Terracon Foundation Scholarship Awarded to University of Colorado Boulder Graduate Student in Geotechnical Engineering

Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Educational Trust Awards Joelle Westcott

 OLATHE, Kan. – The Terracon Foundation announced $3,250 has been awarded to Joelle Westcott, a student pursuing a master of science degree in geotechnical engineering and geomechanics at the University of Colorado Boulder, to support her studies. The scholarship is the second award following the establishment of the DFI Educational Trust/Terracon Consultants Scholarship Fund in 2020. An endowment of $50,000 from the Terracon Foundation funds this annual educational scholarship.

Westcott was recommended for the scholarship by current faculty, as well as the head staff of the Centrifuge Research Complex at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC), where she interned as a civil engineer researcher this summer. An accomplished student, Wescott spent the summer of 2019 in the African country of Eswatini, working with a rural community as construction manager for a 69-meter pedestrian footbridge as part of an Engineers in Action project. She is currently working on her master’s degree thesis related to the dynamics of retaining walls, combining experimental centrifuge data collected at the University of Colorado Boulder’s centrifuge with results from a numerical model she is developing.

Originally from Broomfield, Colorado, Westcott chose engineering because she wanted to continuously solve challenging problems that make a tangible, positive impact on the world. A graduate of Thornton High School in Thornton, Colorado, she earned an international baccalaureate diploma and received academic and athletic honors throughout high school. During her bachelor’s degree, her honor streak continued with honors at the college and department level as well as regional American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) awards. After she completes her master’s degree, Westcott would like to work on innovative projects, while also staying involved in projects related to engineering for developing communities.

The DFI Educational Trust manages 20 scholarship programs funded by endowments, donations, and fundraising events. Since 2006, the Trust has awarded $1.6 million in scholarships and grants to 450 students studying at colleges and universities across the United States and the Province of Ontario, Canada. Donations to the DFI Educational Trust scholarship funds can be made online at www.trust.dfi.org.

The Terracon Foundation encourages employees to submit grant requests each year for organizations focused on education as well as the built and natural environment. To date, the Terracon Foundation has granted more than $3.7 million to community organizations, universities, dependents of employees, and disaster relief efforts.

Terracon is an employee-owned multidiscipline consulting firm comprised of more than 5,500 curious minds focused on solving engineering and technical challenges from more than 175 locations nationwide. Explore with us by visiting terracon.com.