Members of the School of Geological Sciences and Engineering gave conferences at the II International Symposium on Applied Sciences in Pasto, Colombia.

The Universidad Mariana of Pasto, Colombia, through its Civil Engineering program organized its II International Symposium on Applied Sciences in Civil Engineering and Workshop. Faculty member Elisa Piispa, PhD., of the School of Geological Sciences and Engineering, and students Gustavo Bejar, Kewrin Choez, Maria Emilia Arteaga, and Jonathan Gordillo attended as guest speakers. The event was held on May 17 and 18, 2018 at the Universidad Mariana campus and welcomed guests from Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia.

The conferences given by the Yachay Tech team revolved around the applications of geophysics to soil analysis for civil engineering. In Elisa Piispa’s case, the conference was about the creation of a homemade seismic refraction and resistivity meter to study groundwater levels for community needs. The students, on the other hand, presented the different applications they could give to this piece of equipment, which they built themselves. Some of these applications included detection of underground sewage leaks and detection of tombs and underground remains, both in Yachay City.

This was the second edition of this event. Faculty members of the School of Geological Sciences and Engineering also attended the first one, in 2017. This year, in addition to the speakers, around 15 students of the same School attended the conferences as audience.