of the Century. In addition, he has been actively involved in some of the largest and most complex projects in Manitoba over the last 50 years. These include the expansion of the Red River Floodway around Winnipeg and the construction of the Hwy 59/101 traffic interchange, one of the largest interchanges constructed to date in the province.

KGS’ own Katie Moist P.Eng. was honoured with the 2022 Intern Award at Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba EngGeoMB Awards Ceremony last Friday. The EngGeoMB Awards celebrate the exceptional achievements of local professionals, teams and companies.

Katie is actively involved in the engineering community – whether it’s supporting young professionals in the industry, offering mentorship to students, or volunteering her time.

As one of the committee members for the Engineering Changes Lives Provincial Steering Committee, Katie works to propose changes that will increase diversity within the field of engineering and helps guide the Committee’s initiatives to increase the participation of women entering the field. Katie is also a committee member for the Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba’s 2030 Coalition Committee aimed at retaining women engineers in the field.

Katie’s volunteer work doesn’t stop there. As the Founding Chair of the Young Friends of Engineering, Katie developed a networking group for young engineering professionals to give back to the Price Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba. As the chair, Katie holds a seat on the Friends of Engineering Board, representing the Young Friends and their interests.

In addition to her community work, Katie is an exemplary engineer with several major projects under her belt – including the Wellington Crescent Roadway, Path and Riverbank Stabilization project, the Eagle Creek Drainage System project, and many City of Winnipeg public works projects. In the words of one of her nominators, “Katie has become a valuable member of our team as both an efficient resident inspector and designer. She has had the opportunity to significantly contribute to several notable projects. Without her involvement, KGS Group would not have enjoyed the same level of success.”

High praise for the deserving recipient of this award. Congratulations Katie!

Canadian Consulting Engineer launched the Top 10 Under 40 to recognize up-and-coming consulting engineers.

Congratulations to Nicholas C. Kaminski, Structural Assistant Department Head in our Regina Structural group, and Jacqueline MacLennan, Geotechnical Engineer in our Winnipeg Geotechnical group.

To find out more about their incredible story, please visit https://issuu.com/glaciermedia/docs/cce_julyaug22_issuu_de/14