Kenneth Bell, Ph.D., corporate manager of geotechnical and hydraulic engineering services (G&HES) at Bechtel Global Corp., Reston, Virginia, has received the ASTM International Award of Merit from Committee D18 on Soil and Rock.

The Award of Merit is ASTM’s highest organizational recognition for individual contributions to standards activities, and includes the accompanying title of fellow.

Bell was honored for his outstanding leadership and longtime service to Committee D18, which he joined in 1987. His efforts in reviewing and revising D18 standards have been a significant factor in the advancement of the committee. He currently holds the office of D18 first vice chairman and is active on several subcommittees, co-chairing the groups on Surface and Subsurface Characterization, Cyclic and Dynamic Properties of Soils, and Deep Foundations. Bell’s contributions have been recognized with the Richard S. Ladd Standards Development Award and the Woodland G. Shockley Memorial Award, which includes the title of D18 honorary member.

A graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, where he received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and his Ph.D. in geotechnical engineering, Bell joined Bechtel Corp. in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in 1980 as an engineer. He was promoted to engineering specialist, principal engineer and senior principal engineer before moving to the company’s Reston, Virginia, offices and assuming his current role in 2011. Bell has worked for four of Bechtel’s Global Business Units, including assignments in Hong Kong, New Caledonia and Trinidad. He was named a Bechtel distinguished engineer and fellow in 2011.
 
Outside ASTM International, Bell is a member of the Academy of Geo-Professionals and a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He has authored and published more than 20 technical papers.

ASTM PR Contact: Erin K. Brennan, Phone: 610-832-9602; ebrennan@astm.org

Release #9574