The EGEL-group of Professor Carlos Santamarina hosted Professor Mazen El Ghoule, Professor Salah Sadek and Associate Professor Shadi Najjar from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon from October 22-23, 2017. The visit was an excellent opportunity to discuss collaboration opportunities and to strengthen the ties between our two universities. The two day visit included presentations from group members and seminars from our guests. The titles of their seminar presentations were following:

• The Reaction-Diffusion Framework: Making Material Far From Equilibrium: Professor Mazen El Ghoule
• A Reliability-Based Decision Framework for Designing Pile-Load Test Programs: Associate Professor Shadi Najjar
• Experimental Exploration of the Static and Cyclic Response of Soft Clays Reinforced with Granular Columns: Professor Salah Sadek.