About me

Kancheepuram N. Gunalan (Guna) is proud to be a civil engineer and is passionate about enhancing the quality of life for communities around the world through this profession and continuously advancing the careers of his fellow civil engineers.

Guna is an open book and speaks from his heart. He enjoys learning about and connecting with people from all walks of life and age groups. He has a clear vision for reaching out to younger generations of engineers and is driven to increase the impact of engineering on everyday life. Guna balances efficiently achieving results with an inclusive and democratic leadership style. He strongly believes that an educated society is an enlightened society and that research and lifelong learning are required to progress. He is committed to ethics and ethical behavior in all aspects of life, and was awarded the 2016 ASCE Professional Practice Ethics and Leadership award for his dedication to this topic. He learned more about how to encourage ethical behavior in others by serving as a member of the National Institute of Engineering Ethics.

A U.S. citizen now, Guna was born and raised in Chennai, India. After getting his undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the oldest engineering school in India, he received his Master’s in Engineering by specializing in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering. In preparation for Guna’s journey to the U.S. for his Ph.D., Guna taught at the university for a year. More importantly, he married his longtime love, Duru. It was not a traditional or typical Indian courtship, as Duru and Guna are from different ethnic backgrounds within India, meaning their families spoke different languages leaving English to become their love language!

Guna graduated from Texas Tech University with a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Major: Geotechnical/Structures, Minor: Geosciences/Soil Science). During this time, Guna and Duru welcomed their first child, a son named Kabilar. Guna started his consulting career in Lubbock, Texas with Terra Testing, Inc. and for the next 12 years developed his technical and management skills while also becoming actively engaged with ASCE. He eventually served as the President of the High Plains Branch of the Texas Section. In Lubbock, Guna and Duru completed their family with a daughter they named Pallavi.

The Gunalan family moved to Salt Lake City in 1993 where Guna expanded his technical skillset and explored a new landscape. He took the opportunity to serve as the Chair of the Geotechnical Group of the Utah Section and was fortunate enough to get involved in some major projects. Guna served as the Technical Support Manager on the $1.529 billion I-15 Reconstruction Project that received an ASCE OPAL award.   He served as Utah Section President during the 150th anniversary of ASCE and volunteered for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Guna rose to serve ASCE at both the regional and national levels, and chaired the 2014 Global Engineering Conference in Panama City, Panama during the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal that was held in conjunction with the Engineers Without Borders Conference. Guna has worked on major engineering projects all over the world – experiences that provide him with a unique global perspective on the engineering industry and the challenges faced by civil engineers.

Guna believes that outreach and mentoring are keys to sustaining any profession, and would love to hear your thoughts about civil engineering and where ASCE is heading. Feel free to contact him to start a discussion or check the Conferences page to see if he will be attending any near you. Help make ASCE stronger by working together to plan for our future!