Editor’s Note

Each year, the ASCE Technical Council on Forensic Engineering (TCFE) selects one paper published in this Journal the previous calendar year for our Outstanding Paper Award. The 2007 Outstanding Paper Award certificate and wall plaque will be presented to Wayne A. Karem, Michael E. Kalinski, and Donn E. Hancher.

Karem, Kalinski, and Hancher’s paper, “Settlement of Mine Spoil Fill from Water Infiltration: Case Study in Eastern Kentucky,” appeared in the September/October 2007 issue (Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 345–350). Mine spoil valley fills are a by-product of mountaintop removal mining in the Appalachian coal-mining regions of the United States. The fill is susceptible to damaging settlements. This paper reviews damage to a lumber-processing facility constructed on mine spoil fills that suffered substantial settlement damage, and the related corrective work involving foundation underpinning. The interesting geotechnical case history is presented clearly and concisely.

Wayne A. Karem, Ph.D., P.E. (Fig. 1), is a principal and coowner of Vector Engineers, Inc., a civil and geotechnical/geological engineering firm based in Shelbyville, Kentucky. The firm specializes in site selection for industrial and commercial developments, drainage studies, site design, and geotechnical engineering and geophysical studies related to new developments. The firm also conducts geotechnical failure studies. Dr. Karem has $25\text{years}$ of experience as a consulting civil/geotechnical engineer. He is a licensed professional engineer and a licensed professional geologist. Before Vector Engineers, Inc., Dr. Karem spent several years with Law Engineering Testing Company, a large international geotechnical engineering firm, and with QORE, Inc., a large regional firm. While at QORE, Dr. Karem served on the board of directors and was the executive vice president for $3\text{years}$ before he joined Vector Engineers. He is also an adjunct professor of civil engineering at the University of Kentucky and serves on the industrial board of advisors to the Civil Engineering Department at Western Kentucky University.

Dr. Karem’s technical expertise includes site evaluations for commercial developments, high-rise buildings, and large-scale industrial facilities. He has consulted on engineering failures and served as an expert on several construction disputes. Dr. Karem’s research on mine spoil sites began more than $15\text{years}$ ago, and he served as a consultant to the Kentucky Economic Cabinet, where he developed valley fills resulting from mountaintop removal coal mining. In addition to his research with mine spoil fills, Dr. Karem has extensive experience with site development in karst (sinkhole) areas. Dr. Karem holds a bachelor of science and a masters of engineering from the Speed Scientific School at the University of Louisville, and a doctorate from the University of Kentucky.

Michael E. Kalinski, Ph.D., P.E. (Fig. 2), is an associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Kentucky. His research interests include engineering geophysics, geotechnical earthquake engineering, landfill geotechnology, vibration monitoring and mitigation, and the use of coal combustion by-products. In 2005, he was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Early Faculty Career Award for research on understanding and predicting the dynamic behavior of mine tailings dam materials. In 2008, he received a Great Teacher Award from the University of Kentucky Alumni Association. Dr. Kalinski teaches an undergraduate course in soil mechanics and graduate courses in landfill design, geotechnical earthquake engineering, and groundwater seepage. He holds a B.Sc. degree in geophysical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a registered geophysicist in California, and a Licensed Professional Engineer in California, Kentucky, and Texas.

Donn E. Hancher, Ph.D., P.E. (Fig. 3), is the Terrell-McDowell Chair Professor of Construction Engineering and Management, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky, and is a Distinguished Member of ASCE. He grew up in Indiana and attended Purdue University, where he obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as a doctorate, specializing in construction engineering and management. After teaching construction engineering and management for the past $40\text{years}$ at Purdue University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Kentucky, he is preparing for retirement.

Dr. Hancher has been very active in several professional societies, serving on many committees, often in leadership roles. He served on the Board of Directors for ASCE from 1984 to 1987 and has an extensive record of service to the Transportation Research Board, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, and to the American Society for Engineering Education. Over the past $25\text{years}$ , he has held many academic management positions. He enjoys working with undergraduate and graduate students and has been the student chapter adviser for many groups. Dr. Hancher writes, “I am very proud to receive this 2007 Outstanding Paper Award from the ASCE Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities along with Dr. Wayne Karem and Dr. Michael Kalinski. Dr. Karem is the final Ph.D. student in my teaching activities, and this award is a wonderful finish to my career. I am proud to be a civil engineer and humbly accept this award.”

Other nominees for the outstanding paper award were:

Congratulations are extended to each of these authors. Nominations submitted by journal readers were appreciated.

The time has come to select the winner of our Outstanding Paper Award for 2008. The Publications Committee is studying the papers published in our six 2008 issues and will soon make a recommendation to the TCFE Awards Committee. Readers are invited to submit nominations. If you wish to nominate a paper that you found especially useful or informative, please write to me, indicating your reasons for the nomination. I can be contacted by mail at Kenneth L. Carper, School of Architecture and Construction Management, College of Engineering and Architecture, P.O. Box 642220, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2220; by telephone at (509) 335-1229; by fax at (509) 335-6132; or by e-mail at [email protected].

This issue marks the end of the twenty-second year of publication of the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. The Journal owes much of its success to the many manuscript reviewers who have donated their time to provide constructive comments to authors. Indeed, the reviewers play a role equivalent to that of the authors in maintaining the quality of this publication. Our reviewers serve without compensation. They are, without exception, highly respected individuals who are very busy in practice or academia. Yet they find the time to contribute altruistically to the dissemination of useful information in this journal.

At the end of each year’s final issue, we list those who have provided reviews during the year. I want to extend my personal appreciation for their efforts. If you recognize one of your colleagues in the list, please express your appreciation.