The Mehta Award is a given to an individual who has made significant contributions to the advancement in the theory or application of cohesive sediment transport in the marine or aquatic environment. The award, which carries a plaque and a prize of $3,000, is normally given when INTERCOH is convened. Awardees are globally selected and are not limited in any way to the specific themes or participants at the conference. 

The award is named in the memory of Jayant J. Mehta (1916-1996) by his son Ashish J. Mehta. Jayant J. Mehta (MS, MIT, 1938) was a pioneer in the inception and growth of the petrochemical industry in India, contributing significantly to the country’s industrial expansion starting in the 1970s. The award is given only if a suitable candidate is chosen. In that event the Award Committee will indicate the basis for its choice in its letter to the awardee. Deliberations by the committee leading to the selection will remain internal to the committee whose decision will be final. The awardee will be invited to the conference to present a keynote lecture on the award topic. 

The Award Committee is affiliated to the Steering Committee of the International Conference on Cohesive Sediment Transport Processes (INTERCOH). It includes three members approved by the Steering Committee. The tenure of each member is 6 years. The present members are Dr. William H. McAnally, Dr. Lawrence P. Sanford and Dr. Johan C. Winterwerp (Chair). 

The deadline for nominations is about four months prior to the conference, which is biennial. Specific deadline date is given in the announcement of the next conference. Nominations are welcome from anyone associated with cohesive sediment transport research or application. The package should include a letter of transmittal from the nominator indicating the basis for the choice of the nominee, nominee’s bio-data and two letters of support from individuals other than the nominator. The entire package must be transmitted by e-mail to Professor J.C. Winterwerp, INTERCOH Steering Committee Chair, at: J.C.Winterwerp@tudelft.nl.   


The following awards were given:

2011: dr. Pierre Le Hir
Dr. Pierre Le Hir received the 2011 Jayant J. Mehta prize for his important contributions to the discipline of cohesive sediments over a long period of time. In his curriculum vitae, Pierre is introduced as a modeler, but that c.v. shows a much broader interest. According to the ISI Web of Knowledge, Pierre’s first two publications stem from 1998, and since then more than 30 publications followed, which were cited more than 420 times. His best cited paper concerns the characterization of intertidal mudflats, which appeared in 2000 in Continental Shelf Research. His so-called h-index amounts to 11, which is only one measure for the high quality of his work.
Pierre Le Hir is an active member of the Intercoh community. His many scientific contributions to the Intercoh proceedings, however, are unfortunately not included in the ISO Web, as these proceedings are classified as “grey literature”. However, one of these contributions, i.e. his 2001 paper on continuous modeling, which appeared in the 1998 Intercoh proceedings, forms a key in understanding Pierre’s work, which is characterized by innovative ideas. Pierre was never afraid to follow new, unexplored paths in his work. In this 2001 paper, Pierre introduced the concept of “integrated modeling” for the first time. Many from the Intercoh community followed Pierre, sometimes only a decade or so later. Pierre’s modeling work was really pioneering, and today he is considered as a leading authority in this field.
Pierre is not an “ivory tower” scientist, and he is active on many fronts since he received his engineering degree in 1977, his PhD in 1980, and joined Ifremer in 1981. He is highly appreciated in his country France, and participates in many scientific committees, serving French society, such as for the Loire and the LITEAU program, and he is member of the Comité Supérieur de l’Océanographique Militaire. 
Within the framework of the 2011 Jayant J. Mehta prize, Pierre’s contribution to the Intercoh community is to be acknowledged in particular. Pierre is active member of the International Steering Committee, and organized the 2007 meeting in Brest.