VASANT NARAYAN VIJAYVERGIYA

1936-2017

Vasant N. Vijayvergiya, Ph.D., P.E., 81, loving husband, father, grandfather, mentor and friend, passed away peacefully on September 8, 2017. He is survived by his loving wife Sudha, and his children Vikram and Chetan and their families. His parents preceded him in death.

Vijayvergiya (who was commonly known as “Dr. Vijay”) was born on March 24, 1936 in India. He and his wife Sudha relocated to the United States where they raised their children Vikram and Chetan.

Dr. Vijay holds a BE with Honors in Civil Engineering from the University of Bombay, Bombay, India, and a Master of Technology in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India. He moved to Austin from India in the late 1960s to pursue a doctorate degree in geotechnical engineering. Dr. Vijay received a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1969. After earning his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Vijay moved to Houston to accept a job with McClelland Engineers, Inc.

During his five years with McClelland, Dr. Vijay wrote and published several technical papers on offshore platform foundations. His papers led to a benchmark design for pile foundations, the legs that support offshore platforms. In 1973, Dr. Vijay was asked to launch a Houston branch of Fugro Gulf, Inc. which performed geotechnical offshore investigations. Although he wasn’t technically an entrepreneur yet, Dr. Vijay grew that subsidiary to 100 employees in four years. McClelland and Fugro have since merged.

Dr. Vijay spent his first 11 years in the United States building up the courage to start his own company. In July of 1979, Dr. Vijay and his wife finally opened the doors to Geotest Engineering, Inc., an engineering consulting business that landed Dr. Vijay the Minority Small Business Person of the Year award. Dr. Vijay described the award as an endorsement by the SBA that Geotest stands out in quality of workmanship and integrity. He is a recipient of two outstanding technical paper awards by the Texas Section of ASCE.

Services celebrating Dr. Vijay’s life will be held from 9:30 am on Thursday, Sep. 14, 2017, at Sugarland Mortuary located at 1818 Eldridge Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478. The program will end at about Noon and then cremation will take place for family only.