A Spartan Engineer at Michigan State University will receive national recognition for outstanding accomplishments as a young practitioner in geotechnical engineering.
Surya S.C. Congress, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), will be honored with the 2026 Arthur Casagrande Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The award will be presented at the Geo-Congress Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, in March 2026.
Peter Savolainen, MSU Foundation Professor and CEE chairperson, said the award provides professional development opportunities for outstanding practitioners, researchers, and teachers of geotechnical engineering who are new to the discipline.
“The Casagrande Award is the most prestigious award for junior faculty across all areas of geotechnical engineering. It recognizes the outstanding contributions that Dr. Congress has made to the field, as well as his trajectory as a leader in both research and education. His work with drones has the potential to significantly enhance our ability to monitor the condition of our infrastructure systems, providing us with critical information sooner, in a safer manner, and at lower cost as compared to traditional methods.”
Congress is an expert in infrastructure asset management using cutting-edge technologies. As an FAA-certified drone pilot, he has flown many uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) missions to collect infrastructure condition data across the U.S.
He leverages photogrammetry, LiDAR, machine learning, and computer vision techniques to develop innovative and multi-disciplinary solutions to real-world engineering challenges.
His research interests include stabilization of problematic soils, slope stability, resilient and durable designs for transportation geotechnical assets, applications of remote sensing and computer vision techniques for structural health monitoring of infrastructure assets and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) for immersive inspection practices.
A highly decorated researcher, he was honored with the Bright Spark Award (2018) by the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) and the R.M. Quigley Award (2023) by the Canadian Geotechnical Society.
At MSU, he teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses, incorporating advanced technologies such as drones, AR/VR, and other visualization tools to provide students with an in-depth, hands-on understanding of complex concepts. His commitment to education was recognized with the 2025 Withrow Teaching Excellence Award. Beyond the classroom, he actively represents the College of Engineering and his CEE department at outreach events, inspiring K-12 students to pursue opportunities in STEM.
Congress serves on the National Academies of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board (TRB) Standing Committee on Engineering Geology and Site Characterization and holds a vice-chair position with the ASCE Committee on Innovative Technologies and Tools in Geotechnical Engineering (INNC).
He joined MSU in 2023 from North Dakota State University. He previously served as a senior research engineer at Texas A&M University, College Station.
Written by Patricia Mroczek
MSU College of Engineering Media and Public Relations page
