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Executive Committee 2025/2026

Position
Name
Email
Affiliation
Chair
Pedram MolkAra
chair@cgs-sos.ca
Jacobs
Vice Chair & Communications
Amin Jafari
vicechair@cgs-sos.ca
Paterson and Cooke
Regional Director
Masoud Manzari
Director5@cgs-sos.ca
Hatch
Treasurer
Alex Szot
treasurer@cgs-sos.ca
GeoSolv
Secretary
Reza Mahmoudipour
secretary@cgs-sos.ca
Arcadis
Sponsorship
Jeff Lam
sponsorship@cgs-sos.ca
GEOKON
Membership and Awards & Women in CGS Lead
Atieh Shooshpasha
membership_awards@cgs-sos.ca
Ellisdon
University Outreach
Trevor Bruce
studentliaison@cgs-sos.ca
Menard Canada
Event Lead Digital Tech Lead
Jack Guo
tech@cgs-sos.ca
AECOM
Event Lead
Yuchen Liu
eventlead1@cgs-sos.ca
Kiewit
Event Lead
Jose Afsharipour
eventlead2@cgs-sos.ca
FprimeC
Event Lead
Tim House
eventlead3@cgs-sos.ca
TTC
Event Lead
Behrouz Ohadi
eventlead4@cgs-sos.ca
PGT
Past Chair
Bill Li
pastchair@cgs-sos.ca
Keller Foundation
Directors
Name
Email
Current Chair
Pedram Molkara
chair@cgs-sos.ca
Immediate Past Chair
Bill Li
Director1@cgs-sos.ca
Regional Director
Masoud Manzari
Director5@cgs-sos.ca
Past Chair
Amir Poshnejad
Director2@cgs-sos.ca
Past Chair
Charles Crans
Director3@cgs-sos.ca
Past Chair
Dino Vito
Director4@cgs-sos.ca

Joining the committee

The Canadian Geotechnical Society, Southern Ontario Section (CGS-SOS) is the largest and one of the most active sections of the Canadian Geotechnical Society and relies solely on volunteers for organizing and managing geotechnical-related events and activities. The CGS-SOS is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and the creation of opportunities to exchange information among individuals from academia (both faculty and students), consulting, government, industry, contractors, and various providers of geotechnical-related products and services. The CGS-SOS events typically consist of monthly lecture series, technical workshops, webinars, student competitions, annual dinners, and annual golf tournaments.

Each year, some of the Executive Committee members retire, and new positions will be available to the members. The Executive Committee currently consists of 15 volunteers, out of whom, some members will complete their terms and retire in June 2025.

Committee service starts with up to two years term. The committee members normally pledge about two to four hours of their time per week, and are expected to:

·        be a member of CGS-SOS in good standing,

·        be an active member of the Geotechnical/Geo-environmental Society,

·        actively participate in the executive committee business

·        attend monthly executive meetings, generally held on the same day of the events for about 90 minutes, as well as CGS-SOS events.

Successful candidates start as Event Lead, and may be promoted to higher roles after the first year depending on their performance. Committee members do not push a commercial agenda or expect any commercial benefit from being an executive member. In selection of new committee members, the following criteria will be considered:

·        Applicant's past experiences, and skills that will bring to the Committee

·        Applicant's vision to grow and promote CGS-SOS.

CGS-SOS values diversity and inclusion. As such our goal is to form a committee with broad representation from various cohorts, limit representation from each organization to one person at once, and provide opportunity for everyone willing to serve their community.

If you are eager to join the committee and give back to the local geotechnical community, we encourage you to check back on the site in March 2025 to download and fill out the application form and send it to the current executive committee chair Bill Li, M.A.Sc., P.Eng. (chair@cgs-sos.ca). Decisions will be made by the committee, and successful applicants will be contacted by the Chair.

Good luck!
CGS-SOS Executive Committee

Apply to be a committee member

Thank you! We’ll be in touch.

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