News

First ICHARM BEST PAPER AWARD WINNER, Rabindra Osti, Ph.D.,
Speaks at the 21st ICHARM R&D Seminar

Dr. Rabindra Osti, senior researcher of ICHARM, was awarded the first “ICHARM BEST PAPER AWARD” with co-author Shinji Egashira, Ph.D., for their research paper entitled “Method to Improve the Mitigative Effectiveness of a Series of Check Dams against Debris Flow,” which has been published in Hydrological Process (vol. 22). In commemoration of the award, Dr. Osti gave a special lecture on the paper at the ICHARM Auditorium on 22 June 2009.

The ICHARM BEST PAPER AWARD is established to award an ICHARM researcher who published a distinguished refereed paper in the previous year. The selection committee led by ICHARM Director Kuniyoshi Takeushi is in charge of the award.

This year, Dr. Osti was awarded jointly with Dr. Shinji Egashira, co-author of the award winning paper and former professor of Ritsumeikan University. In the paper, they propose techniques for evaluating and improving the mitigative effectiveness of check dams against debris flows in steep mountain torrents. Additionally, to generalize their proposed evaluation process, they introduced and verified a non-dimensional parameter, namely potential storage volume, in a series of in-house experiments. In the near future, they are planning to apply the method to actual debris-flow events, such as the 1999 debris-flow event in the San Julian River in Venezuela and those in Japan.

An ardent audience of about 40 people, including Dr. Egashira, listened to Dr. Osti’s special lecture and had a fruitful discussion afterwards.

Seminar

Dr. Rabindra Osti and Dr. Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, director of ICHARM