2025 Conference Submissions
2025 Annual Conference Submission Information
Thank you for your interest in submitting an abstract for the
2025 USSD Annual Conference and Exhibition
in Kansas City, MO on May 5-8, 2025.
If accepted, all presenters will be expected to attend the Conference and pay the reduced registration fee
offered to authors and co-authors. Submissions without a registered presenter by March 13, 2025, are subject to removal from the event. For more information, contact: conferences@ussdams.org
Please read all the information below before starting a submission.
Before Submitting you should...
- Read and familiarize yourself with all the provided information to ensure you understanding of the process.
- Download any of the supporting documentation provided to outline more detail.
- Set reminders on your calendar to ensure you stay on top of deadlines.
- Gather all the material needed to complete a submission.
- Obtain written approvals from employer and/or clients before submitting.
- Add conferences@ussdams.org to your safe sender list to reduce the chances of blocked messages.
The details below are applicable for Technical Submissions.
Submission details for Workshop Submissions, the Legacy Lecture
and Plenary Session, and Special Topic Submissions
can be found under their respective tabs on the top left of this screen.
Technical Topics
Technical Presentations
These are the traditional short presentations on technical topics.
These include:
| * Concrete Dams | * Hydraulics & Hydrology |
| * Construction and Rehabilitation | * Levees |
| * Dam Decommissioning | * Monitoring of Dams and their Foundations |
| * Dam Safety | * Public Safety Security, and Emergency Management |
| * Earthquakes | * Tailings Dams |
| * Embankment Dams | * Other Contemporary Issues |
| * Environment & Sustainability | * Human Factors |
| * Foundations | * Climate Resiliency |
Technical Submissions Guidelines
Abstract submissions must be for proposed papers or expanded abstracts that are original and have not been published or accepted in a journal or conference proceedings, nor presented at another conference. Submissions must not be concurrently under consideration for publication or presentation elsewhere.
Abstracts should not exceed 300 words. Please do not include tables, figures, photographs, or logos in your
abstract. Please note the July 11, 2024, deadline for submitting abstracts.
Please do not submit an abstract unless the following two conditions can be met:
- You have approval from your employer and/or client to present this topic.
- Project work/results included in the paper/presentation will be substantially complete by October 28th. Please be aware that USSD may request written proof of the completion progress.
All presenters must prepare either a full paper (10-15 pages) OR an expanded abstract (2-5 pages) which will be included in the electronic conference proceedings. Guidelines for preparing full papers or expanded abstracts will be provided upon acceptance.
Presentations will be 25 minutes (20 minutes for presentation with 5 minutes for questions).
If you would like to submit a proposal for a longer session (50 or 100 minutes) you will be asked to provide a detailed agenda. The agenda should include proposed speakers/presenters and a short description of their proposed roles.
Things to Consider When Drafting Your Abstract
- Work with the Owner and include them as a co-author and potentially a co-presenter.
- Rather than expanding on your credentials, provide solutions to the problems you encountered.
- Is there a young professional that could help you write the abstract and potential present a portion of or all the presentation?
- Write your abstract as if it were the executive summary of your paper.
Adding a Track Not Listed
If you are interested in coordinating a specialty track on a specific topic, please contact USSD conferences@ussdams.org. Specialty tracks will run concurrently with other tracks in the technical program. Abstracts must be submitted in CATALYST for each presentation during a specialty track.
Acceptance Notifications
Abstracts will be reviewed and selected based on scientific/engineering merit, relevance, and overall quality. You are reminded that, due to time and space constraints for the event, that not all submissions will be selected for the conference.
Notification of acceptance will be sent via email by August 27, 2024. At that time:
- All authors/presenters must upload a form to CATALYST confirming your intention to participate in the conference and granting USSD permission to publish and distribute your paper/expanded abstract and/or presentation.
- Authors must upload a draft paper OR expanded abstract by October 28, 2024.
- Authors will be able to access review comments via CATALYST by February 20, 2025.
- Final papers or expanded abstracts are due March 13, 2025.
- All presenters must submit PowerPoint presentations to session moderators no later than April 10, 2025.
- You must receive copyright approval on any publicly accessed photos contained in your expanded abstract or paper.