Michael Bozozuk Student Forum

Michael Bozozuk Student Forum

The Michael Bozozuk Student Forum is an annual graduate student presentation competition initiated by the Canadian Geotechnical Society - National Capital Region (CGS-NCR). This forum has been named after the late Dr. Michael Bozozuk in his honour. Dr. Michael Bozozuk was a leader in the Canadian and National Capital Region Geotechnical communities, and received numerous awards and honours throughout his career, including the Leggett Medal, the highest award of the Canadian Geotechnical Society. Dr. Bozozuk was keenly interested in the education of young engineers, and indeed he regularly attended the student forum. In fact, it became a tradition, that while the judges were deliberating the outcome of the competition, that he would give a short presentation during which he would instruct the students on their oral presentation skills, pointing out their strengths and weaknesses with wit, humour, and warmth.

This forum has been organized jointly by the National Capital Region and the Kingston Chapter of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS Kingston Section) as well as has been held in Ottawa and Kingston on alternating years since 1976. Each university from Ottawa (Universities of Ottawa and Carleton) and Kingston (Queen’s University and the Royal Military College) nominates a graduate student to represent its institution in this competition. The participants give an oral presentation of their Master’s or PhD’s research on topics relevant to the geotechnical and geo-environmental fields. The winner of the competition is awarded a plaque which remains at the winning academic institution for the awarded year. The forum is also used by the two local groups to award participants financial support to attend the Annual Canadian Geotechnical Conference