DFI Educational Trust Elects Officers, Awards Scholarships

Rudolph P. Frizzi, P.E., G.E., D.GE, managing principal/executive vice president of Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, and past president of DFI, has been elected chair of the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Educational Trust Board of Trustees. He succeeds Tracy Brettmann, P.E., D.GE, executive vice president of A.H. Beck Foundation Company.

During his 33 years in the industry, Frizzi has interacted on projects located in practically every continent worldwide, and has performed geotechnical investigations and designs, prepared plans and technical specifications, and observed field testing and construction as geotechnical “engineer of record” on countless projects. His geotechnical engineering and project management experience is extensive, with particular emphasis on: foundation design and construction in urban areas, and large-scale land and waterfront public and private development projects throughout the United States, and internationally. In addition, Frizzi has prepared and presented over 50 technical presentations at universities, conferences, and seminars on a variety of geotechnical issues, including land development engineering, foundation design, and construction.

Frizzi obtained his B.S. in civil engineering from The Ohio State University and M.S. in civil engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and is presently an adjunct professor at Columbia University School of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. He is a licensed professional engineer in 20 states, a licensed geotechnical engineer in California, and a Diplomate, Geotechnical Engineering, of the Academy of Geo-Professionals. Frizzi is a member of The Moles, ASCE, and is active on several American Concrete Institute (ACI) and Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) committees.

The other DFI Educational Trust officers are Vice Chair Zoran (Zac) Curanovic, Underpinning and Foundation Skanska; Treasurer James Johnson, Condon-Johnson and Associates; and Secretary Helen Robinson, GEI Consultants.

Scholarship Awards

In other news, the DFI Educational Trust recently awarded 15 scholarships to students pursuing careers in civil and geotechnical engineering.

The DFI Educational Trust manages 19 scholarship programs funded by endowments, donations and fundraising events. Since 2006, the Trust has awarded $1.25 million in scholarships to more than 400 students studying at colleges and universities across the United States and the Province of Ontario, Canada.

Following are the recent scholarship recipients.

Manuel Fine Civil Engineering Scholarships ($2,500 each)
• Hamzah Smadi, University of Waterloo, Ontario
• Grytan Sarkar, Western University, Ontario

Langan Engineering & Environmental Services Legacy Scholarships ($5,000 each)
• Jeehee Lim is the recipient of the Bernard F. Langan Scholarship at Purdue University.
• Elayne Blancas received the Donald J. Murphy Memorial Scholarship at NYU Tandon School of Engineering.
• Paul Pullia was awarded the George P. Kelley Memorial Scholarship at Drexel University.

Stanley Merjan City College of New York Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund
• Luis Abreu
• Ming Sum Leung
• Peter Metias
• Xiaoxiao (Eva) Zhang

Penn State Scholarship Fund ($2,500)
• Timothy Wheeler

George J. Tamaro Manhattan College Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund ($2,500 each)
• Dylan Grace
• Rachel Foertch
• Robert Del Prete
• Andrew Scala

University of Pittsburgh Scholarship Fund ($2,500)
• Russell Jacobs

RELATED: DFI Announces New President, Officers and Trustees