INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR SOIL MECHANICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING
held at:
Edinburgh International Conference Centre Edinburgh, UK
Sunday, 13th September 2015
PRESENT:
Professor Roger Frank - ISSMGE President Professor Fatma Baligh - ISSMGE Vice President Africa Professor Ikuo Towhata - ISSMGE Vice President Asia Professor Mark Jaksa - ISSMGE Vice President Australasia Professor Antonio Gens - ISSMGE Vice President Europe Professor Paul Mayne - ISSMGE Vice President North America Professor Jarbas Milititsky - ISSMGE Vice President South America
Professor Jean-Louis Briaud - ISSMGE Immediate Past President
Professor R.N. Taylor - ISSMGE Secretary General
Dr Marc Ballouz - ISSMGE Board Member Professor Etienne Marcelin Kana - ISSMGE Board Member Professor Vlasta Szavits-Nossan - ISSMGE Board Member
Paloma Peers - ISSMGE Secretariat
Professor Pierre Delage - Chair, Technical Oversight Committee Professor Charles Ng - Chair, Awards Committee Dr Jennifer Nicks - Chair, Young Members’ Presidential Group Mr Sukumar Pathmanandavel - Chair, Corporate Associates’ Presidential Group Dr Sherif Wissa - Chair, Professional Image Committee Dr Dimitrios Zekkos - Chair, Innovation and Development Committee
Professor Michele Jamiolkowski - Past President ISSMGE Professor William Van Impe - Past President ISSMGE
Mr Scott Reid - Arup Mr John Sankey - Terre Armee
Member Society Voting Member Non-Voting Member
Albania Professor Luljeta Bozo Argentina Australia Mr Darren Paul Mr Graham Scholey Austria Professor Helmut F. Schweiger Professor Heinz Brandl
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Member Society Voting Member Non-Voting Member
Bangladesh --- Belarus --- Belgium Dr Peter Van Impe Bolivia --- Bosnia & Herzegovina --- Brazil Professor Jarbas Milititsky* Bulgaria Canada Dr Suzanne Lacasse Chile --- China --- Chinese Taipei Professor ChangYu Ou Professor Keh-Jian Shou Colombia Costa Rica Croatia Professor Vlasta Szavits Nossan* CTGA Professor Etienne Marcelin Kana* Cuba --- Czech & Slovak Republics Professor Jana Frankovska Dr David Masin Denmark Dr. Jørgen S. Steenfelt Dominican Republic --- Ecuador --- Egypt Professor Fatma Baligh El Salvador --- Estonia Eng. Mait Mets Finland Professor Leena Korkiala-Tanttu France Mr Jacques Robert Mrs Valérie Bernhardt Georgia --- Germany Dr.Ing. Wolfgang Sondermann Ghana Professor Etienne Marcelin Kana* Greece Professor Christos Tsatsanifos Guatemala --- Hong Kong Professor Charles Ng Hungary Dr Andras Mahler Mr Peter Görög Iceland Mr Haraldur Sigursteinsson Dr Sigurdur Erlingsson India Professor A. Srirama Rao Professor G.L. Sivakumar Babu Indonesia --- Iran --- Iraq Professor Musa Jawad al-Musawi Ireland Mr Fintan Buggy Israel Italy Professor Nicola Moraci Professor Mario Manassero Japan Professor Ikuo Towhata* Dr Takeshi Katsumi Kazakhstan Professor Askar Zhussupbekov Dr Valentina Jousopbekova Korea R Professor Dong Soo Kim Dr Moonkyung Chung Kyrgyzstan --- Latvia Professor Kaspars Bondars Lithuania Professor Liudvikas Furmonavičius Macedonia, FYR Professor Milorad Jovanovski Dr.Jovan Papic Malaysia --- Mexico --- Morocco Professor Fatma Baligh* Mozambique Professor Fatma Baligh* Nepal --- Netherlands Dr Mandy Korff
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Member Society Voting Member Non-Voting Member
New Zealand Professor Mark Jaksa* Nigeria Dr Peter Day* Norway Dr Vidar Gjelsvik Dr Jenny Langford Pakistan --- Paraguay --- Poland Professor Zbigniew Lechowicz Prof. Katarzyna Zabielska-Adamska Portugal Prof José Luis Machado do Vale Dr Nuno Manuel da Costa Guerra Romania Professor Sanda Manea Dr Ernest Olinic Russia Dr Igor Kolybin Serbia Srdjan Spasojević Singapore Professor Chun Fai Leung Dr Siau Chen Chian Slovenia Dr Vojkan Jovičić South Africa Dr Peter Day S E Asia --- Spain Prof. Fernando Pardo de Santayana Professor Enrique Dapena Sri Lanka --- Sudan Dr Peter Day* Sweden Dr Gunilla Franzén Mr Andreas Ramström Switzerland Dr Jan Laue Syria --- Tajikistan Professor Askar Zhussupbekov* Thailand --- Tunisia --- Turkey Professor Feyza Cinicioglu Professor Muge Inanirl Ukraine --- U K Dr Christopher Menkiti Stefan Jefferis/Neil Smith U S A Mr Allen Cadden Professor Robert Holtz Uzbekistan Professor Askar Zhussupbekov* Venezuela --- Vietnam ---
* Denotes Proxy vote
Apologies
Prof. Kok Kwang Phoon (Chair TC304 – Risk) Dr. Michael Heibaum (Chair TC213 – Scour and Erosion) Dr Noel Huybrechts (Chair TC211 – Ground Improvement) Dipl.-Ing. Lars Vollmert, NAUE (Corporate Associate)
OPENING REMARKS
The President opened the meeting by welcoming all delegates. He went on to comment that, on the strength of the reports that were to going to be presented, Council should appreciate and embrace the importance of IT in terms of its role in communication within and from the society. The President then asked if Council agreed to the Agenda for the meeting, and no objections were raised.
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LIST OF DELEGATES AND OTHER PERSONS PRESENT
The Secretary General presented a list of delegates who had indicated their intention to attend the Council Meeting. All the voting delegates present were noted, as were the Member Societies who had transferred their voting rights by proxy.
QUORUM
A roll call was established. The complete list of delegates is given at the beginning of these minutes. The Secretary General confirmed that there were 72 Member Societies entitled to vote and since the voting delegates (including proxies) exceeded two thirds of this number, the meeting was declared quorate to deal with the all business of the meeting.
The Secretary General reported that there were a few Member Societies (Cuba, Iran, Syria and Sudan) who were prevented from paying their subscription fees because of UK banking and financial regulations. The Board at the meeting the previous day was in support of sending such affected Member Societies a promissory note, whereby they would undertake to clear any subscription fees once the sanctions had been lifted. This would allow the Member Societies affected to remain active members of ISSMGE until the situation becomes normalised. If Council agreed to this policy then the votes from affected member societies would be allowed. This was put to the Council, and by a show of hands unanimously agreed.
MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING IN PARIS, SEPTEMBER 2013
The Minutes of the Council Meeting in Paris had been redistributed with the Council Meeting papers (and are included here as Appendix 1). The President asked if there were any comments or corrections to the Minutes, and there were none. The President deemed the Minutes approved.
MEMBERSHIP
The Secretary General explained that his presentation was essentially a summary of the paper that had been distributed with the Agenda (and included here as Appendix 2)
Currently there were 89 Member Societies, one of which was a society (Peru) that was being restructured with a new constitution, and it was taking some time to become established. The Secretary General was also pleased to report that the Member Society in Georgia, which had been silent for some time, had made contact again. Additionally, he reported that the application submitted by the national society in Algeria had been approved at the Board meeting the previous day. He would write to the officers informing them of the Board’s decision, and once they had paid the pro- rata fees for 2015, the Algerian society would become a member of the ISSMGE.
The Secretary General referred again to the sanctions affecting the Member Societies mentioned earlier (Cuba, Iran, Syria and Sudan): these meant that they were unable to function as effectively as one would wish as members of ISSMGE.
The current list of corporate sponsors is included in Appendix 2. There had been a substantial decrease in Corporate Associates – 30 as compared to the 52 reported at the Paris Council Meeting – and only 1 of the 7 who had complimentary Corporate Associates subscription at the Paris Conference had then gone on to become a normal paying CA.
The Secretary General went on to discuss mechanisms of communicating effectively with Member Societies and was keen to hear views from the floor. Chris Menkiti (UK) explained that the BGA sent
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out a newsletter (in tabular form via e-mail) with news on meetings, other announcements, etc., just once a month. Suzanne Lacasse (Canada) felt that once a month was too often – and that messages that needed to be forwarded should be flagged – whereas Allen Cadden (USA) thought that this would leave too long a gap between announcements. Darren Paul (Australia) stated that his society also used Twitter to communicate information. The President emphasised the importance of information reaching the individuals within each Member Society. After some discussion, and by a show of hands, it was agreed that an e-mail newsletter (which would be brief, with bullet points, and the appropriate links) would be sent out on the first Monday of every month.
AMENDMENTS TO STATUTES AND BYLAWS RE TECHNICAL COMMITTEES – BYLAW 16.1
The President introduced this item, and read out the suggested amended Bylaw. He pointed out that the most significant change was that the life of a Technical Committee was no longer linked to the term of office of the President. This meant, for example, that Member Society could, at any time, propose a new TC. Fintan Buggy (Ireland) asked if anyone could propose a new TC. The President confirmed that this would have to come via a Member Society and that he was not dogmatic about when or how a TC was formed. An important issue was that the membership of the TC should be properly nominated as established in the guidelines. Member Societies had full control over their nominations and could change them as the need arose.
Etienne Marcelin Kana (Appointed Board Member) suggested that the proposed Bylaw 16.1 should be amended to read
Proposed Bylaw 16.1 Technical Committees may be instituted at the request of a group of members interested in a specific topic and with the knowledge and agreement of the President and Secretary General. Guidelines for the operation of Technical Committees are approved by the Board and published on the ISSMGE website.
Jorgen Steenfelt (Denmark) commented that it was not clear that the TCs were hosted by Member Societies. Pierre Delage (TOC) pointed out that the full name of the guidelines is “Guidelines for Technical Committees and Honours Lectures”.
Council was asked to vote on the proposed changes to the Bylaw, which were approved unanimously.
COOPERATION AGREEMENT FOR THE FEDERATION OF INTERNATIONAL GEO- ENGINEERING SOCIETIES
The President introduced this item by noting that the Council had endorsed the original agreement with FedIGS at the meeting in Brisbane 2007 and at that time the Federation was composed of the three founding societies (ISSMGE, IAEG and ISRM). Since then, there had been a number of changes, including the admission of IGS as a fourth member. Currently, FedIGS was operating in a less structured way than originally envisaged in 2007. Currently, the FedIGS Board is made up of the Presidents and Immediate Past Presidents of each of the member societies (each of whom hold a vote), as well as the Secretaries General (who do not have a vote, but are included on the Board to provide greater continuity). The new, light structure as detailed in the proposed agreement (see Appendix 3) and which the President supported was discussed at the recent FedIGS meeting in China. Key changes to the previous agreement are that no fees are payable, no Corporate Associates are sought and there is no organisation of a FedIGS conference; the light structure envisaged meant that FedIGS was now in a position to simply enable close cooperation between its members. The President pointed out that the only real difference for ISSMGE was the change in how veto rights were to be exercised. Previously each of the Founding Members had the right of veto (so as to prevent any radical changes proposed by
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new members). Now, all three Founding Members needed to agree together to exercise their right to veto. The President apologised for the late inclusion of this item on the agenda, but proposed that Council should accept the new agreement.
Gunilla Franzen (Sweden) asked if there really was a need for a formal agreement; the Nordic European countries would vote for cooperation, but were not in favour of a formal agreement.
Jean-Louis Briaud (Immediate Past President, current President of FedIGS) said he needed to acknowledge the tremendous amount of work required to get to the position the Sister Societies were in now. It was tried more than 15 years ago without a formal agreement, but the representatives of the Founding Societies agreed that as such it was unsatisfactory and that they needed a structure to formalise their annual meetings in which the representatives exchanged ideas and views and attempted to find common ground to resolve common problems. Gunilla Franzen continued to ask why a formal agreement was needed; the Nordic group operated well without the need of a formal agreement. However, Jean-Louis Briaud replied that there needed to be a way to define who would take the lead and call meetings etc.
Helmut Schweiger (Austria) noted that the GeoEng2000 conference had been successful and thought joint technical meetings and conferences were very useful. The Secretary General stated that the agreement did not preclude joint conferences, it was simply that the new agreement did not specify the requirement to organise a joint conference. Jean Louis Briaud said he did not want to see FedIGS conferences as such, but could perhaps envisage joint conferences between two of the societies. He reminded Council that FedIGS had no money and could not take the financial risk of attempting to organise a conference.
The President stated that it made no sense to retain the previous agreement. He was very supportive of the new proposed agreement and said that there were really only two possible decisions: either to accept the new agreement or to leave the Federation. The latter option of starting a process to quit the Federation would be more harmful and would most likely have adverse repercussions.
Jean-Louis Briaud stated that if Council believed that the new agreement would not hurt ISSMGE, then it should vote in its favour; if Council believe the contrary then it needed to vote no.
Suzanne Lacasse (Canada) asked whether it was really necessary to have such a big board; a board of 12 members could be quite unwieldy. The Secretary General pointed out that the Secretaries General on the Board (i.e. one third of its members) were non-voting and were present to provide continuity. Jean Louis Briaud said that originally there were 6 members, and now 8 as a result of the inclusion of IGS, and that a minimum size was important to provide for fruitful discussion.
The President then asked Council to vote on the proposal of accepting the new Cooperation Agreement for FedIGS, with the following result:
In favour: 42 Against: 6 Abstentions: 4
Thus the motion was carried.
REGIONAL REPORTS BY VICE PRESIDENTS
The President invited the regional Vice-Presidents to present their reports in turn. The detailed reports are included in Appendix 4 and some highlights are given below.
Africa
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Fatma Baligh (Vice President for Africa) noted the recent successful African Regional Conference in Tunisia and the fruitful CTGA event in Burkina Faso. She was pleased to note that the Algerian Geotechnical Society had applied for membership. The President commented that he was very pleased to see the good progress and development with the African region.
Asia Ikuo Towhata (Vice President for Asia) realised that it was important especially for small societies to come up with good ideas to develop events and he had become a committed proponent of Low Cost Conferences (LCC). He had helped with organising such an event in Nepal which had been very successful and the income from which would help financially the Nepalese Geotechnical Society for a few years to come.
Australasia Mark Jaksa (Vice President for Australasia) reviewed the history of the two Member Societies in the region. He was pleased to report that both Societies had effective communication with their members: both had very mature websites, and produced good quality journals. In his presentation, Mark announced that the Australian Geomechanics Society will, for the 7th time, be bidding to host the 2021 20th ICSMGE in Sydney.
Fintan Buggy (Ireland) asked why the societies had such high membership. Mark Jaksa replied that this was due to the services both societies provided: a holistic membership (i.e. all sister societies were included) and effective communications. Darren Paul stated that all members of the Australian Geomechanics Society had, as part of their membership, to affiliate to one of the Sister Societies and that most chose ISSMGE.
Europe Antonio Gens (Vice President for Europe) offered several comments on the ECSMGE in Edinburgh and noted that it had not set a limit on the number of papers that could be submitted. This has led to a large number of accepted papers and delegates to the event. It was also of note that in Europe, there were many very successful sub-regional conferences (e.g. .Danube Conference, Nordic Geotechnical Meeting, Baltic Sea Conference). In addition, he drew attention to the importance of the European Young Geotechnical Engineers Conferences for the future of the International Society and the profession in general.
He also commented that the European Technical Committees on Piles, Numerical Methods and Evaluation of Eurocode 7 were very active and very successful. He noted that the ETCs had to fulfil two criteria: (a) that they be active, and (b) cover specific European issues (i.e. filling any gaps left by the International Technical Committees). If an ETC was not needed, then it was disbanded.
North America Paul Mayne (Vice President for North America) noted the annual national conferences held individually by the ASCE Geo-Institute in the USA, the Canadian Geotechnical Society, and the Mexican Society of Geotechnical Engineering. Of particular note, the last ASCE GeoCongress held in San Antonio Texas in March 2015 was a joint geotechnical conference held by the ASCE-GI, ADSC, DFI, and PDCA resulting in an outstanding turnout of some 2500 attendees.
Paul Mayne also pointed out the disparity of voting within ISSMGE (1 vote for each Member Society) amongst North America (total 3 votes) versus Europe (total 38 votes) that certainly does not reflect the relative individual memberships of these two regions of ISSMGE.
South America Jarbas Milititsky (Vice President for South America) commented that there was a significant generation gap in a number of the South American societies, in that the older generation still head them, but they are not active. There is an ongoing issue in that the younger generation not only do not know how the ISSMGE works, but are also disconnected from its activities. He felt it was necessary
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to come up with a policy for solving the problem of attracting young people to geotechnical engineering, and that the ISSMGE could maybe provide guidance to national societies who wished to establish regular activities directed towards the younger generations. A regional success story was the journal Geotecnia, a collaboration between the Spanish, Portuguese, and Brazilian societies.
INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Dimitrios Zekkos, Chair of the Innovation and Development Committee, presented his report (Appendix 5).
He explained how the ISSMGE website was being developed to add useful, valuable resources, for example the TC database. A technical papers database was being developed and at the moment this included all papers of the 18ICSMGE Paris and proceedings from the TC204 conference series on underground construction. If publishers’ permissions could be obtained, then many more conference series could be added to create a hugely valuable technical resource. Another popular resource available on the ISSMGE website was the series of recorded webinars. The website traffic was increasing and there was a proposal to improve and restructure the ISSMGE website to improve the user experience. In addition the GeoWorld website continued to attract users though obviously these included non-ISSMGE members. Finally, a recent development had been the Geotechnical Business Directory which was available online, as an eBook and in print.
In discussion, Fintan Buggy (Ireland) asked how often the recorded webinars were accessed. Dimitrios Zekkos replied that there had been over 5000 views during the past 12 months.
Pierre Delage asked if the proceedings of all future Regional and International CSMGE would be made available from the website. The President replied that this could be the case provided conference organisers made suitable arrangements with the publishers of the proceedings in advance of the conference. His view was that as many conference proceedings as possible should be made available. The main issue affecting this was copyright, and it was felt that copyright should remain with the authors, but as he had emphasised in one of his messages was the importance of “free access to knowledge”.
TECHNICAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Pierre Delage presented his report (Appendix 6). He commented that the Technical Committees were an important component of the ISSMGE, and that the new database would help foster strong interaction between the Technical Committees and the Member Societies. The President agreed, adding that the Technical Committees were the working force of ISSMGE, thanks to all the members who were involved.
Jan Laue (Switzerland) commented that some Member Societies were not clear on what they needed to do. The Secretary General replied that many emails and reminders had been sent but some societies remained reluctant to follow the information they had been sent. Nevertheless, the situation was gradually improving. Robert Holtz (USA) stated that he would like to know of any inactive members of TCs. Member Societies should be advised of these so that the situation could be investigated and replacements made as necessary.
YOUNG MEMBERS’ PRESIDENTIAL GROUP
Jennifer Nicks presented her report (included here as Appendix 7). The YMPG has established four task forces related to: (1) Communications & Marketing, (2) Membership, (3) Motivation Mechanisms, and (4) Website, and she was pleased to report that all members had signed up to one or
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more of the Task Forces. Some of the group’s main priorities currently were to develop an online map of younger members and, in collaboration with the PIC, a series of short films to describe different geotechnical topics. There was also great interest in expanding the Young Members’ Arena.
Member Societies were also encouraged to reduce or eliminate fees for students. Chris Menkiti (UK) stated that it was not necessarily easy for Member Societies to have student members of ISSMGE. For example, if the BGA introduced this possibility then because of their subscription fees system each such member would create a loss. He went on to ask if the ISSMGE could have a student member rate. The Secretary General replied that he was not against the idea in principle but that it would be administratively complex.
CORPORATE ASSOCIATES’ PRESIDENTIAL GROUP
Sukumar Pathmanandavel presented his report, included here as Appendix 8.
The President explained that the function of the ISSMGE was to close the gap between the professional world and the academic world, and that the CAPG was one of the tools for achieving this. The ISSMGE and CAPG wished to provide a means for researchers to learn from practice, and to provide industry a means of informing academics what they should be doing research on, and benefitting from that. To this end, the CAPG was proposing a survey of 30 key influential companies to investigate the present state of knowledge and state of practice.
Peter Day (South Africa) thought for the survey to be of most use, it should also reach out to smaller, specialist practices. Sukumar Pathmanandavel replied that in fact most of the time the CAPG was talking to non – Corporate Associates (who possibly were not even considering becoming Corporate Associates), and that the group was working on the feedback that was being received. The key criterion was that the companies should be influential and he would welcome suggestions to consider.
Jorgen Steenfelt (Denmark) pointed out that there could be a clash between attracting Corporate Associates to support the ISSMGE and those Corporate Associates who were members of the National Societies.
Helmut Schweiger (Austria) asked whether the survey could be published on the website as he felt this may elicit a greater response. Sukumar Pathmanandavel responded that the purpose of the survey was really to start a conversation.
Neil Smith (United Kingdom) thought that the state of practice for large projects was very good but that for small projects it could be very poor since these often involved people with limited or even no real knowledge of geotechnics. Sukumar Pathmanandavel replied that the best way to get over such obstacles was for the Member Societies to become more involved by nominating new Corporate Associates.
AWARD COMMITTEE
Charles Ng presented his report, included here in Appendix 9. He urged attendees to view the guidelines on the ISSMGE website and to make nominations for the various awards. He pointed out that the Terzaghi Oration is in the gift of the President, the Kevin Nash Gold Medal was decided by a committee chaired by the Immediate Past President. The Award for Outstanding Member Society was by self-nomination.
Jorgen Steenfelt commented that the website needed updating. This was noted and would be addressed.
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PROFESSIONAL IMAGE COMMITTEE
Sherif Wissa presented his report, included here in Appendix 10. He went on to ask Member Societies to nominate a liaison person who could both give and receive information on PIC activities and who could become the spokesperson on geotechnical activities in their country.
Suzanne Lacasse (Canada) suggested that a trailer could be added to the recorded webinars to explain the PIC and its activities. The President stated that a poster developed by the PIC would soon be sent to Member Societies.
WEBINARS
Paul Mayne presented his report on future webinars, included here as Appendix 11. He noted that the schedule allowed for a new webinar every two months. While it was hoped that many people would view the webinar on its release and participate in the question-and-answer session in the following 48 hours it was also good to note that many people took the opportunity to view the archive of webinar recordings.
Marc Ballouz stated that he wanted to know if the announcements of webinars were being received by the right person to ensure onward circulation. He welcomed responses from the Member Societies either now or during the conference.
INTERNATIONAL SEMINARS
Vlasta Szavits-Nossan presented her report, included here as Appendix 12. A letter reminding Member Societies about International Seminars had been circulated but received no response.
The President noted that International Seminars had been well received in the past and the Board were keen to learn if there was still interest in them.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEO-ENGINEERING CASE HISTORIES
Pedro Sêco e Pinto, Chair of the IJGCH, had prepared the report given in Appendix 13. He was unable to attend the Meeting, so Dimitrios Zekkos spoke on his behalf. He noted that the journal focussed on practice, and aimed to publish papers on well-documented case histories. Articles were indexed on Google Scholar but did not appear on other lists. With regards to future plans, the editorial board was considering ether subject- specific, or country specific editions of the journal.
Jean Louis Briaud wished to recognise Dimitrios Zekkos as the originator of the IJGCH.
Helmut Schweiger wondered if the need to supply data related to graphs was optional or mandatory. Dimitrios Zekkos explained that it was mandatory but that in fact it only comprised coordinate data necessary to create the plot.
To a question from Jorgen Steenfelt who wanted to gain some idea of the rejection rate of the journal, Dimitrios Zekkos replied that it was relatively high and greater than 50%. However, he could not compare it to other journals as there really were too many being produced.
Jean Louis Briaud commented that such online and free journals represented the future, and that maybe the editorial board could consider advertising around the page in order to generate income to cover the costs of maintaining the journal.
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Ikuo Towhata (Vice President for Asia) requested that the Editorial Board should not be too strict in their criterion for paper acceptance as “science” is not mentioned in the paper guidelines.
THE ISSMGE BULLETIN
Charles Ng presented his report included here in Appendix 14. He explained that he had been appointed editor-in-chief the previous summer, and that the editorial board was made up of individuals nominated by the regional Vice-Presidents and Board members. Member societies, TCs and individuals were encouraged to submit articles on major projects, interesting and significant research accomplishments published as “Research Highlights”, interesting activities by our young members published in the “Young Member’s Arena”, or reports on conferences, symposia and workshops. There were also announcements of new books and journals and publicity for courses and conferences. There was minimal editorial influence provided articles were endorsed by Member Societies. In requesting articles, he asked potential authors to exercise diligence with the inclusion of photographs. After all, the Bulletin was not a personal photograph album.
The President thanked Charles Ng and his editorial team for their dedicated work and the various groups and individuals who contributed many interesting articles.
FedIGS REPORT
Jean-Louis Briaud, President of FedIGS, presented his report (Appendix 15). He wished to recognise William Van Impe’s commitment to establishing the Federation and creating a collaborative structure that provided a critical mass of people that was important in helping formulate ideas for future development. For example, recent newsletters from FedIGS members showed that ISSMGE initiatives such as the webinars, the copyright statement, and the creation of the ISSMGE Foundation had been noted and similar structures were being created in at least one of the Sister Societies.
Ikuo Towhata commented on the relatively low number of Corporate Associates belonging to ISSMGE (currently 30) in comparison with the other sister societies. For example, the IGS had the order of 160 Corporate Associates and many more than ISSMGE in spite of the substantial effort we had put into their recruitment. Jean-Louis Briaud had not been able to come up with an explanation for this, but maybe, and specifically in the case of IGS, the other societies were more “commercial” in their remit, and thus potentially of more interest to industry. Jean-Louis Briaud then thanked the Council for their vote of confidence earlier in the meeting, and noted that the new Cooperation Agreement still needed to be approved at the Council Meetings of the three other societies.
PRESENTATION OF AUDITED ACCOUNTS 2013, 2014
The Secretary General presented the accounts, included here as Appendix 16. He went on to compare the actual incomes and expenditures relative to the previously agreed budgets and noted that there were no major discrepancies.
There were no questions from Council. The motion to accept the accounts was proposed by Paul Mayne, seconded by A. Srirama Rao (India) and voted for unanimously (no votes against, and no abstentions).
BUDGET 2015 - 2017
Mark Jaksa presented his report, included here as Appendix 17.
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He expressed a debt of gratitude to Michael Davies (who had been in charge of the Budget during the previous Board). He explained he simply built up on the previous budget, with a forecast for the next 4 years.
The main thrust of the new budget was to align it more closely with reality, and part of this drive included proposing a modified formula for subscription fee calculation by raising the threshold PPP (purchasing power parity) at which the discount would be applied. Up to now, this discount had applied to all Member Societies with a PPP below 15000, but this needed to be revised, as there was a natural increase in PPP values, as a result of inflation. The general increase meant that those countries with low PPPs were missing out. He reported that the new formula had been approved by the Board, and that it would be reviewed every 4 years, to better reflect the situation than in 2007 when the formula was first instigated.
Jorgen Steenfelt (Denmark) commented on the disparity between the cost per capita for the very large USA Member Society compared to smaller and relatively poorer Member Societies such as Argentina and Slovenia.
Mandy Korff (The Netherlands) commented that there was no budget for IT developments until after 2016. Mark Jaksa replied that the planned developments would be covered in the interim by “other initiatives”.
To a question raised by Jovan Papic (Macedonia, FYR) regarding provision for young members, the Secretary General replied that there was an allowance under “Conference Support” to support attendance of members to the Young Geotechnical Engineers Conferences if this is requested by the conference organisers. Marc Ballouz (Appointed Board Member) pointed out that any annual excess from the budget was transferred to the ISSMGE Foundation and the main beneficiaries of this were young members.
Mandy Korff went on to question the proposed 2% annual increase in subscriptions since a surplus was in fact forecast. Mark Jaksa replied that the 2% was a nominal increase to reflect normal inflation.
Wolfgang Sondermann (Germany) noted that the transfer of monies to the ISSMGE Foundation was not covered by the Statutes and that perhaps an amendment was needed. The Secretary General replied that he had not taken legal advice on this but could do so. The President commented that the policy of transferring funds had been agreed at the Paris Council Meeting. Allen Cadden (USA) noted that the carry-over of ISSMGE reserves was not a constant GBP500000 and the Secretary General confirmed that the carry-over was adjusted annually to allow for inflation.
Mandy Korff returned to the issue of the proposed annual 2% increase in subscription fees. After some discussion, she proposed the motion that the budget presented be accepted except for the 2% increase in subscription fees. This was seconded by Fernando Pardo de Santayana and votes cast as follows:
For: 18 Against 8 Abstentions 12
The motion was accepted.
THE ISSMGE FOUNDATION
The Secretary General presented the report (Appendix 18).
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Mark Jaksa noted that the annual interest received was relatively low. The Secretary General agreed citing low interest rates in the UK.
Jean-Louis Briaud wished to express his thanks to everyone at the Council Meeting, in that because of the decision taken at the Paris Council meeting to donate the ISSMGE’s annual income surplus to the Foundation, everyone was in fact a donor.
The Secretary General emphasised the need for Member Societies to communicate to their members the possibility of applying for an award from the Foundation – it appears that only a few Member Societies have done so effectively.
IXX ICSMGE, SEOUL 2017
Dong Soo Kim of the Korean Geotechnical Society gave a presentation on progress being made with the organisation of the 19ICSMGE, Seoul, 17-22 September 2017. He noted that the Korean Geotechnical Society was working very hard to ensure delivery of a very successful and interesting conference. The President noted that there would be a meeting of the Conference Advisory Committee on the next day and that a number of decisions relating to the conference would be taken.
The President noted that the registration fee for students was very low (USD220), which was excellent news, and should be reported by the YMPG.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The President called on Professor Heinz Brandl to come to the podium. Professor Brandl explained that he has been a member of the ISSMGE Council for 43 years, and that it was now time for him to retire. Professor Helmut Schweiger had recently taken over as the President of the Austrian Geotechnical Society. Professor Brandl described the great honour and his pleasure at being part of the profession for such a long period, and that he had always noted the close cooperation with the Sister Societies. He also remarked that because of Austria’s geographical location, it had a strong connection with Eastern Europe, especially in the years of the Iron Curtain. He was especially pleased with initiating in 1964 the Danube European Conference, which was still continuing. He was pleased to acknowledge that the vision of Karl Terzaghi was still strong. He wished to thank the ISSMGE for its love, cooperation and friendship; and he described it as a family based on geotechnical engineering.
Professor Brandl noted that in 1925 Terzaghi published Erdbaumechanik in Vienna, and he would be very pleased to welcome all again back to Vienna in 2025 at the 100th Anniversary.
The President expressed his warm appreciation to Professor Brandl, for his contribution to ISSMGE in particular and to geotechnical engineering in general.
DATE AND VENUE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the ISSMGE Council would be held on Sunday 17th September 2017, in Seoul, Korea.
The President thanked all the participants for their contributions and their help in making the meeting run smoothly, and wished them an enjoyable stay in Edinburgh. He also expressed his deep appreciation to the British Geotechnical Association and the local conference organisation in Edinburgh for their hospitality and help with the meeting arrangements.
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INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR SOIL MECHANICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING
held at:
Palais de Congrès Paris, France
Sunday, 1st September 2013
PRESENT:
Professor Jean-Louis Briaud - ISSMGE President Professor Samuel U. Ejezie - ISSMGE Vice President Africa Professor Askar Zhussupbekov - ISSMGE Vice President Asia Professor Michael C.R. Davies - ISSMGE Vice President Australasia Professor Ivan Vaniček - ISSMGE Vice President Europe Professor Gabriel Auvinet Guichard - ISSMGE Vice President North America Dr Roberto Terzariol - ISSMGE Vice President South America
Professor Pedro Sêco e Pinto - ISSMGE Immediate Past President
Professor R.N. Taylor - ISSMGE Secretary General
Professor Roger Frank - ISSMGE Board Member Professor Charles Ng - ISSMGE Board Member Professor Ikuo Towhata - ISSMGE Board Member
Professor Kenji Ishihara - Past President ISSMGE Professor Michele Jamiolkowski - Past President ISSMGE Professor William Van Impe - Past President ISSMGE Professor Paul Mayne - Chair TC In-situ testing Professor Christophe Gaudin - Chair TC Physical modelling Professor Pierre Delage - Chair TC Unsaturated soils Professor António Gomes Correia - Chair TC Transportation Dr Albert Ho - Chair TC Interactive Design Professor Vladimir Ulitsky - Chair TC Soil Structure Professor Zeping Xu - Chair TC Dams Professor Deepankar Choudhury - Secretary TC Deep Foundations Professor Malek Bouazza - Vice Chair TC Geo-environmental Professor Dipanjan Basu - Chair TC Sustainability
Professor Frederic Pellet - Vice - President for Europe ISRM
Professor Fatma Baligh - Vice President Elect Africa Professor Mark Jaksa - Vice President Elect Australasia Professor Antonio Gens - Vice President Elect Europe
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Member Society Voting Member Non-Voting Member
Albania Professor Luljeta Bozo Ing. Geol. Skender Allkhja Argentina Eng. Alejo O. Sfriso Australia Mr Graham Scholey Professor John Carter Austria Professor Heinz Brandl Bangladesh Professor Sarwar Yasin Belarus Professor Dmitry Sobolevsky Professor Oleg Popov Belgium Ir. Maurice Bottiau Bolivia --- Bosnia & Herzegovina Professor Ivan Vrkljan* Brazil Professor André Assis Dr Carlos Silva Bulgaria Dr Andrey Totsev Canada Dr Richard Bathurst Chile Professor Ramon Verdugo China Professor Maosong Huang Professor Jianhong Zhang Chinese Taipei Professor Yung-show Fang Professor Der-Wen Chang Colombia Mr Graham Scholey* Costa Rica Eng. David Yañez Santillan* Croatia Professor Ivan Vrkljan Professor Predrag Kvasnička CTGA Professor Ibrahim Khalil Cisse Dr Etienne Marcelin Kana Cuba --- Czech & Slovak Republics Professor Jana Frankovska Professor Josef Jettmar Denmark Dr. Jørgen S. Steenfelt Mr Ander T. Andersen Dominican Republic Professor Roberto Terzariol* Ecuador --- Egypt Prof. Dr. Mohamed Sakr El Salvador Professor Cesar Sagaseta* Estonia Mr Prit Ilves Eng. Mait Mets Finland Professor Tim Länsivaara Professor Leena Korkiala-Tanttu France Dr. Philippe Mestat Mr Jacques Robert Georgia --- Germany Professor Georg Heerten Dr Kirsten Laackmann Ghana Dr Samuel I. K. Ampadu Greece Professor Ivan Vaniček* Hong Kong Professor George Tham Ir. Tony Cheung Hungary Professor József Mecsi Mr Peter Görög Iceland Mr Haraldur Sigursteinsson India Dr Gautam Gandhi Professor G.L. Sivakumar Babu Indonesia Dr Masyhur Irsyam Mr Idrus Iran Professor Abbas Soroush Dr Fardin Jafarzadeh Iraq Dr Omar al-Farouk Salem al-Damluji Ireland Professor Trevor Orr Israel Professor Ivan Vaniček* Italy Professor Stefano Aversa Professor Mario Manassero Japan Dr Toru Sueoka Dr Yoichi Watabe Kazakhstan Dr Rauan E. Lukpanov Dr Victor Popov Korea R Professor Seung-Ho Lee Professor Dong Soo Kim Kyrgyzstan Professor Askar Zhussupbekov* Latvia Associate Professor Kaspars Bondars Lebanon Professor Salah Sadek Professor Muhsin Rahhal Lithuania Professor Vincentas Stragys Macedonia, FYR Mr Bojan Susinov
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Mexico Eng. David Yañez Santillan Eng. Walter Paniagua Morocco Dr Essadaoui El Moustafa Mozambique Professor Carlos Quadros Nepal Dr Rauan E. Lukpanov* Netherlands Dr Mandy Korff New Zealand Mr Gavin Alexander Nigeria Mr Fidelis Ejikeme Norway Mr Kristian Aunaas Mr Jan Holme Pakistan Professor Askar Zhussupbekov* Paraguay Professor Roberto Terzariol* Poland Professor Zbigniew Lechowicz Professor Kazimierz Gwizdala Portugal Prof José Luis Machado do Vale Dr Nuno Manuel da Costa Guerra Romania Professor Sanda Manea Dr Ernest Olinic Russia Professor V.A. Ilyichev Serbia Professor Ivan Vaniček* Singapore Mr T S Chua Professor C.F. Leung Slovenia Dr Vijkan Dr Ana Petkovšek South Africa Dr Nicol Chang Professor S.W. Jacobsz S E Asia Dr Teik Aun Ooi Spain Professor Cesar Sagaseta Professor Enrique Dapena Sri Lanka Dr Asiri Karunawardena Sudan Dr Elfathi M. Ali Dr Hussein Elarabi Sweden Dr Gunilla Franzén Dr Håkan Garin Switzerland Syria Dr Talal Awwad Tajikistan Professor Rustam Usmanov Thailand Dr Suttisak Soralump Dr Noppadol Peinwet Tunisia Mr Slaheddine Haffoudhi Turkey Professor Feyza Cinicioglu Professor Gokhan Baykal Ukraine Mr Petro Kryvosheiev Mr Yuriy Slyusarenko U K Dr Christopher Menkiti U S A Professor Robert Holtz Professor Jorge Zornberg Uzbekistan Professor Askar Zhussupbekov* Venezuela --- Vietnam Mr Nugyen Min Hai
* Denotes Proxy vote
Apologies
Prof. Kok Kwang Phoon (Chairman TC304 – Risk)
OPENING REMARKS
The President opened the meeting by welcoming all delegates. He went on to state that Council would need to consider the eligibility of two Member Societies when votes were being taken. Dominican Republic had sent an email stating that they had paid their fees, but that payment was made after it was no longer possible for the Secretary General to check the ISSMGE account. The Syrian Geotechnical society had offered to settle their arrears, but current banking sanctions prevented it from doing so. The President asked if Council would allow these two member societies to cast votes during the meeting. This was agreed.
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LIST OF DELEGATES AND OTHER PERSONS PRESENT
The Secretary General presented a list of delegates who had indicated their intention to attend the Council Meeting. All the voting delegates present were noted and as were the Member Societies who had transferred their voting rights by proxy.
QUORUM
A roll call was established. The complete list of delegates is given at the beginning of these minutes. The Secretary General confirmed that there were 81 Member Societies entitled to vote and since the voting delegates (including proxies) exceeded two thirds of this number, the meeting was declared quorate to deal with all matters.
MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING IN TORONTO, OCTOBER 2011
The Minutes of the Council Meeting in Toronto had been redistributed with the Council Meeting papers. The President asked if there were any comments or corrections to the Minutes, and there were none. On a show of hands the Minutes were approved with 77 votes in favour, 2 abstentions, and none against.
MEMBERSHIP
The Secretary General presented an updated summary of the present membership of ISSMGE (Appendix 1). He confirmed that currently there are 87 member societies, with four new Member Societies joining since the Toronto Council Meeting in September 2011: Belarus (joined in July 2012), Bosnia & Herzegovina (May 2013), Guatemala and Malaysia (September 2013). There had been no contact with the Georgian Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering for more than four years, and its membership has been suspended. Currently there are 19800 individual ISSMGE members.
The current list of corporate sponsors is included in Appendix 1. There had been a substantial increase in Corporate Associates (currently 52 and an additional 7 who were exhibitors at the Paris Conference and had taken up the offer of the complementary offer of a year’s membership).
Regarding the ISSMGE List of Members and CD, the Secretary General reported that by the time of the extended deadline that the Member Societies had been given to submit information, the Secretariat had received such a small response that he took the executive decision to abandon plans for producing the CD in 2013. He went on to report that Member Society lists of members were updated on the ISSMGE website whenever these were received and also the contact details of the member societies themselves were kept up-to-date on the website.
AMENDMENTS TO STATUTES AND BYLAWS RE GENDER NEUTRALITY
The President introduced this item. One of his duties as president was to choose the individual to deliver the Terzaghi Oration. After consultation with Member Societies and Board Members, the President invited Suzanne Lacasse to be the Orator. He then noticed that the Statutes and Bylaws were not gender neutral, and although a footnote appeared in the Statues stating that “the use of the masculine gender in the Constitution does not imply the position described is occupied by a male person”, he felt that it was time that the Statutes were brought up to date. He had asked the Secretary
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General to propose the changes, and these had been reviewed by the Board prior to inclusion in the Council Meeting Agenda.
The Secretary General stated that strictly speaking each amendment to the Statutes and Bylaws should be considered separately and voted on separately. However, since the changes all related to the same issue he asked for Council’s approval that all the amendments could be considered together. This was approved nem con.
After a request by the President the motion was proposed by Jorgen Steenfelt (Denmark) and seconded by Gautam Gandhi (India). The President then asked for comments. Samuel Ampadu (Ghana) asked for changes to Statute 10B to read “The Secretary General may shall not ...”, and “...shall if necessary resign ...” This amendment was approved. There were no further comments, and the amended proposed changes to the Statutes are given in Appendix 2. On a show of hands the amendments were approved with votes as follows:
For: 68 Against: - Abstain: 1
REGIONAL REPORTS BY VICE PRESIDENTS
The President invited the regional Vice-Presidents to present their reports in turn. The reports are included in Appendix 3.
ELECTION OF REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS
The President introduced in turn the elected ISSMGE Regional Vice-Presidents for 2013 - 2017. They are: Africa Professor Fatma Baligh Asia Professor Ikuo Towhata Australasia Professor Mark Jaksa Europe Professor Antonio Gens North America Professor Paul Mayne South America Professor Jarbas Milititsky
The announcement was greeted with acclamation.
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT FOR THE PERIOD 2013 – 2017
The President invited the three candidates to make their presentations. These were done in alphabetical order: Gabriel Auvinet Roger Frank Askar Zhussupbekov
Election papers were distributed and the results of the secret ballot were: Votes Gabriel Auvinet 11 Roger Frank 47 Askar Zhussupbekov 22
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Thus Roger Frank was duly elected President of ISSMGE for the period 2013 - 2017. This was greeted by acclamation.
VENUE FOR 2015 BOARD AND COUNCIL MEETINGS
The Secretary General reported that in accordance with the Statutes he had written to the organisers of the regional conferences in 2015 in Africa, Asia and Europe. He had received one offer to host the Council meeting in Edinburgh on the occasion of the European Conference. On a show of hands, Council agreed nem con for the Council meeting to be held in Edinburgh in September 2015.
SELECTION OF VENUE OF XIX ICSMGE 2017
The President reported that three proposals for hosting the next international conference had been received from the geotechnical societies in Australia, China and South Korea. Representatives from these societies were invited to make a 10-minute presentation to Council giving details of their bids. Ballot papers were distributed and the votes cast were declared as follows:
First Round Votes Australia 24 China 23 South Korea 34
In the absence of a clear majority, the least favoured candidate was eliminated, and their second choice votes were re-distributed to give the following result:
Second Round Votes Australia 34 South Korea 44 Abstentions 3
Thus it was announced that the XIX ICSMGE 2017 would be held in Seoul, South Korea. The result was greeted with acclamation.
INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
The President invited Dimitrios Zekkos, chair of the IDC, to present his report, the written version of which appears as Appendix 4. Dimitrios Zekkos reported that the ISSMGE website had been re- written and launched. The new website had increased functionality and had new material made available such as the online ISSMGE Lexicon and webinar recordings. The IDC had initially proposed that ISSMGE offer webinars. These have been received favourably and the recordings of the webinars have subsequently been made available for viewing from the ISSMGE website. The ISSMGE Lexicon is now also available from the ISSMGE website. The geotechnical terms had been translated into twelve languages and it was hoped that others would be added soon. In undertaking the translations for the lexicon, the IDC had received considerable help from colleagues around the world, and Dimitrios Zekkos expressed his appreciation for their efforts. In addition, the IDC had been involved in developing a professional networking site, GeoWorld. The GeoWorld website includes a special feature, GeoMap, which allows all members of GeoWorld to locate other members in their vicinity.
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The President thanked Dimitrios Zekkos for his report, and for making the website more interactive. He asked Council for any questions for Professor Zekkos, and there were none.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEO-ENGINEERING CASE HISTORIES
Pedro Seco e Pinto, Editor-in-Chief of the IJGCH, presented his report (Appendix 5). The Journal remained published online only, and free to all. Initiatives to improve recognition of the Journal included a “Best Paper Award”, and the introduction of special themed issues in the future. The President commented that the Journal was a very important resource of ISSMGE, and was very pleased that it was available free of charge which allowed access to technical literature to geo- engineers in developing countries.
Fidelis Ejikeme (Nigeria) asked if the journal would consider papers relating to site investigation. Pedro Seco e Pinto replied that the Journal would consider any and all manner of case histories. He went on to make a special plea to all Member Societies and Technical Committees that they submit papers to the Journal. This would improve the rates of publication and in turn this would help the Journal’s rating.
MEMBERSHIP, PRACTITIONERS AND ACADEMICIANS COMMITTEE
Harry Poulos presented his report which is given in Appendix 6. An important change had been the renaming of the Corporate Sponsors to become Corporate Associates. He was pleased to report a significant increase in Corporate Associate membership which now exceeded 50 with 14 joining ISSMGE in the last two months.
The question was raised whether Civil Engineering Departments of universities could become Corporate Associates of ISSMGE. Harry Poulos replied that this would be acceptable since universities do have collaborations with industry, but it was less obvious that such Corporate Associates should be members of the Corporate Associates’ Presidential Group, which has a very company-oriented perspective.
TECHNICAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Suzanne Lacasse presented her report which is included as Appendix 7. She described the function of the committee, which had focussed on creating and organising the Technical Committees, ensuring there were sensible guidelines for the TCs and developing the scheme of major ISSMGE Lectures associated with the TCs and named after an important individual associated with the work of a TC. The TCs had been grouped into 3 categories Fundamentals (TC 100-107), Applications (TC 201-216) and Impact on society (TC 301-307). 20 TCs had continued from the previous Board, 1 had been discontinued and 11 created. All 30 TCs had submitted an administrative report for the past 4 year period and it had been agreed that the lifetime of TCs should no longer be linked to the Presidential period. It was hoped the TOC would continue and that in future the TOC would take a major role in providing nominations for the Outstanding TC Award along with others knowledgeable of a TCs achievements. It was further hoped that the future TOC would prepare guidelines and technical recommendations for practice within a TCs subject area and for archiving the work by the TCs on the web.
In discussion, Robert Holtz (USA) thought it would be beneficial if there were close cooperation between national and ISSMGE Technical Committees. Suzanne Lacasse saw no problem with this and that Member Societies could have two members common to both sets of committees. There followed considerable discussion and comment on the membership of the Technical Committees. The
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Guidelines, which are included in Appendix 7, state that the TC chair can nominate 4 members of a TC, the TOC can nominate 4 members, and the remaining membership is made up of up to 2 nominees per member society, plus other corresponding members. However, keeping track of this was not a straightforward matter as correspondence often did not pass through the Secretariat office. It was noted that TCs no longer had to be renewed at the start of the Presidential term, and provided the TC was active, it would continue its work seamlessly. It was also noted that in general terms the Chair of a TC would continue but that there should be rotation of the Chair every approximately 8 years.
STUDENT AND YOUNG MEMBER PRESIDENTIAL GROUP
Jennifer Nicks presented her report which is given in Appendix 8. She described the committee structure, its mode of operation and gave details of the membership. Some of the achievements of the group included a dedicated SYMPG Geo-World webpage, liaisons with other committees including TCs, the promotion of future young members’ activities and the development of the Outstanding Young Geotechnical Engineer Award. The President expressed his satisfaction for the work of this group, and noted that it was led by women.
He asked Council for any questions for Jennifer Nicks, and there were none.
CORPORATE ASSOCIATES’ PRESIDENTIAL GROUP
Michael Lisyuk presented his report which is given in Appendix 9. He noted that this group had been in operation for only two years, but even so had made significant progress. The key purposes of the group were to find out from practitioners what activities and benefits they would like from ISSMGE and to increase the number of Corporate Associates joining ISSMGE. Several meetings by Skype conference call had been held, along with an in-person meeting in St Petersburg.
AWARD COMMITTEE
François Schlosser presented his report which is given Appendix 10. He was pleased to report that the Committee, having considered awards offered by ISSMGE, had now increased the range such that there were now more recipients and for different activities. This had the benefit of awards reaching a wider membership. The AWAC had developed guidelines and specifications for the awards and had facilitated the review of the nominations received. In general the process had gone well, but it had been noted that in certain cases further review of the specifications was required.
It was noted that the Awards for the Terzaghi orator and Kevin Nash Gold Medal winner would be presented the first morning of the 18ICMSGE, and that the remaining awards would be presented at a special session starting at 12:00 noon Tuesday 3rd September.
PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Marc Ballouz presented his report which is given in Appendix 11. The PRC had defined its objectives and formed task forces to deal with each of them. The achievements of the committee included:
A publicity brochure, and roll-up banner, which would be available from the ISSMGE booth in the 18ICSMGE; A new website whatisgeoengineering.com: A short publicity film promoting the aims and objectives of ISSMGE; An article “Hidden treasures of Geotechnics” published by Science Omega Review Europe.
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A time capsule, which would contain items representing the current state of Geotechnics (suggestions, please!), to be opened in 150 years.
In discussion it was noted that ideas were welcomed for what items could be placed in the time capsule and all delegates to the conference were invited to submit their suggestions at the ISSMGE booth. The publicity film had been shown earlier and was met with approval. A number of delegates offered their help in subtitling the film into other languages. It was further noted that attempts could be made to distribute the film to universities and other institutions.
The conference organisers commented that the CFMS had been active in developing a museum exhibit (Les dessous des grands travaux) at the Musée des arts et métiers, which had recently opened and they recommended all delegates should visit it. The intention was that this would become a permanent exhibition at the museum. Heinz Brandl (Austria) commented that the issue of an ISSMGE Heritage Museum had been considered for some time and that there was an exhibition at the Technical University in Vienna illustrating its close cooperation with Terzaghi.
THE ISSMGE FOUNDATION
Harry Poulos gave a short presentation (Appendix 12) on the outcome of the foundation, referring to recipients, donors and resources. He noted that the President was at the head of the list of donors, and acknowledged that the President was thus demonstrating his full commitment, financial and otherwise, to the Foundation. Applications for funding now followed a well-defined procedure, with applicants required to complete a detailed application form, and a subcommittee had been established to review and rank the applications. The President commented that grants were typically USD1500, and he suggested that the limit should be now USD2000. There was no restriction on age of applicants, though there was the expectation of cost sharing which needed to be made clear on the application form.
The Secretary General reported that the ISSMGE Foundation was gaining momentum, and that the Board had decided that it should be formalised. In the UK, this required setting up the ISSMGE Foundation as a registered charity. This process had been initiated and it was anticipated that the application to the UK Charities Commission would be approved in the coming days.
CONFERENCE MANUAL
The Secretary General reported that the Conference Manual had been updated and the new version uploaded to the ISSMGE website (Appendix 13). The key changes made were as follows:
- Limiting the conferences making a financial contribution to the ISSMGE to only the main international and regional conferences; - Clear description of how and when to use the ISSMGE logo;
Chris Menkiti (UK) asked when the organisers of a regional conference would be obliged to pay their percentage contribution. The Secretary General replied that this could be after the conference had finished and the organisers were finalising their accounts.
TASK FORCE - COPYRIGHT
The President reported that Rainer Massarsch in conjunction with the SGF had developed guidelines concerning copyright of published material (Appendix 14). This was in response to concerns raised on the ability of authors to make use in more than one publication of figures they had produced. The
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Guidelines recommended that authors should retain copyright while giving publishers permission to use their material. Roger Frank commented that for papers submitted to the 18ICSMGE authors had indeed retained copyright but had given permission for their work to be published in the proceedings and later on the website. Chris Menkiti (UK) enquired if this policy had any repercussions from the publishers in charging more for producing conference proceedings. Roger Frank replied that there had been no such repercussions for the 18ICSMGE. Samuel Ampadu (Ghana) enquired if there was a list of publishers subscribing to the ISSMGE policy. The President replied that there was no such list, but he hoped that the guidelines would help authors when dealing with publishers.
INTERNATIONAL SEMINARS
Pedro Seco e Pinto presented his reported included here as Appendix 15. The Seminars were designed to disseminate the current state-of-the art or practice amongst geotechnical engineers especially from developing countries. In the last 3 years, 17 International Seminars had been given in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. These had been very successful and it was pleasing that probably over 1000 geotechnical engineers had benefitted from the Seminars during this Presidential period.
ISSMGE BULLETIN
Ikuo Towhata gave a verbal report on the Bulletin. There were now 6 issues published annually. The Bulletins had become quite lengthy and included sections on messages from the ISSMGE Board and Committees, conference reports, case histories, reminiscences, corporate associates, etc. He expressed his deep appreciation for his team of editors. He went on to ask member societies to ensure they distributed the Bulletin, and also to submit suitable articles. A 75th Anniversary of ISSMGE issue was in preparation and would be published soon. This would contain some very interesting articles relating to the history and development of ISSMGE.
XVIII ICSMGE, PARIS
Jacques Robert gave a presentation on behalf of the organising committee. There were 1800+ delegates, and 170 accompanying persons registered for the conference, from approximately 100 countries. The proceedings contained 800 papers, 240 of which would be presented as posters. The organisers appreciated the financial support they had received from partners and other sponsoring organisations. The total conference budget was approximately 1.4 M Euros. The first two days of the conference would comprise plenary sessions, and in the second two days 28 discussion sessions had been arranged with a 168 verbal presentations. Nineteen technical committees were actively involved in these parallel sessions.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH SISTER SOCIETIES
The President expressed his strong support for cooperation with the Sister Societies and the Federation of International Geoengineering Societies. He noted that as geotechnical engineers all ISSMGE members are involved with ground engineering and that it was necessary to recognise the importance of engineering geology in our work. Frederic Pellet (ISRM VP for Europe) agreed that FedIGS was an important association which facilitated the cooperation and collaboration of the Sister Societies. Jorge Zornberg (IGS President) was pleased that his organisation had been able to join and he welcomed the opportunity of being able to work with FedIGS. The President went on to acknowledge the very valuable contribution of William Van Impe in establishing FedIGS, which had evolved to being an association with a light administrative structure and good cooperation. He noted that there
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would be a FedIGS session during the ICSMGE and a formal meeting of the members on the 6th September.
PRESENTATION OF AUDITED ACCOUNTS 2011, 2012
The Secretary General drew the Council’s attention to the accounts that had been circulated in advance of the meeting (Appendix 16). He noted that the Budget presented at the Council meeting in Toronto had been modified slightly by Michael Davies, Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee, which would include the additional income from member societies received in 2011 (a Council Meeting year) and costs of Board Meetings especially in 2012.
The Appendix includes a comparison of the revised budgets and actual income and expenditure for the years 2011, and 2012. In 2011, Member Society subscriptions were higher than forecast largely because of some arrears payments which often occurs in a run-up to a Council Meeting. Also, the income from the Regional Conferences was greater than anticipated. The total cost of running the Secretariat was close to the budgeted figures. In 2011, the decision was taken to improve and enhance the ISSMGE website, and to support the development of the GeoWorld communication platform. This led to greater than forecast expenditure in Information Technology, but this was largely offset by reduced expenditure in other initiatives. In 2012, the budgeted income and expenditure was largely as forecast. The Corporate Association subscription rate had been raised to USD1500 per annum, which had increased receipts. In Expenditure there were savings relative to Budget under the headings of Other Initiatives and Information Technology.
The Secretary General asked Council to approve the accounts for the two years separately. For the 2011 accounts, Michael Davies (VP Australasia) proposed the accounts be accepted, and was seconded by Fidelis Ejikeme (Nigeria), while for the 2012 accounts, acceptance was proposed by Georg Heerten (Germany) and seconded by Trevor Orr (Ireland). On a show of hands, both sets of accounts were accepted by unanimity.
BUDGET 2013 - 2015, FORECAST TO 2017
Michael Davies presented the proposed ISSMGE budget for 2013 to 2015, and forecast through to 2017, which is given in Appendix 17. A 2% growth from member society subscriptions was envisaged and allowance made for the increase in Corporate Associates joining ISSMGE. Changes to the Conference Manual meant that there was now income from Conferences only in the years of the main International and Regional conferences of ISSMGE. There were to be no changes to costs for the Secretariat and Board, except to allow for inflation. An allowance had been made to Future Developments in Information Technology in 2014 and 2017. In initiatives, ISSMGE had made a contribution to the Geotechnical exhibition at the Musée des arts et métiers. Even with a small contingency this resulted in a forecast annual surplus of approximately GBP50,000, and it was proposed that this should be transferred to the ISSMGE Foundation.
In discussion, John Carter (Australia) supported the annual transfer of surpluses to the ISSMGE Foundation, but suggested that rather than maintain an annual cash balance of GBP500,000, the retained balance should be increased annually to allow for inflation. Samuel Ampadu (Ghana) wondered if setting a budget today would give too many constraints to the new ISSMGE President. Michael Davies replied that this was just a budget rather than actual expenditure and that the Statues included a cause that specifically permitted the president to authorise expenditure. It was further noted that the budget applied only up to 2015, the remainder of the proposal being an estimate of what may happen in the subsequent two years. Council was asked to approve the budget: John Carter (Australia) proposed acceptance, and this was seconded by Jorgen Steenfelt (Denmark). On a show of hands, the budget was accepted by unanimity.
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Michael Davies went on to summarise the present financial position of the ISSMGE Foundation. The current balance was in the order of GBP75,000, and a number of awards would be paid soon after the Paris Conference. There was obviously insufficient capital to allow for awards only to be made from annual investment income, and there would be a need for ongoing donations to the Foundation. The President confirmed that payment of Foundation awards were made after the event and on production of receipts.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Georg Heerten (Germany) commented that the 10th International Conference on Geosynthetics and the 33rd Baugrundtagung would be combined and held in Berlin from the 21-26 September 2014. He had offered to host a FedIGS Board meeting at the event, and he was now inviting all Council Meeting delegates to promote the conference to their membership.
Heinz Brandl (Austria) commented that after the death of Professor Terzaghi, he started the Danube European Conference, and that the 50th anniversary event would be held in Vienna from the 8-11 September 2014. He hoped that Council delegates would promote this Jubilee conference to their membership.
Gautam Ghandhi (India) requested that in future, supporting member societies should not be included on the ballot paper for ISSMGE paper. The Secretary General agreed to this change for the future.
Toru Sueoka (Japan) stated that after the Toronto Council Meeting the Japanese Geotechnical Society had distributed a special volume concerning the Great East Japan Earthquake. The JGS had recently published articles on the earthquake in Soils and Foundations. These were available with open access and a brochure concerning this was available from the JGS.
DATE AND VENUE OF NEXT MEETING
The next Council Meeting would be held on Sunday 13th September 2015 in Edinburgh.
The Secretary General expressed his deep appreciation to the Member Societies for their cooperation in making the meeting run smoothly and in particular thanked Yvonne Hanna, and Violaine Gauthier, for their help. The President thanked the Council Delegates and the Board members for their contributions and support in developing ISSMGE activities, and closed the meeting, expressing his gratitude to the CFMS for its hospitality and help in organising the meeting.
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Appendix 2: Membership Report by Secretary General
ISSMGE Membership Member Societies, Corporate Associates
Member Societies
The accompanying Table indicates that the present ISSMGE membership is nearly 20,400 in 89 Member Societies, (information correct as of 21st May 2015). The following societies have shown a significant change in membership when compared to the report produced for the Paris Council Meeting: Egypt (down to 75 from 130), Estonia (up from 26 to 55), Iceland (up from 10 to 32), Korea (up from 395 to 709), New Zealand (up to 557 to 622), South Africa (up from 461 to 536), Sweden (up from 761 to 906).
The applications for membership from the Guatemalan Geotechnical Society and the Malaysian Geotechnical Society were accepted at the Paris Council Meeting. The Georgian Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering was reinstated as a member society in January 2014, according to the procedure established in the Statutes and Bylaws.
The Member societies in the following countries are affected by international banking sanctions: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria. The Secretariat is endeavouring to find ways of resolving this issue.
Suspended Member Societies:
Azerbaijan Republic, Kenya, and Zimbabwe: reported at the Toronto Council Meeting 2011
Corporate Associates:
There are 32 current Corporate Associates (down from 46 reported at the Paris Council Meeting).
Aecom Asia Company ltd Ove Arup & Partners Ltd A.P. van den Berg Ingenieursburo Coffey Geotechnics Dasan Consultants Co Ltd Deltares Geostroy ZAO GHD Pty Ltd Golder Associates Hayward Baker Huesker Ltda Huesker Synthetic GmbH International I.G.M. S.A.R.L Jan de Nul LLC Bazis Design Academy LLC Geoizol Naue Norwegian Geotechnical Institute Construtora Norberto Odebrecht Novosibirsk Eng Ctr RCF Ltd Saegil Engineering & Consulting Co. Ltd Siemens Energy Soletanche Bachy S. N. Apageo S.A.S., France Tasei Corporation Tencate Geosynthetics France SAS
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 2: Membership Page 1 of 4 Tensar International Terrasol Terre Armee Internationale Vibropile Australia Zetas Zemin Teknolojisi
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION AS AT 21st May 2015
Number North South Member Society of Africa Asia Australasia Europe America America members Albania 31 31 Argentina 74 74 Australia 942 942 Austria 95 95 Bangladesh 33 33 Belarus 37 37 Belgium 300 300 Bolivia 25 25 Bosnia & Herzegovina 19 19 Brazil 872 872 Bulgaria 61 61 Canada 817 817 Chile 74 74 China 606 606 Chinese Taipei 68 68 Colombia 26 26 Costa Rica 30 30 Croatia 106 106 CTGA 100 100 Cuba 30 30 Czech & Slovak 49 49 Republics Denmark 345 345 Dominican Republic 32 32 Ecuador 44 44 Egypt 75 75 El Salvador 30 30 Estonia 26 26 Finland 197 197 France 492 492 Georgia 38 38 Germany 579 579 Ghana 21 21 Greece 125 125 Guatemala 32 32 Hong Kong 130 130
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 2: Membership Page 2 of 4 Number North South Member Society of Africa Asia Australasia Europe America America members Hungary 81 81 Iceland 32 32 India 223 223 Indonesia 130 130 Iran 95 95 Iraq 40 40 Ireland 22 22 Israel 32 32 Italy 319 319 Japan 1151 1151 Kazakhstan 40 40 Korea 709 709 Kyrgyzstan 30 30 Latvia 44 44 Lebanon 60 60 Lithuania 40 40 MACEDONIA - See The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia below Malaysia 65 65 Mexico 265 265 Morocco 28 28 Mozambique 37 37 Nepal 22 22 Netherlands 709 709 New Zealand 622 622 Nigeria 43 43 Norway 409 409 Pakistan 85 85 Paraguay 53 53 Peru 30 30 Poland 298 298 Portugal 177 177 Romania 131 131 Russia 271 271 Serbia 37 37 Singapore 224 224 Slovenia 77 77 South Africa 536 536 South East Asia 109 109 Spain 329 329 Sri Lanka 34 34 Sudan 37 37 Sweden 906 906 Switzerland 181 181
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 2: Membership Page 3 of 4 Number North South Member Society of Africa Asia Australasia Europe America America members Syria 17 17 Tajikistan 23 23 Thailand 32 32 Tfyr Macedonia90 35 35 Tunisia 40 40 Turkey 206 206 Ukraine 67 67 UK 1156 1156 USA 3376 3376 Uzbekistan 33 33 Venezuela 32 32 Vietnam 18 18
TOTAL 20359 917 3977 1564 8059 4458 1384
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 2: Membership Page 4 of 4 Appendix 3
Federation of International Geo-engineering Societies (FedIGS)
COOPERATION AGREEMENT
This Agreement was approved in the meeting of the Presidents of IAEG, ISRM, and ISSMGE in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on May 12, 2006 and modified by the FedIGS Board in the meeting of the Board Members of IAEG, ISRM, ISSMGE, and IGS in Shenyang, China on 4 July 2015
1. Name and Constitution
1.1 The Name of the federation is: Federation of International Geo-engineering Societies, abbreviated as FedIGS. It is hereinafter referred to as “FedIGS”.
1.2 This Agreement shall formalize and regulate the cooperation between the Member Organizations.
2. Definition of Geo-engineering
2.1 Geo-engineering is engineering with, on, or in geological materials.
3. Language
3.1 The official language of FedIGS is English.
4. Aims, objectives
4.1 FedIGS is founded on the principle that each of the participating Member Organizations will retain its identity and autonomy. The role of FedIGS is to carry out functions for the international geo-engineering community that could not be carried out with the same effectiveness and efficiency by the Member Organizations individually.
4.2 The aims and responsibilities of FedIGS are to:
raise the awareness within the geo-engineering profession of the inevitable and essential interaction between geo-engineering practitioners from the Member Organizations; coordinate the scientific and technical activities in areas with overlapping interest between the Member Organizations and raise the public awareness and profile of the geo-engineering profession.
by:
promotion of interaction among geo-professionals within various facets of geo-engineering; coordination of research efforts in areas of common interest to the Member Organizations; development of a FedIGS website; coordination of the scheduling, promotion, and delivery of conferences and symposia of the Member Organizations; establishment of Joint Technical Committees on topics and interests common to the Member Organizations; stimulation of the development of educational curricula for higher education and for continuing education purposes;
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 3 – FedIGS – Cooperation Agreement Page 1 of 5 promotion of interaction with industry and policy making organizations and development of policies that will advance the learned and professional functions of the geo- engineering community.
5. Membership
5.1 FedIGS is founded by three organizations: The International Association of Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAEG), the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) and the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). These three organizations hereinafter will be referred to as the Founding Members.
5.2 Other organisations, which fully subscribe to the FedIGS Cooperation Agreement and in particular the Aims and Objectives of FedIGS as defined in Clause 4 may be invited to join FedIGS as Member Organizations. Acceptance of new Member Organizations will require approval by all existing Member Organizations.
5.3 Conditions for admission to membership in FedIGS are as follows. Organizations invited by the Board to become member organizations, or those applying for membership of FedIGS shall submit a written letter of application to the President of FedIGS which explains the reasons and arguments for the application. Furthermore this letter of application shall confirm that the applying organization subscribes to the aims and objectives of FedIGS, as outlined in Clause 4 and describe how the organization will contribute to the implementation of these aims and objectives. This letter shall be accompanied by the constitution of the organization, the name and contact information of its officers, and a summary of recent activities.
5.4 A member organization shall fulfil its obligations to FedIGS, which includes to inform the President of FedIGS of the address and contact information of its secretariat, as well as the names and contact information of its officers and the address of its web site.
5.5 Termination of membership of FedIGS can be the result of
Decision of the Member Organisation itself. Such a decision shall be communicated immediately to the FedIGS President and can become effective only after the organisation has complied with all administrative obligations to FedIGS which result from this Agreement.
Decision by the FedIGS Board in case the concerned Member Organisation acts against the aims, objectives, and/or interests of FedIGS. Such a decision is taken in two steps: a preliminary Board decision on suspension of membership is communicated to the concerned Member Organisation, that is given appropriate time to correct its position and comply with all its obligations. If such corrective measures are not taken within a period of six months then the definite decision to terminate the membership can be taken by the FedIGS Board.
6. Finances
6.1 FedIGS is a non-profit organisation.
6.2 There are no dues for Membership.
6.3 No Board member shall receive any remuneration from FedIGS.
7. Administration
7.1 FedIGS shall be governed and administered by the Board.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 3 – FedIGS – Cooperation Agreement Page 2 of 5 8. Board
8.1 The Board of FedIGS is the exclusive decision making body of FedIGS. It is composed as follows:
the FedIGS president; the presidents of all Member Organizations; the immediate past presidents of all Member Organizations; and the secretaries general of each Member Organization.
8.2 The Board is chaired by the President of FedIGS.
8.3 In the event that one of the presidents or immediate past presidents cannot fulfil the obligations, its Member Organization should appoint a replacement.
9. President
9.1 The prime duty of the President shall be to foster the aims and objectives of FedIGS, thereby serving the interest of all Member Organizations.
9.2 The FedIGS Board elects the President. This election needs the formal approval by the presidents of all Member Organizations.
9.3 The President shall be one of the immediate past presidents of the Member Organizations or another co-opted individual as the Board sees fit. Candidates for the presidency shall be nominated by members of the Board. One year before the expiry of the term of office of the President, the current President shall invite each Member Organization to submit a nomination for the next presidency.
9.4 The term of office of the FedIGS President is 4 years. The President can be re-elected once, following the procedure outlined in Clause 9.2 and Clause 9.3.
9.5 The FedIGS President may be substituted by another voting Board member, in any and all of the President’s duties. The substitute President is appointed by the FedIGS Board. In the event of the resignation or death of the President, the Board will have to arrange the President’s substitution.
10. Secretariat
10.1 A Secretariat is installed for the period coinciding with the term of office of the President.
10.2 The Secretariat will handle the administrative matters for FedIGS, under the responsibility of the President.
10.3 The FedIGS Secretariat will be located and handled by the President.
10.4 The official headquarters of FedIGS is at the office of the President.
10.5 The cost related with the functioning of the FedIGS Secretariat will be covered by the President.
11. Meetings and decision making
11.1 Meetings of the Board will be held at least once a year.
11.2 Decisions in the FedIGS Board are taken by simple majority. All Board members except the Secretaries General of the Member Organizations have voting rights in the Board meetings. The
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 3 – FedIGS – Cooperation Agreement Page 3 of 5 Secretaries General of the Member Organizations are advisory Board members without voting rights. Furthermore, the President has an additional casting vote in case of a tied vote.
11.3 A voting Board member who is absent at a Board meeting can assign another voting Board member as proxy.
11.4 The presidents of the three Founding Members acting unanimously will have a veto right on all decisions of the Board.
11.5 Voting will take place openly, unless one of the Board members requests a secret ballot. Voting on persons will always take place in a secret ballot.
11.6 Minutes of the Board meetings will be prepared by the designated note taker. A list of key decisions and resulting actions will be circulated within two weeks after a Board meeting.
12. Joint Technical Committees
12.1 In order to further the aims, responsibilities, and objectives of FedIGS, the Board may appoint Joint Technical Committees (hereinafter referred to as JTCs), composed of a responsible chairperson and individual members from the Member Organizations, to study scientific and/or technical matters of interest to the international geo-engineering community.
12.2 In general such JTCs are appointed for a 4-years period, after which the Board will decide about continuation or discontinuation of the JTC and its membership.
12.3 Proposals for the establishment of Joint Technical Committees shall be formulated by Board Members and shall be presented in writing to the President. A proposal for the installation of a Joint Technical Committee shall contain the following items:
The proposed title; The technical issues to be addressed; The terms of reference: definition of the broad terms of reference, with a list of the tasks to be performed, reports to be presented and a well-defined time schedule; and Suggestions of one or more names for the chairperson of the JTC.
The proposal shall be included in the agenda for the next Board meeting.
12.4 The Board shall take a decision about the installation of the proposed JTC, the title, issues to be addressed and terms of reference for the JTC.
12.5 The FedIGS Board appoints the chairperson for the JTC who is personally responsible for the successful operation of the JTC.
12.6 Each Member Organisation will select up to three members in a JTC. These members may be supplemented by up to 6 members selected by the chair. The membership as a whole shall be composed in such a way that it represents a good coverage of the knowledge fields relevant for the JTC theme and also a reasonable regional spreading.
12.7 Corresponding members can be nominated by national groups/member societies of the Member Organisations to the JTC chairperson who makes the decision. Corresponding members do not have to be members of Member Organizations and do not have a vote.
12.8 After completion of its term of office, the JTC may be reinstalled with a well-defined term of office of a maximum of 4 years. In this case the procedures for appointment of the JTC chair and all individual members will have to be repeated.
12.9 The FedIGS Board has the right to terminate the existence of a JTC or dismiss the chairperson and appoint a new chairperson for lack of progress or when it becomes clear that the goals
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 3 – FedIGS – Cooperation Agreement Page 4 of 5 cannot be achieved for whatever reason. Such decisions can only be taken on the basis of a proposal submitted to the Board.
12.10 The JTC shall hold at least one meeting per year. JTCs can arrange their own symposia or other forms of organised discussion and do so at their own financial risks. If such meetings generate funds, the JTC and the organising committee shall retain any surplus to be divided as per prior arrangement between them. No members of JTCs or their sub-committees shall be paid for their work for the JTC.
12.11 The chairperson of a JTC shall send a written annual report to the FedIGS President about the progress of the JTC. This report shall reach the President at least 2 weeks before the annual Board meeting of FedIGS. The Board shall discuss the annual JTC reports and inform the JTC chairperson about the comments and suggestions.
All reports produced by the JTCs involving matters of policy shall be sent to the FedIGS Board prior to their publication.
12.12 The creation of Awards and Honour Lectures by JTCs is not encouraged. However if a JTC feels strongly about proposing such a lecture or award, a proposal must be presented to the FedIGS Board for its consideration. This proposal must contain:
The name of the engineer/scientist who is honoured; The accomplishments of this person demonstrating outstanding and sustained contributions to geo-engineering; The record of the vote of the JTC members regarding this Award or Honour Lecture; The procedure to be followed to select the recipient of the Award or Honour Lecture; and The frequency of the recognition and the typical location of the delivery of the Award or Honour lecture.
12.13 The Board will vote on the proposal and a two third majority is required. If the Board approves the proposal, the JTC may proceed with the Award or the Honour Lecture for a period of 8 years. After 8 years, the proposal must be resubmitted for consideration by the FedIGS Board.
13. Amendments to the Agreement
13.1 Amendments to the Agreement of FedIGS may be proposed by any Board Member. These amendments, after unanimous approval by the Board of FedIGS, shall require the written approval of each Member Organization according with its approval procedure.
14. Dissolution
14.1 The dissolution of FedIGS will take place after a decision of the FedIGS Board. A two third majority is required.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 3 – FedIGS – Cooperation Agreement Page 5 of 5 Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Africa Report prepared by Fatma Baligh
REPORT FROM VICE PRESIDENT AFRICA REGION
Professor Fatma El Zahraa A. Baligh
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES OF AFRICAN MEMBER SOCIETIES
INTRODUCTION:
I have to mention my delight to announce the news of the newly founded Algerian National Society (ALGEOS). This was a long sought wish of many.
We are still nine ISSMGE member societies in the Africa Region though at different levels of activity. They include: CTGA (Comité Transnational des Géotechniciens d’Afrique), Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan and Tunisia. It is fully expected that ALGEOS will apply to join ISSMGE, so increasing the number of member Societies in Africa Region to ten. Several attempts have been made to form new national societies in Africa, some faded out due to political unrest in their countries or other reasons, e.g., Libya, Ethiopia, Angola and Uganda.
However, the good news is that some societies are on their way, e.g., Rwanda.
Other attempts are being made towards the revival of some dormant societies that existed previously, e.g., Zimbabwe and Kenya. Communications with interesting geotechnical engineers in these countries have been established and plans are ongoing to help these societies resolve their internal challenges.
International cooperation between the different ISSMGE regions has grown following up on the formal invitation to the African Societies for 6 young African geotechnical society members to attend Cobramseg 2014 that took place in Goiania, Brazil, in September (9th to 13th), without fees and with accommodation provided by ABMS and air tickets by the ISSMGE Foundation. We received 9 abstracts and six full papers. Subsequently, four authors joined the conference.
On behalf of the African Societies, I would like to thank the Vice-President for South America, Prof. Jarbas Milititsky, the President, Prof. André P. Assis and the members of the Brazilian Geotechnical Society (ABMS), and the ISSMGE Foundation for their generosity, which made it possible for the young African geotechnical engineers to participate in such a great event so far from their homes.
Seminars have been suggested by the Vice-President for South America to be held in the Portuguese speaking countries. They are “Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP)”: (Mozambique, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde). These seminars would be organized in cooperation with the Portuguese and Brazilian Societies.
A decision was taken to hold three African Young Geotechnical Engineers’ Conferences (AYGEC) between successive Young International Geotechnical Engineers’ Conferences (YIGEC).
Some African societies already have websites (Ghana, Tunisia, Egypt and South Africa). Other societies in Africa have been encouraged to submit the information required to the Innovation & Development Committee (IDC) so that they can get help in starting a website. IDC has already received this required information from CTGA.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4; Regional Reports - Africa Page 1 of 6 Only a few African societies have uploaded the names of their members who serve in Technical Committees to the online ISSMGE TC membership database; the rest have been encouraged to do so as quickly as possible.
The events/activities in the various Member Societies since the last Council Meeting are summarized subsequently.
The African Geotechnical Engineering groups in countries with non-member societies join ISSMGE under CTGA. Algeria was no exception.
The Algerian Geotechnical Engineers were active for quite a long time before forming their National Society (ALGEOS). One of their activities was a conference “La 3ème Conférence Maghrébine en Ingénierie Géotechnique IIIème CMIG Alger” held in Algeria, 18th – 19th November 2013.
These engineers have their own national journal “Geotechnical Journal Africaine” (IFG), which was launched in December 2013. The IFG welcomed the ISSMGE’s support in the form of articles, announcements and news trilingual in English, French and Arabic.
ALGEOS have already decided and notified ISSMGE their intention of becoming a Member Society. So it is a matter of time to finalize the membership formalities. This will result in mutual benefit on account of the various activities they are planning that will be of great interest to ISSMGE members:
- The 1st International Seminar on ROADS and ROAD MATERIALS (RMR'2015) with the collaboration of The University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB) and the Directorate General Scientific Research and Development Technology, to be held in Algiers, 19th – 20th October 2015 http://www.usthb.dz/spip.php?article1052.
- The 13th Arab Structural Engineering Conference (ASEC’13) will be held at the University of Blida, Algeria, in December 13th - 15th, 2015 (http://www.univ-blida.dz).
- Also, the 6th Maghrebin Conference in Geotechnical Engineering will be held in Algeria in November 2018.
CTGA:
The 6th edition of the CTGA’s Annual Technical Colloquium (6ème JAG) 6th “African Geotechnical Days”: “African National Civil Engineering Laboratories’ Responsibility on the Quality and the Sustainability of Sociological and Economics’ Infrastructures”, was held in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), 10th - 12th June 2014, and placed under the high patronage of His Excellency Beyon Luc Adolphe TIAO, Prime Minister and Head of Government of the State of Burkina Faso.
The colloquium was attended by 280 delegates from 16 countries: Benin, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Togo, Mauritania, Cap Verde, Madagascar, and France.
During the annual CTGA general assembly, held in Ouagadougou on 12th June 2014, the project entitle “P2RT”, on the revision of the current technical rules on civil engineering used in sub-Saharan countries, was launched.
The 7th “African Geotechnical Days” will be held in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, June 30th to July 3rd, 2015.
At present, plans are on-going to encourage countries capable of standing alone to form their own national member societies.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4; Regional Reports - Africa Page 2 of 6 Egypt
Egyptian Geotechnical Society (EGS) elected a new board of leaders in September 2014 to help the society face the challenges ahead. There are 11 members in total, including: Prof. Abdel Salam Salem – President Prof. Mostafa El Ghamrawy – Vice President Prof. Khalid ElZahaby – Secretary General Prof. Mohamed Bahr – Treasurer
The EGS has organized:
- A seminar on the modifications carried out when updating the Egyptian Code of Practice for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Design and the added new volumes took place at the Housing and Building National Research Center (HBRC), Cairo, 6th – 13th May 2014. This Code of Practice is also implemented in the rest of the Arab Countries. - The International Symposium on Geotechnical Engineering - Emerging Technologies in Field Testing and Soil Characterization was held in Tanta, Egypt, 13th April 2014. - The International Conference on Structural and Geotechnical Engineering (8th AICSGE) was held in Alexandria, Egypt, 14th – 16th April 2014. - Al-Azhar Engineering Thirteenth International Conference (AEIC 2014) was held at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt (23rd – 25th December 2014). One of the topics was on Geotechnical Engineering with participants from Algeria and Canada amongst those participating. - The International Conference on Advances in Structural and Geotechnical Engineering (ICASGE'15) organized by the Structural Engineering Dept., Tanta University, and the Egyptian Geotechnical Society (EGS) was held in Hurghada, Egypt (6th – 9th April 2015). There were 40 papers accepted by the Geotechnical Division. Among them were 11 papers from Algeria (2), Morocco, Niagara, Japan, Canada, Kuwait, Iran, USA and Saudi Arabia with the rest from Egypt. - The Egyptian Geotechnical Society invited Prof. Herbert Klapperich who gave a lecture “Brownfield Redevelopment & Renewable Energies” at the Housing and Building National Research Centre (HBRC), Cairo, Egypt, 14th April 2015 in collaboration with Mr. Omar Naciri (NAUE, Germany). - The 14th International Conference on Structural and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSGE-14) will be held at Ain-Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, 20th - 22nd December, 2015. (http://eng.asu.edu.eg/icsge2015
Ghana:
The Ghana Geotechnical Society (GGS) has encouraged the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) to form a local chapter in Ghana. In view of this, and coincidentally, the local chapter co-hosted the 2nd African Regional Geosynthetic Conference in Accra on 17th - 23rd November 2013. This was followed by a lecture given by the Vice President for Africa Prof. Fatma Baligh on Compaction Grouting at the College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana, 22nd November 2013.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4; Regional Reports - Africa Page 3 of 6 - The Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on the 25th July 2014 at the Ghana Institution of Engineers in Accra where a Technical Session Committee, made up of five members, was established. The mandate is to organize regular Technical Sessions serving members of the Society. Also, a four member committee was formed to do Public Relation work for GGS. An election for new Officers took place; however, the meeting unanimously agreed and put in place the Old Executives to steers affairs till July 2016. The AGM attracted eighteen (18) members.
- Ghana has proposed its hosting the 5th African Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference from the 7th to 12th of August 2016.
Morocco:
It was pleasing to see a strong comeback for the Moroccan Society (CMMSG) as it had passed through a relatively inactive period during the past couple of years. The CMMSG proposed holding: - The 4th African Young Geotechnical Engineers’ Conference in Casablanca, Morocco, on 12th - 13th of November 2015. - Also, the 5th Maghrebin Conference in Geotechnical Engineering will be held in Morocco, November 2016.
Mozambique:
The Mozambican Geotechnical Society (SMG) is committed to promote and involve young engineers and students to be active in Geotechnical Engineering. Cooperation with universities is also one of the important commitments and actions of SMG. It promotes donations of books and other Geotechnical Engineering material for libraries, through sponsors of local companies, to increase the level of students in the faculties. SMG further supports students for workshops, conferences and other local or international events. During the last couple of years, the SMG organized some workshops with the support of local and international companies in Maputo (Tecnica, Engenheiros Consultores, Mecasolos, NAUE and others from South Africa): - Mr. Peter Assinder (HUESKER Synthetic GmbH, Germany), gave some presentations in November 2013, discussing Geosynthetics in Civil Engineering. - A workshop on “Dams in a Community of Portuguese Speakers Countries: Experiences, Solutions and Challenges” took place in November 2014 in collaboration with Mr. Antonio Veiga Pinto (Mecasolos, Portugal) and was attended by 52 people. - A workshop “Economic & Ecologic Advantages of Geosynthetics in Infrastructural & Environmental Applications” took place in March 2015 in collaboration with Mr. Andreas Post & Mr. Jörg Klompmaker (NAUE, Germany) and was attended by 84 people. Currently, SMG is preparing for their 1st National Geotechnical Seminar to be hosted in Maputo. The Seminar is expected to take place in the second half of 2015.
Nigeria:
A learning program was provided to Shell Civil Engineers from 18th to 30th of Nov. 2013 by the Nigerian Geotechnical Association. Prof. Samuel Ejezie was the coordinator and main Facilitator of the program.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4; Regional Reports - Africa Page 4 of 6 South Africa (SAICE):
Geotechnical Engineering is alive and well down in the Southern tip of our great continent!
- A Lecture titled “Using Small-strain Stiffness to Predict the Settlement of Shallow Foundations”, hosted by the Geotechnical Division and the University of Pretoria, Midrand, 12th August 2014.
- Dolomite Seminar, hosted by the Council for Geoscience, SAICE Geotechnical Division and the University of Pretoria, 25th - 26th June 2014.
- A lecture titled “Eurocode: Present Status and Future Development” by Prof. M. Holicky was held in Stellenbosch, Durban and Johannesburg, and hosted by the Structural and Geotechnical Divisions and local branches of SAICE, May 2014.
- Prof. Paul Mayne was invited by the Geotechnical Society of South Africa to give the 2014 Jennings Lecture. He gave lectures in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria on site characterization of residual soils and also a short course in Johannesburg on site characterization in general.
- SAICE announced the 13th Jennings Memorial Lecture with the title “Eurocode 7 – Good Practice in Geotechnical Design” presented by Dr. Brian Simpson. It took place in Pretoria, Durban, and Cape Town in early 2015. This was followed by a one-day course on Eurocode 7: Geotechnical Design.
- The Geotechnical Division hosted the 8th South African Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference from 17th to 19th September 2014. The conference was attended by 114 delegates with 60 papers on a wide range of topics.
- The 17th African Regional Conference of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering will be held at South Africa (Cape Town), 3rd to 6th of September 2019.
Sudan:
On the occasion of the visit of Prof. Heinz Brandl, President of the Austrian Society of Engineers and Architects, to Sudan, the Sudanese Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (SMGE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning, Khartoum State, and the Building and Road Research Institute at the University of Khartoum organized on 11th November 2013 two lectures, entitled:
- Dams and dykes for flood protection including defense measures. - Improvement of bearing – settlement behavior of piles by cyclic loading
The lectures were attended by a large number of engineers from the Ministry, graduate students and members of SMGE.
The 6th African Young Geotechnical Engineers’ Conference will be held in Sudan (Khartoum) in November 2018.
Tunisia:
Activities held by the Tunisian Society for Soil Mechanics (ATMS) for 2014:
The program consisted of several national technical meetings/seminars and international seminars.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4; Regional Reports - Africa Page 5 of 6 - ATMS held on 31st January 2014 a workshop on “Technical Education in Environmental Aspects of Geotechnical Engineering” and a Seminar on “Technical Education in Soil Improvement and Foundations” in Tunis, Tunisia, on 25th April 2014.
- The 4th Maghrebin Conference in Geotechnical Engineering (CFMIG4), organized by the Geotechnical Maghreb Group and assisted by UNESCO, was held in Sousse, Tunisia, 13th -15th November 2014.
This is the 4th conference in the series “Maghrebin Conferences” organized by the Geotechnical Maghrebin Group in order to boost the activities between Maghrebin Geotechnical Societies with support provided by the UISF* (UNESCO). The first three conferences were held in Tunisia (2010), Morocco (2012) and Algeria (2013). The objective of these annual conferences is to improve links of durable cooperation and knowledge between the engineers and academicians in the Geotechnical Engineering field of the Maghreb countries.
During the conference, a special unscheduled meeting was called for by the Vice President for Africa, Prof. Fatma Baligh. The meeting was held and attended, by the Presidents and some of the board members of both the Tunisian and the Moroccan Geotechnical Societies in the presence of the initiators and future President of the Algerian Geotechnical Society (ALGEOS, then not yet officially announced). The discussions covered the future plans for the Northern part of the region. Among the main topics discussed were the final arrangements for the upcoming 16th African Regional Conference in Tunisia.
- 16th African Regional Conference in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (16th ARCSMGE) with the title “Innovative Geotechnical Engineering” was Successfuly held from 27th to 30th April 2015 in Hammamet, Tunisia. There were 430 participants from 43 countries, including 25 countries from Africa: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Centrafrique, Congo, Côtes d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Ghana, Guinée, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tchad, Togo, and Uganda. Europe: Albania, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland and Spain; North America: Canada and USA; Asia: Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Singapore, and United Arab Emirates. 16th ARCSMGE was supported by 38 sponsors and 30 stands in the Exhibition. The conference program included two Technical Visits and two Workshops: one on Lateritic Soils and the other on Geosynthetics.
- The 60th Anniversary of the Menard Pressuremeter, "ISP7-PRESSIO 2015", was held for the first time in Africa by the Tunisian Association of Soil Mechanics (ATMS) as part of the 16th ARCSMGE Hammamet event in Tunisia, 1st - 2nd May 2015. This International Symposium is the seventh version of a Conference series initiated first in 1982. ISP7-PRESSIO offered an excellent opportunity to exchange experience between contractors, manufacturers, consulting firms, engineers, scientists and academics (40 papers, 4 keynote lectures, and a workshop).
- The Vice President for Africa held a Special meeting with the Young Members of the African Geotechnical Societies on the 27th of April attended by 48 Young Geotechnical Engineers. They were informed of their role in the Young Members Presidential Group (YMPG). They were also made familiar with the different Board Level Committees of the ISSMGE and how best could they participate in their activities.
ISSMGE Vice President for Africa
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4; Regional Reports - Africa Page 6 of 6
Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Asia Report prepared by Ikuo Towhata
REPORT FROM THE VICE-PRESIDENT FOR ASIA OF ISSMGE ISSMGE COUNCIL MEETING, Edinburgh September 13th, 2015
[1] Asia in General
The Asian Region of ISSMGE consists of 24 member societies, which are namely;
Bangladesh, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Southeast Asia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Economic development has been high in the past decades in Asia. This situation has promoted construction projects in many countries in the region and, as a consequence, many technical developments have been made and lessons have been learnt. It is certain that those points are now reported in many international conferences and other occasions.
I cannot emphasize too much the importance of “peace” for the development of engineering and community. I would like to mention the current good condition in Sri Lanka where many civil engineering projects have been initiated after the ceasefire. An opposite situation is detected in Syria. It is now impossible to make contact with the leaders of the Syrian member society. It appears that our friend has disappeared. Another good news is that Myanmar expressed its intention to join ISSMGE. I found, however, that the international sanction to this country is not yet finished and ISSMGE will have to seek for a good solution. Furthermore, I am still struggling to invite the Philippines to ISSMGE but my efforts so far are not good enough. There are many bright engineers in the Philippines and I always miss this country.
Although geotechnical engineering in Asia has made a significant development in the past 40 years or so, there are still problems to be solved. One is the efficiency of design codes. In some Asian countries, the central government cannot fully control the rural area or even the people’s daily activities. Therefore, for example, the quality of small construction may not satisfy the requirement. Both penalty to illegal construction and incentive for good construction are necessary but time is needed for them.
Another Asian problem is the very harsh natural conditions. In addition to earthquake actions, volcanism, typhoon and heavy rain, very soft and thick subsoil and weak geology produce many problems in construction projects. It is desired not to follow the conventional soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering but to develop new paradigm.
I expect that many more landslides will happen from now on in mountainous areas of Nepal which experienced strong shaking in April, 2015. Because of the accumulated tectonic actions there, mountains are significantly disturbed and the recent seismic action most likely triggered the instability of slopes. Similar situation occurred in the past in the Sichuan Province of China and the northern part of Pakistan which had been affected by tectonic actions and experienced gigantic earthquakes. I am encouraging the Nepal member society to tackle this problem and show people the importance of geotechnical engineering. Another important issue of mine addresses the registration fee of international conferences. I often see conferences to charge US 800, 1000 or more Dollars. Those conferences certainly offer good quality and even financially support participants from developing countries. Therefore, I have no complaint against expensive conferences. However, those high registration fees discourage many academicians and students. I encountered a good but expensive conference that did not offer discount to students. Therefore, I would like to talk about the importance of a different kind of international conferences that are called Low Cost Conference (LCC). So far, three LCCs has been materialized; Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Asia Page 1 of 27
November, 2014, Disaster mitigation seminar in Kathmandu, Nepal: US 250 $ November, 2015, Asian Regional Conference, Fukuoka: 50,000 Yen = US 407 $ (123 Yen = 1 US $ as per the end of May, 2015) May 2016 – International mini symposium, Nagoya, Japan: 30,000 Yen = about US 244 $
The Korean Geotechnical Society is now working hard for the success of 2017 ICSMGE in Seoul. This society has a plenty of experiences in organizing international big events. The warm advices from the head quarter of ISSMGE are sincerely appreciated. I would like all the ISSMGE member societies to support this important conference and especially I expect very strong supports from nearby countries.
When I asked Asian member societies to prepare country reports for ISSMGE Council Meeting, I prepared a set of inquiries so that member societies might not have to spend too much time in report preparation. I certainly mentioned that they can write anything else that deserved report. They understood my intention and prepared good reports. Outputs from those member societies are summarized in the next chapter.
[2] Asian Member Societies
CHINA: Activity Report from Chinese Institution of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering – China Civil Engineering Society (CISMGE)
CISMGE has been actively involved in organizing national as well as international workshops, symposiums and conferences. For instance, CISMGE has organized seven international or bilateral conferences. It is worth mentioning that we have organized 25 national conferences.
We will hold the 12th National Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in Shanghai. 1500 participants are expected to attend the conference. Four years ago, we had 1200 participants in Lanzhou at the 11th National Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. We wish to promote collaborations with all geotechnical societies in Asia and around the world.
You are warmly welcome to join the 12th National Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, July 17-20, 2015, Shanghai.
(1-1) Name of your president, international secretary and their contact e-mail address President: Prof. Jian-Min Zhang [email protected] International secretary Prof. Jianhong Zhang [email protected] (1-2) Approximate number of your members (both domestic and international). Domestic member: over 1000 ISSMGE member: 6 (1-3) How many student members approximately? Student member: 40 (2-1) Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015): Participant No. International Conferences City Time s Geosynthetics 2013 Long 2013.5 300 1 beach 2 The 5th Sino-Japanese Geotechnical Symposium Chengdu 2013.5 79 4th International Symposium on Geotechnical Safety Hong 2013.12 3 150 and Risk Kong
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4 GeoShanghai 2014 Shanghai 2014.5 500 San 5 Deep Mixing 2015 2015.6. Francisco 6 The 6th Sino-Japanese Geotechnical Symposium Hokkaido 2015.8.
7 The 6th Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils Guilin 2015.10.
(2-2) Organizing National Conferences etc. if you would like to refer to (2013-2015): Participant No. Conference City Time s 1 The 16th Huang Wen Xi Lecture Beijing 2013.4 320
2 Workshop on Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering Beijing 2013.4 26
3 2013 Geo-constitutive Forum Chengdu 2013.5. 38 The eighth National Conference for Young Engineers on 4 Nanchang 2013.7. 200 Geotechnical Engineering The First National Symposium on Unsaturated and 5 Chongqing 2013.10 384 Problematic soils 6 The 11th National Conference on Pile Foundations YIxing 2013.10 400 The Fourth National Conference on Geotechnics and 7 Hangzhou 2013.11 500 Engineering 8 The First National Conference on Soft Soils Shanghai 2013.11 200
9 2014 Geo-constitutive Forum XiAn 2014.04 120
10 The 17th Huang Wen Xi Lecture Beijing 2014.04 350 The Fourth National Conference on Education of Soil 11 Wuhan 2014.04 220 Mechanics 12 Workshop on Underground Structure Aseismic Engineering Beijing 2014.04 60 The second Symposium on Constitutive Theory for 13 Shanghai 2014.05 200 Geomaterials 14 Workshop for Advanced Urban Geotechnical Engineering Hangzhou 2014.10 200
15 The 13th National Conference for Ground Improvement XiAn 2014.10 220
16 The 26th National Symposium on Geotesting Wuhan 2014.10 280 The second National Symposium on Multi-field Interactions 17 Shanghai 2014.10 218 and Geoenvironmental Engineering The 4th National Symposium on Geoenvironmental 18 Chongqing 2014.11 220 Engineering and Geosynthetics 19 The Second Geotechnical Forum for Young Engineers YIxing 2014.11 210
20 The 9th National Conference on Soil Dynamics Tianjin 2014.11 400 The First National Symposium on Ground Improvement by 21 Tianjin 2014.11 61 Heavy Tamping
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22 2015 Geo-constitutive Forum Chengdu 2015.3. 110
23 The 18th Huang Wen Xi Lecture Nanjing 2015.4. 500 The 12th National Conference on Soil Mechanics and 1500(esti 24 Shanghai 2015.7. Geotechnical Engineering mated) 300(estim 25 The 12th National Conference on Pile Foundations Chongqing 2015.10. ated)
(2-3) Ongoing MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE (not necessarily in Asia) CISMGE has MOU with JGS (2006-), ASCE (2009-)
(2-4) Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): None (2-5) Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering (in Chinese) – 12 times per year (200 papers published) Chinese Journal of Earthquake Engineering(in Chinese), 6 times per year (15 papers published) (2-6) Awards (2013-2015) The 10th Mao Yi Sheng Award in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering The 11th Mao Yi Sheng Award in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (2-7) Other important achievements (2013-2015) None (3) Planned future activities: 2018: The 8th International Congress on Geoenvironmental Engineering (Hangzhou)
CHINESE TAIPEI:
President: Chang-Yu Ou, [email protected] International Secretary General: Keh-Jian Shou, [email protected]
Approximate number of your members (both domestic and international): 63
Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars (2013-2015): Engineering Numerical Analysis and BEM Taiwan 2013, March 20, 2013, National Chung-Hsing U., Prof. Steven L. Crouch (U. of Minnesota) as the Keynote. 1st Taiwan-Kazakhstan Joint Workshop in Geotechnical Engineering, May 27, 2013, TKU Taipei campus. Workshop on Pile-Raft and Pile Foundations – Design, Analysis and Testing, March 27, 2014, TKU 2014 Geotechnical Reliability Analysis by a Simplified Procedure, March 28, 2014, NTU. ATC3- The Sixth Japan – Taiwan Joint Workshop on Geotechnical Hazards from Large Earthquakes and Heavy Rainfalls, July 12 – 14 2014, Kita Kyushu, Fukuoka, Japan Taiwan- Japan- USA Joint Workshop on Geotechnical Engineering, Sep. 19,2014, NKFUST 54th Rankine Lecture in Taiwan, Dec. 15, 2014, Interactions in Offshore Foundation Design, by Prof. Guy Houlsby from Oxford Uni.
Organizing National Conferences (2013-2015): 2014 CTGS Annual Convention, March 22, 2014, NTU The 15th Conference on Current Researches in Geotechnical Engineering in Taiwan, September 11-13, 2013, Yunlin, Taiwan. Profs. CH Juang, James K. Mitchell, F. Tatsuoka, Prof. Robert Y. Liang, Prof. CC Huang, Dr. HS Hsieh and Dr. Barry Chen delivered keynote lectures.
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2015 CTGS Annual Convention, March 14, 2015, NTU
Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): ATC-6
Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): Journal of GeoEngineering Sino-Geotechnics (in Chinese) Planned future activities: 2015 International Seminar on Trenchless Technology, May 21, 2015, NCHU, Taichung The 16th Conference on Current Researches in Geotechnical Engineering in Taiwan, September 2-3, 2015, Kao-hsiung, Taiwan. 2nd Taiwan-Kazakhstan Joint Workshop in Geotechnical Engineering, 2016, Kazakhstan
HONG KONG:
1. Principal Office Bearers (2014-2015) President: Ir Prof. Charles W.W. Ng [email protected] Secretary General: Ir Dr Johnny Cheuk [email protected]
Contact address: (c/o: Fraser Construction Company Limited) Rm 1122, 11/F Pacific Link Tower (South Mark), 11 Yip Hing Street, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong Website: http://www.hkieged.org/hkges/home.htm
2. Total number of members: 130
3-1. International Conferences, Seminars or Workshops (2013 – 2015)
Supported the Joint Workshop of ISSMGE TC101-TC105 on “Experimental Micromechanics for Geomaterials” on 23-24 May 2013 at the University of Hong Kong Supported 4th International Symposium on Geotechnical Safety and Risk (ISGSR2013) from 4-6 December 2013 at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Supported the 10th International Workshop on Bifurcation and Degradation in Geomaterials on 28- 30 May 2014 at Hong Kong Polytechnic University Supported the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to win the bid for hosting the 7th International Conference on Unsaturated Soils (UNSAT) in Hong Kong in August 2018.
3-2. Local Conferences, Seminars, Workshops (2013 – 2015)
Co-organised the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Geotechnical Division (HKIE-GD) Annual Seminar on “Geotechnical Aspects of Tunneling for Housing Supply and Development” on 31 May 2013 Co-organised the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Geotechnical Division (HKIE-GD) Annual Seminar on “Challenges and Recent Advance in Geotechnics for Foundation Engineering” on 30 May 2014 Co-organised the Symposium on Geotechnical Engineering for the Construction of Deep Foundations & Monitoring with Macau Association for Geotechnical Engineering 24 October 2014 in Macau Co-organised the reprise of the 54th Rankine Lecture delivered by Professor Guy Houlsby of Oxford University on 12 December 2014
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4. Future Planned Local and International Activities
Co-organises the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Geotechnical Division (HKIE-GD) Annual Seminar on “Soil-structure Interaction: From Modelling to Observations” on 22 May 2015 at which Professor Harry Poulos will deliver a keynote paper Supports the Underground Design and Construction Conference organized by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) Hong Kong Branch on 11 - 12 Sep 2015 (as supporting organization). Supports the 1st International Conference on Geo-Energy and Geo-Environment (GeGe2015) jointly organised by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Chongqing University, Hohai University and Zhejiang University in China and EPFL, Switzerland. The invited speakers will include:
4-1. Distinguished Lecturers
Prof. James Mitchell (Virginia Tech, USA) Prof. Kerry Rowe (Queens University, Canada) 4-2. Keynote Speakers
Prof. Malek Bouazza (Monash University, Australia) Prof. Yunmin Chen (Zhejiang University, China) Prof. Yufeng Gao (Hohai University, China) Prof. Suzanne Lacasse (NGI, Norway) Prof. Hanlong Liu (Chongqing University, China) Prof. Laloui Lyesse (EPFL, Switzerland) Prof. Charles W.W. Ng (HKUST, HKSAR) Prof. Carlos Santamarina (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA) Prof. Kenichi Soga (Cambridge University, UK) Prof. Lizhong Wang (Zhejiang University, China) Prof. Tony Liangtong Zhan (Zhejiang University, China)
INDONESIA: 1. General President: Prof. Masyhur Irsyam International Secretary : Dr. Pintor Tua Simatupang E-mail address : [email protected] and [email protected] Domestic members : 2000 International members : 140 Student members : 30
2. International Conferences, Seminars, and Short Courses: International Conference on STATE OF THE ART OF PILE FOUNDATION AND PILE CASE HISTORIES, 2-4 June, 2013, ISGE-GEC, Bandung, Indonesia, 200 participants. International Seminar on Geotechnical Engineering of “Role of Geotechnical Engineer of Insfrastructure Development on Soft Soil, 8 October 2013, Palembang, South Sumatera, Indonesia, 130 participants. Computational Geotechnics Course on Deep Excavation, 9 - 11 December 2013, Bandung, Indonesia, 70 participants. A Workshop on Deep Foundation Dynamic Testing and Analysis, October 13 -15, 2014, Jakarta Indonesia, 112 participants. Southeast Asia Geotechnical Conference on Soft Soil Engineering and Ground Improvement, Bandung, 20-23 October 2014, ISGE-GEC Bandung, 189 participants
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Computational Geotechnics Course (2D & 3D Plaxis Course) Bali - Indonesia, 15 - 18 December 2014, 70 participants.
3. MOU ISGE with INSTITUTE OF ROAD ENGINEERING AGENCY FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Republic of Indonesia, 2014.
4. National Conferences, Seminars, Workshops: 2013 Workshop and Certification for licence as geotechnical experts, Jakarta, Indonesia, 1-4 May, 32 participants 2013 Workshop and Certification for licence as geotechnical experts, Bali, Indonesia, 3-6 July, 22 participants. 2013 Workshop and Certification for licence as geotechnical experts, Bandung, Indonesia 25- September, 32 participants. 2013 Workshop and Certification for licence as geotechnical experts, Palembang, Indonesia, 9- 12 October, 21 participants. 17th Annual National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, 13-15 November 2013 Jakarta, Indonesia, 320 participants 2013 Workshop and Certification for licence as geotechnical experts, Jakarta, Indonesia 9-12 December, 34 participants. National Seminar on Design and Development of Foundation and Soil Reinforcement by Non- wood Material, Pontianak, collaboration with ISGE Chapter of West Kalimantan, Indonesia, 24 February 2014, 100 participants. National Seminar on Geotechnical Engineering, collaboration with ISGE Chapter Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 10-12 June 2014, 160 participants. Workshop on Technology for Handling Problematic Soil and Slope Instability, collaboration with INSTITUTE OF ROAD ENGINEERING AGENCY FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Republic of Indonesia, 4 June 2014, 58 participants. 18th Annual National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, 12-13 November 2014, Jakarta, Indonesia, 450 participants. National Seminar on Geotechnical Engineering, Pontianak, collaboration with ISGE Chapter of West Kalimantan, Indonesia, 22 April 2015, 140 participants.
5. The Periodical Journals (2011-2013): Geotechnical Journal, Vol. VIII No. 01, May 2013 (in Indonesian). Geotechnical Journal, Vol. VIII No. 02, November 2013 (in Indonesian). Geotechnical Journal, Vol. IX No. 01, May 2014 (in Indonesian). Geotechnical Journal, Vol. IX No. 02, November 2014 (in Indonesian)
6. Future Plan Activities: 19th Annual National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, 24-25 November 2015, Jakarta, Indonesia. International Conference on SLOPE, 28-30 September 2015, Bali, Indonesia. 2015 Workshop and Certification for licence as geotechnical experts, Jakarta, Pontianak, Bandung, Indonesia, etc.
INDIA:
(1-1) Name of your president, international secretary and their contact e-mail address Principal Office Bearers (2013-2014) President : Prof. G.N. Gandhi
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Hon. Secretary : Mr. Jai Bhagwan Principal Office Bearers (2015-2016) President : Prof.A.SriramaRao (E-mail:[email protected]) Hon. Secretary : Mr. Jai Bhagwan (E-mail: [email protected] (1-2)No. of Members of Society : 4200
2.Name of ATC/s Society is Hosting : Indian Geotechnical Conference (IGC)
3.MOU : IGS has MOU with ASCE, JGS and KGS.
4-1.National Conferences, Seminars, Workshops (2013): IGS-Jodhpur Chapter: Two-day National Seminar on Recent Trends in Civil Engineering (RTCE- 2013) (March 23-24, 2013). IGS-Bhubaneswar Chapter: Lecture Meeting on Rehabilitation and Foundation Treatment of Old Pagara Masonry Dam by Grouting Technique (A Case Study) (April 15, 2013). IGS-Ahmedabad Chapter: National Seminar on Water & Ground Pollution: Prediction, Prevention & Control (May 4, 2013). IGS-Baroda Chapter: Two-day National Workshop on Geotechnical Failures & Remedial Actions (Ge’FRA-13) (June 29-30, 2013). IGS-Guntur Chapter: One-Day Workshop on Ground Improvement Techniques (June 29, 2013). IGS-Ludhiana Chapter: One-week Faculty Development Program (FDP) on Finite Element Methods to Solve Engineering Problems (July 22-26, 2013). IGS-Coimbatore Chapter: Technical Seminar on Geotechnical Issues in Coimbatore Region (August 24, 2013). IGS-Vellore Chapter: One-day National Seminar on Challenges in Geotechnical Engineering (August 23, 2013). IGS-Kochi Chapter: Second Annual Lecture in the memory of Sri Praphulla Kumar (September 28, 2013). IGS-Shimla Chapter: Lecture on Physical Modeling in Geotechnical Engineering (September 21, 2013). IGS-Indore Chapter: One-day National Training Workshop on Soil Highway Material Testing & Concrete Mix Design (SHMMD-13) (September 21, 2013) and Geotechnical Day-2013 celebration as Karl Terzaghi’s Birthday (October 21, 2013). IGS-Pune Chapter: One-day Workshop on FEM in Geotechnical Engineering to Celebrate the Karl Terzaghi Day (October 27, 2013). Annual National Conference by IGS-Roorkee Chapter: Hosted the Indian Geotechnical Conference (IGC-2013), 22-24, December 2013. Prof. Tokyo Towhata, V.P. Asia and Seven experts from abroad had attended.
4-2.Seminars/Workshops (2014) IGS-Guntur Chapter: One-day National Seminar on Problems Associated with Geotechnics of Expansive Soils (PAGES) (January 25, 2014) IGS- Baroda Chapter: One-day National Seminar on Soil Dynamics and Machine Foundations (February 8, 2014) IGS-Pune Chapter: Two days’ Workshop on Current Practices in Construction Contracts and Pile Foundation (February 7-8, 2014). IGS-Trichy Chapter: Two days’ National Workshop on Challenges in Geotechnical Investigation and Foundation Design (February 14-15, 2014). IGS-Bangalore Chapter: Seminar on Research Avenues in Geotechnical Engineering (January 27- 29, 2014) and RAGI-2014, a Technical Extravaganza on Recent Advances in Geotechnics for Infrastructure (March 15, 2014).
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IGS-Kakinada Chapter: National Seminar on Theoretical and Applied Research in Soils (STARS) (March 22, 2014). IGS-Vellore Chapter: Workshop on Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering (March 14, 2014). IGS-Baroda Chapter: Two days’ National Workshop on Geotechnical Considerations for Power Equipment Foundations (June 6-7, 2014). IGS-Coimbatore Chapter: One-day Workshop on Evaluation and Design of Pavement Using Light Weight Deflectometer (June 24, 2014). IGS-Pune Chapter: Two-day Workshop on Geotechnical Engineering (Laboratory Experiments) (June 11-12, 2014). IGS-Bhubneswar Chapter: Workshop on Construction of Structures on Expansive Soil (July 9, 2014). IGS-Chennai Chapter: One-day Workshop on Geotechnical Investigation in India – Viability and Reliability (July 12, 2014). IGS-Pune Chapter: Expert Lecture on Geotechnical Engineering (July 31, 2014). IGS-Vellore Chapter: Guest Lecture on Construction of Very High Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls (July 7, 2014). IGS-Chennai Chapter: One-day Workshop on Liquid Limit and Beyond (August 16, 2014). IGS-Guntur Chapter: One-day Seminar on Problems Related to Infrastructure Geotechnics (SPRING) (August 23, 2014). IGS-Amravati Chapter: One-day Workshop on Geotechnical Engineering Practices-Risk and Safety (September 15, 2014). IGS-Kochi Chapter: Two-day Workshop on Piling-Design and Practice (September, 22-23, 2014). IGS-Ludhiana Chapter: Two-day National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering Practice and Sustainable Infrastructure Development (October 11-12, 2014). IGS-Ferroco Terzaghi Oration 2014: A Prestigious Oration by Prof. A. Sridharan, Bangalore, hosted by IGS Ludhiana Chapter on 11th October, 2014.
Annual National Conference by IGS-Kakinada Chapter: Hosted the Indian Geotechnical Conference (IGC-2014), 18-20, December 2014. Prof. IKuo Towhata, V.P. Asia and seven other experts from abroad. The conference was preceded by three one-day workshops on Finite Element Method in Geomechanics, Ground Improvement and Geotechnical Investigation.
TC 302 of ISSMGE: One-day Workshop on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering organized by in association with TC 302 of ISSMGE and Dept. of Civil Engg., GNDEC, Ludhiana. The workshop was coordinated by Prof. G.L. Sivakumar Babu.
4-3.Seminars/Workshops (2015)
IGS-Bhubneswar Chapter: Lecture Meeting on Geotechnical Aspects of Water Resources Engineering and Case Studies of Soil Nailing (January 19, 2015) IGS-Chennai Chapter: 3-day International Symposium on Natural Disaster Mitigation during 21-23 January, which was attended by Prof. Towhata among about 50 foreign delegates. IGS-Guntur Chapter: One-day Seminar on Case Studies in Geotechnical Engineering Practices (February 28, 2015). IGS-Vellore Chapter: Indo-US Workshop on Pile Foundation (January 24, 2015). IGS- Baroda Chapter: 5th Indian Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference (March 14-15, 2015). IGS-Bhubneswar Chapter: One-day National Workshop on Pile Foundations - Advances in Design and Construction Practices in association with the DFI of India (April 25, 2015).
5th Asian Regional Conference (ARC-2015), Fukuoka, Japan (November 9-13, 2015) IGS has submitted 31 full length papers for inclusion in the proceedings of the Conference. An IGD Delegation comprising of large number of delegates is expected to attend the Conference.
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5.Periodical Journal The Indian Geotechnical Society publishes a quarterly Journal “Indian Geotechnical Journal (IGJ)”. The current Volume No. is 45 of which one issue in January has been published. The Journal publishes papers both from Research and Field covering the whole spectrum of geotechnical engineering. The Journal is printed and published by M/s Springer. The Journal is accessible ONLINE to all IGS Members.
Quarterly Newsletter
Indian Geotechnical Society also publishes a quarterly Newsletter “IGS NEWS” for the benefit of all its members. The Newsletter carries features and Chapters’ Activities, Geotechnical Calendar, Special Technical Papers on Tsunami, Earthquake etc. and is featured on website of IGS.
6.Plan for future Activities A major Annual National Conference called Indian Geotechnical Conference (IGC) for the year 2015 (Dec.17-19) will be organized by IGS-Pune Chapter. This is a major event with around 600 delegates expected to participate including overseas delegates. More details about IGC-2015 can be downloaded from website: www.igc2015pune.in E-mail: [email protected]
IRAN:
[1-1] Name of your president, international secretary and their contact e-mail address: Prof. Behrouz GATMIRI, [email protected] or [email protected] [1-2] Approximate number of your members (both domestic and international): 700 [1-3]How many student members approximately? 55 [2-1] Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015): None [2-2] Organizing National Conferences etc. if you would like to refer to (2013-2015): 3 annual national conferences (First Iranian National Conf. In Fall 2013, Second in Fall 2014, Third will be held in Fall 2015) [2-3] Ongoing MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE (not necessarily in Asia): None [2-4] Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): Non [2-5] Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): Iranian Geotechnical Journal [2-6] Awards (2013-2015): None [2-7] Other important achievements (2013-2015): Establishment of ten Technical committees: 1: Geosynthetics 2: Geoenvironmental engineering 3: Special Foundations 4:Soil Reinforcement 5: Laboratory investigation 6: Excavation 7: Geotechniacl Earthquake Engineering 8: In-situ investigations 9: Unsaturated soils 10: Geotechnical contract and unit prices [3] Planned future activities: International Geotechnical Conference 14-17 Nov. 2016; GeoAsia 2020, Workshop on special Foundation 2015, workshop on Geosynthetics 2015
IRAQ:
Iraq Scientific Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (Iraqi Geotechnical Society)
[1-1] Name of president, international secretary and their contact E-Mail address:
Omar al-Farouk Salem al-Damluji President [email protected] Mosa Jawad Al-Mosawe General [email protected] Secretary
[1-2] Approximate number of members (both domestic and international):- 250 members.
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[1-3] Approximate number of student members:- 200 student members.
[2-1] Participation in International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015): a. 2nd European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, Istanbul, August 2014. b. New Technology for Construction of Roads Using Nano-Stabilizers, organized by StruXure Corporation for Technology, Workshop in Toronto, Canada, February 2014. c. International Conference on Piling and Deep Foundations DFI-EFFC, 21-23 May, Alvsjo, Stockholm Sweden. d. 8th European Conference on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering, Delft, 18-20 June 2014. e. XVI European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Scotland, UK, 13-17 September 2015.
[2-2] Organizing National Conferences etc. if you would like to refer to (2013-2015): a. International Conference For Engineering Sciences, Iraq, Al-Mustansiriya University, Iraq.
[2-3] Ongoing MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE (not necessarily in Asia):- Direct relations with national geotechnical societies in the Middle East region all registered at the International Society of Soil Mechanics and geotechnical Engineering.
[2-4] Current membership of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): Numerous members of the Iraqi Geotechnical Society are active participants in various International Technical Committees of the ISSMGE, namely: a. TC 102 on Ground Property Characterization From In-Situ Tests, b. TC 104 on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, c. TC 106 on Unsaturated Soils, d. TC 207 on Soil-Structure Interaction and Retaining Walls, e. TC 210 on Dams and Embankments, f. TC 301 on Preservation of Historic Sites, g. TC 308 on Energy Geotechnics, and h. Presented nominations to TC 217 on Land Reclamation.
[2-5] Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): More than ten peer reviewed scientific journals belonging to universities, research centers and professional bodies across Iraq.
[3] Planned future activities: a. Increase in numbers of members registered at the Iraqi Geotechnical Society. b. Increase activities in national and international geotechnical circles.
JAPAN:
(1-1) Name of your president, international secretary and their contact e-mail address Professor Ikuo Towhata - President ([email protected], Kanto Gakuin University) Professor Takeshi Katsumi - International Secretary ([email protected], Kyoto University) (1-2) Approximate number of your members (both domestic and international) 7,557 individual, 844 corporate, and 143 honorable members (as of March 31, 2015) 1151 ISSMGE members (as of January 31, 2015) (1-3) How many student members approximately? 883 student members (as of March 31, 2015) (2-1) Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015):
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Fifth China-Japan Geotechnical Symposium (May 18-19, 2013, Chengdu, China, 77 papers, 68 participants, co-organized by CISMGE) Fifth Korea-Japan Workshop on Geotechnical Engineering (September 17-18, 2013, Seoul, Korea, 24 papers, 40 participants, co-organized by KGS) 7th International Joint Symposium on Problematic Soils and Geoenvironment in Asia (November 22-23, 2013, Naha, Japan, 55 papers, 87 participants, organized by JGS Kyushu Branch) International Workshop on Geotechnical Natural Hazards – Sixth Japan-Taiwan Joint Workshop on Geotechnical Hazards from Large Earthquakes and Heavy Rainfalls (July 12- 15, 2014, Kitakyushu, Japan, 101 participants, organized by ISSMGE ATC3)
(2-2) Organizing National Conferences etc. if you would like to refer to (2013-2015): 48th Japan National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering (July 23-25, 2013, Toyama, 1,124 presentations, 1,737 participants) 49th Japan National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering (July 15-17, 2014, Kitakyushu, 1,085 presentations, 1,750 participants) (2-3) Ongoing MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE (not necessarily in Asia) GI-ASCE (2003), CISMGE: China (2006), KGS: Korea (2008), IGS: India (2011) (2-4) Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): TC 101 on Laboratory Testing - Laboratory Stress Strength Testing of Geomaterials Chair: Professor Junichi Koseki (University of Tokyo) TC 105 on Geo-Mechanics - Geo-Mechanics from Micro to Macro Chair: Professor Masayuki Hyodo (Yamaguchi University) TC 202 on Transportation Geotechnics Chair: Professor Erol Tutumluer (University of Illinois) Secretary: Professor Tatsuya Ishikawa (Hokkaido University) TC 217 on Land Reclamation (New) Chair: Dr Yoichi Watabe (Port and Airport Research Institute) TC 303 on Floods - Coastal and River Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation Chair: Professor Susumu Iai (Kyoto University) ATC 1 on Geotechnical Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change-induced Geo-disasters in Asia-Pacific Regions Chair: Professor Dennis Bergado (Asian Institute of Technology) ATC 3 on Geotechnology for Natural Hazards Chair: Professor Motoki Kazama (Tohoku University) ATC 10 on Urban Geo-informatics Chair: Professor Mamoru Mimura (Kyoto University) ATC 19 on Geo-engineering for Conservation of Heritage Monuments and Historical Sites Chair: Dr Yoshinori Iwasaki (Geo-Research Institute) (2-5) Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): Soils and Foundations (International Journal), 6 issues per year, published from Elsevier Japanese Geotechnical Journal (Domestic Journal, in Japanese), 4 issues per year, published from J-Stage Geotechnical Engineering Magazine (Journal of Japanese Geotechnical Society, in Japanese), 12 issues per year (2-6) Awards (2013-2015) Environment Award Outstanding Professional Contribution Award Technical Development Award Young Engineer Technical Development Award Outstanding Research Award Best Research Paper Award Young Researcher Paper Award (2-7) Other important achievements (2013-2015) Dispatch a reconnaissance team to 2015 Nepal earthquake-devastated area
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Establish the official frame of “Professional Engineer for Geotechnical Evaluation” in 2013 Significant contributions to disaster recovery, including the nuclear plant accident, from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake English-translation of Japanese Standards (JIS and JGS) (3) Planned future activities: 15ARC in Fukuoka, Japan, November 2015 6th Japan-China Geotechnical Symposium in Sapporo, September 2015 2nd Japan-India Workshop in Geotechnical Engineering in Fukuoka, November 2015 6th Japan-Korea Workshop on Geotechnical Engineering, 2016 International Mini Symposium Chubu (Ims-Chubu) in Nagoya, May 2016 3rd US-Japan Workshop on Geoenvironmental Engineering, possibly in Chicago 2016 Promotion of English-translated versions of Japanese Standards (JIS and JGS)
KAZAKHSTAN:
Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society (KGS) (1-1) Names of president of KGS, international secretary and their contact e-mail address: Prof. Askar Zhussupbekov-President of Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society, Dr. Tursun Zhunissov- Secretary of Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society, e-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] (1-2) Approximate number of members of KGS (both domestic and international): 57 members of domestic and 40 international (1-3) How many student members approximately? 10 student members (2-1) Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015): Kazakhstan-Singapore Joint Geotechnical Seminar, Astana, Kazakhstan, 10 April, 2013 Kazakhstan-Estonia Joint Geotechnical Seminar, Astana, Kazakhstan, 18 April, 2013 Members of KGS participated in the International scientific and Technical Conference Devoted to the 80 anniversary of Geotechnical Department “Modern Geotechnologies in Construction, Scientific and Technical Support”, SPbGASU, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 5-7 February, 2014. Members of KGS Professor Adil Zhakullin and Ph.D. A. Aldungarova participated in the 14th International Symposium on Rheology in Soils at the Kazan State Architecture and Construction University (Tatarstan, Russia), dedicated to promising areas of development theory and practice in rheology in soil mechanics, which was held October 9-11, 2014. Members of KGS participated in IGS, Chennai, India, 21-25 January, 2015.
(2-2) Organizing National Conferences etc. (2013-2015): Participation in the Republican scientific-practical conference dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the TsCEI of ENU L.N.Gumilyov, Astana, Kazakhstan, 12-13 December, 2014. Participation of the First Eurasian Congress of Construction Industry, Astana, Kazakhstan, 2-3 December, 2014 http://ecic.kz. Workshop in TC305 “Geotechnical Infrastructure for Mega Cities and New Capitals”, 21-23 May, 2014. (2-3) Ongoing MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE - KGS-KGS (South Korea), 2009 - KGS-DGGT (Germany), 11.06.2013 - KGS- UTMGGF (Ukraine), 03.09.2013 - KGS-SGGW (Poland), 03.10.2013 (2-4) Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): KGS hosting of ISSMGE of TC305 “Geotechnical Infrastructure for Mega Cities and New Capitals” and ATC-9 “Collapsible soils” (2-6) Awards (2013-2015):
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Scientific Award “Best Professor for 2013”, Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, 2013- Prof. Askar Zhussupbekov. Medal after name Academic Aitaliyev Shmidt for Professor Saule Dostanova- member of Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society, Almaty, Kazakhstan, January, 2015. Medal after name Academic Aitaliyev Shmidt for Professor Bagdat Teltayev- member of Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society, 2015. Medal after name Academic Aitaliyev Shmidt for Professor Takaji Kokusho (Chuo University, Japan), Chennai, India, 21-25 January, 2015. The Awarding of Diploma of Honorary Doctor of SPbSACU (Russia) by Prof. Askar Zhussupbekov (President of Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society), 19 February, 2015, Saint-Petersburg, Russia. (2-7) Other important achievements (2013-2015): Organizing at Astana Economical Forum technical Session on TC305 “Future cities”, Astana, Kazakhstan, 21 May, 2015
(3) Planned future activities: The First Kazakhstan-USA Geotechnical Engineering Workshop, Astana, Kazakhstan, 13-16 July, 2015 Our members of KGS will participate in: 15th Asian Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering “New Innovations and Sustainability”, 9-13 November, 2015, Fukuoka, Japan (www.15arc.org) Joint Geotechnical Seminar on TC305 and TC207 in Edinburgh, Scotland, 13 September 2015 ICSGE, Singapore, 3-4 December, 2015
KOREA:
(1-1)Name of your president, international secretary and their contact e-mail address
1. President: Prof. Yongkyu CHOI, email: [email protected] 2. Vice President for Int’l Affairs: Prof. Dong Soo KIM, e-mail: [email protected] 3. Director of Int’l Affairs: Dr. Moonkyung CHUNG, email: [email protected] (1-2) Approximate number of your members (both domestic and international)
1. Domestic : 7,982 members 2. International : 709 members (1-3)How many student members approximately?
10 members (Number of undergraduate students. Graduate students are eligible for “member” status.)
(2-1) Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015):
1. The 8th Int’l Symposium on Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Construction in Soft th th Ground (IS-Seoul 2014), 25 to 27 August 2014, Seoul, Korea.
This symposium was organized by TC204(Underground Construction) of ISSMGE and Korean Geotechnical Society (KGS) with a theme of “Challenges and Innovations for Underground Construction in Soft Ground”. The local organizing committee was led by Prof. Chungsik You at Sungkyunkwan Univ. of Korea. More than 200 participants took part in this symposium, which included Fujita Lecture delivered by Dr. Hugh D. St John from UK with a title of “Urban Development: Decision Making Processes in the Planning of Sub-Structure construction”; and four invited lectures given by Prof. In-Mo Lee, Korea, Prof. Robert Mair, UK, Prof. Ikuo Towhata, Japan, and Prof. Andres Assis, Brazil.
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nd th 2. The 2 Korea-Japan Round Table Meeting, 25 April, 2014, Seoul, Korea
Subsequent to the first round table meeting between KGS and Japanese Geotechnical Society in 2011, the 2nd one was held in Seoul, Korea, on April 25, 2014 as one of the events planned for celebration of the KGS’s 30th Anniversary. Under the theme entitled “The Present and Future of Fusion Technology between Geotechnical Engineering and IT”, five presentations were made by Korean and Japanese experts: They are (1) Application of Civil BIM, Integrated DB for National Geotechnical Information, and Fusion with IT in Geotechnical Engineering; (2) Robotics for Lunar Exploration; (3) Trend and Issues in Applications of ICT to Geotechnical Engineering; (4) The Present and Future of Civil BIM for Domestic and Oversea Projects - Focused on Geotechnical Engineering; (5) Scope for the Future of Construction Engineering.
th th th 3. The 5 International Geotechnical Symposium(IGS-Incheon 2013), 22 to 24 May 2013, Incheon, Korea
The international conference was organized by the KGS, ATC3 (Geomechanics), ATC10(Urban Geo-Information), and Incheon National University. The conference theme was “Geotechnical Engineering for Disaster Prevention & Reduction, Environmentally Sustainable Development.” The organizing committee chair was Prof. Eun Chul Shin from Incheon National University. The conference featured five keynote lectures and four technical sessions with 89 refereed papers from 18 different nations. The session titles were Geo-Monitoring, Geotechnical Engineering, Geo-environmental Engineering, Climate Changes. More than 180 scientists, engineers, practitioners, and researchers shared their valuable knowledge and experience in the field of geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering.
th th 4. 2014 Korea-Japan Joint Symposium on Slope Stability, 19 to 20 June 2014, Goyang-Si, Korea
th The 6 joint symposium between Korea and Japan was held at Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology in Goyang-Si, Korea. The symposium was organized by KGS, Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) of Japan, Disaster Prevention Center of Sangji University of Korea, Slope Stability Technical Committee of KGS. The purpose of the symposium was to introduce new technologies and case histories for the prevention and reduction of slope disasters. Symposium chairs were Prof. Seung-Ho Lee, President of KGS and Dr. Yasuo Ishii of PWRI. The keynote lecture was delivered by Dr. Ishii with a title of “Landslide disasters in 2013 Japan.” Approximately 200 participants between Korea and Japan were attended and shared valuable experience and knowledge regarding slope stability.
5. 2015 Korea-Japan Joint Symposium on Slope Stability th st To be held on 20 , 21 August in Tsukuba, Japan. 80 participants expected. (2-2) Organizing National Conferences etc. if you would like to refer to (2013-2015):
1. 2015 Spring Geotechnical Engineering Conference, Seoul, Korea. 450 participants 2. 2014 Fall Geotechnical Engineering Conference, Seoul, Korea.400 participants 3. 2014 Spring Geotechnical Engineering Conference, Seoul, Korea. 400 participants 4. 2013 Fall Geotechnical Engineering Conference, Seoul, Korea. 400 participants 5. 2013 Spring Geotechnical Engineering Conference, Gyeongsan-Si, Korea. 400 participants (2-3) Ongoing MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE (not necessarily in Asia)
None to report. Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Asia Page 15 of 27
(2-4) Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee):
ATC 18 Mega Foundations, hosted by KGS and chaired by Prof. Myong-Mo Kim at Seoul National University and vice-chaired by Prof. Sangseom Jeong at Yonsei University. ATC 18 is organizing 2 th foundations sessions during the 15 ARC in Fukuoka, Japan, November 2015. (2-5) Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015):
1. Journal of KGS (in Korean) – 12 issues per year (194 papers published between Jan. 2013 and April 2015) 2. International Journal of Geo-Engineering in English, published by Springer 3. ‘Jiban’ (地盤, Geotechnical Engineering) in Korean, monthly magazine. (2-6) Awards (2013-2015)
The KGS Award was established in 2011. The KGS Award Lecturer is selected annually based on their outstanding achievements in the field of geotechnical engineering. The list of the awardees are as follows:
rd 3 KGS Award (2013 Spring KGS convention):
· Prof. Neil Taylor at City University London, UK, “ Pile and Pile Group Capacity: Some Findings from Centrifuge Tests”
th 4 KGS Award (2014 Spring KGS convention):
· Prof. Kenneth H. Stokoe at The University of Texas at Austin, USA, “Field Seismic Testing For Predicting Footing Settlements and Evaluating Liquefaction Triggering”
th 5 KGS Award (2015 Spring KGS convention):
· Prof. Rolf Katzenbach at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany, “The Responsibility of Geotechnical Engineers for Safety, Resources and Cost-effectiveness - Examples from Research and Development”
(2-7) Other important achievements (2013-2015)
· KGS has been voted to host the XIX ICSMGE 2017 at Seoul, Korea in September, 2017. The official website for the conference is now open (http://www.icsmge2017.org).
(3) Planned future activities:
KGS will host the International Symposium on Cold Regions Development (ISCORD) in 2016. The local organizing committee is led by Prof. Eun Chul Shin at Incheon National University.
LEBANON:
LGES Meetings /Elections: A total of 12 Regular Meetings in period from May 2013 to April 2015. ・ Elections were held in the General Assembly of Feb 12, 2013. A new cabinet was elected as follows:
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・ Officers: Salah Sadek, President; Muhsin E. Rahhal, Vice President; Jean Pierre Seoud, General Secretary; Elie Rafie, Treasury. ・ Members: Oussama Abdallah, Bilal Asaad and Joseph Mcheileh
Seminars and Lectures: May 8 and 9 2013 In association with ALPS, a Series of Seminars on Earthquake Geotechnics: ・ Dr. Etienne Flavigny: “ Dynamique des Sols: Evaluations des Ouvrages Geotechniques” ・ Dr. Salah Sadek: “Applications Libanaises des Etudes Geotechniques Parasismiques ・ Drs. P. Bish, E. Flavigny, M.E. Rahhal and S. Sadek:” Roundtable Discussion on Geotechnical Earthquake Design”. ± March 26, 2015 Dr. Grace Abou Jaoudeh “Workshop on Natural Hazards in Lebanon: Mass Movements and Earthquakes”. LAU Campus ± May 4, 2015 Messrs. Mazen Adnan, Philippe Fayad and Michel Francis “Applications in advanced Geotechncial Contracting”. Order of Engineers and Architects. Beirut. ± May 11, 2015 Mr. Elie Rafie “Special Geotechnical Works and Alternative Solutions”. Order of Engineers and Architects. Beirut. ± Scheduled on June 10th, 2015: Geotechnical Day in collaboration with the structural group; General theme: Supported Excavations animated by Dr. Muhsin E. Rahhal (general presentation) with intervention from main Geotechnical Contactors.
ISSMGE Conference Participation: ・ Participation in the ISSMGE Paris Conference in September 2013: 10 LGES members with 3 papers included in the proceedings. ・ Participation in the Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference, Paris 2013: Mr. Antoine Abboud; Ms. Layale Maddah; Mr. Ghassan Akrouch. ・ Participation in the ASCE, Geo Congress 2014 Atlanta Conference (Geo Institute, Sponsored by ISSMGE), Two Papers: One on factors of Safety in Slopes under earthquake loading by Dr. M.E. Rahhal and another paper by LGES member Dr. Shadi Najjar on the use of Hemp Fibers in Ground Improvement. ・ Participation in the ASCE, EMI 2015 Hong Kong International Conference (Sponsored by ISSMGE), two papers in Earthquake Engineering (Liquefaction) and landslides by Dr. M.E. Rahhal. ・ Upcoming participation in the 15 Asian Regional Conference in Fukuoka, Japan in November 2015, one paper on embankments behavior under earthquake loadings, to be presented by Dr. M. E. Rahhal Sept 2015.
Current and Future Plans The following are currently in preparation: ・ Dedicated website for the society ・ Organizing a regional conference ・ Drive to involve more LGES members in the various ISSMGE TCs
MALAYSIA:
(1-1) Chairman : Ir. Dr. Ting Wen Hui Email: [email protected] Secretary General : Ir. Yee Yew Weng Email: [email protected] (1-2) Members (local) : 69 (up to date) (1-3) Student Members : None
(2-1) Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars (2013-2015): None (2-2) Organizing National Conferences, Workshops, Seminars (2013-2015): • One Day Short Course on “Soil-Structure Interaction in Geotechnical Design” by Prof. Charles W. W. Ng. & Prof. C. F. Leung : 27th March 2014
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• Supported and hosted Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS) Education Trip to Kuala Lumpur : 18th to 19th April 2014 • Talk on “Development Challenges in Singapore MRT Projects” by Dr. Ng Tiong Guan : 18th April 2014 • One Day Short Course on “Design and Construction of Pile Foundations” by Dr. Seah Tian Ho :4th July 2014 • Talk on “Ground Improvement via Vacuum Consolidation Method in Vietnam” by Dr. Seah Tian Ho : 5th July 2014 • One Day Seminar on “Foundation and Retaining Wall Design” by Prof. Roger Frank & Prof. Brian Simpson : 17th November 2014 • One Day Design Workshop on “Eurocode 7” by Prof. Brian Simpson : 19th November 2014 • One Day Design Workshop on “Eurocode 7” by Prof. Brian Simpson : 21st November 2014 • One Day Seminar on “Pile Foundation - Testing Methods and Best Practice” by Prof. Chew Soon Hoe, Er. Foo Hee Kang, Er. Chandrasegaran, Ir. Dr. Lee Sieng Kai, Engr. Chong Mun Fai & Dr. H. M. Aziz : 12th March 2015 (2-3) On-going MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE: None (2-4) Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): • Ir. Liew Shaw Shong - ATC6 “Urban Geoengineering”; member • Ir. Dr. Dominic Ong - TC104 “Physical Modelling in Geotechnics”; member - TC207 “Soil - Structure Interaction and Retaining Walls”; member • Toh Chin Kok - TC210 “Damns and Embankments”; member (2-5) Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): MGS Newsletter Issue No. 1 – January 2015 (2-6) Awards (2013-2015): None (2-7) Other important achievements (2013-2015): None
(3-1) Planned future activities: • 19th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference & 2nd AGSSEA Conference - “Deep Excavation and Ground Improvement”: 31st May to 3rd June 2016 • Southeast Asian Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference 2016 – “Contributions of Young Geotechnical Engineers to Nation Building”: 31st May to 1st June 2016
NEPAL:
[1-1] Name of your president, international secretary and their contact e-mail address President: Mr. Tuk Lal Adhikari, [email protected]; [email protected] Secretary: Mr. Indu Sharma Dhakal, [email protected] International Communication: Netra Prakash Bhandary (Vice President), [email protected] [1-2] Approximate number of your members (both domestic and international) 89 Members (including international members) [1-3]How many student members approximately? 13 Student Members
[2-1] Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015): International Symposium on Geohazards: Science, Engineering, and Management (Geohazards 2014); 20-21 November 2014, Kathmandu [2-2] Organizing National Conferences etc. if you would like to refer to (2013-2015): Nepal Geotechnical Society Guest Lecture Program: Recent Advances in Seismic Ground Improvement Technology, 27 October 2013, Kathmandu, Nepal [2-3] Ongoing MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE (not necessarily in Asia) Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Asia Page 18 of 27
None [2-4] Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): None [2-5] Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): None [2-6] Awards (2013-2015) None [2-7] Other important achievements (2013-2015) Formed a 5-member Team led by former President Prof. Dr. Akkal Bahadur Singh for investigating geotechnical damages during the 25 April 2015 earthquake of Nepal
[3] Planned future activities: Plans to hold a national seminar on ‘Geotechnical Damage during the 25 April 2015 Earthquake’ in June 2015 Has agreed to collaborate with ATC-10 for organizing an international symposium on “Urban Geodisasters and Their Mitigation” (tentative) in November 2016 in Kathmandu, Nepal
PAKISTAN:
[1-1] Name of your president, international secretary and their contact e-mail address President: Mr. Amjad Agha Email address [email protected] Secretary General: Dr. Tahir Masood Email: [email protected] Mobile +92-300-4000-780 [1-2] Approximate number of your members (both domestic and international) 117 [1-3]How many student members approximately? 20
[2-1] Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015): Nil [2-2] Organizing National Conferences etc. if you would like to refer to (2013-2015): 13th National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering was organized by PGES in Lahore (Pakistan) on March 14th and 15th 2013. About 500 engineers, geologists and the allied professionals participated in the Conference from across the country [2-3] Ongoing MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE (not necessarily in Asia) Nil [2-4] Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): Nil [2-5] Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): Nil [2-6] Awards (2013-2015) Nil [2-7] Other important achievements (2013-2015) Nil
[3] Planned future activities: International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering in Dec 2015
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY :
[1-1] Name of your president, international secretary and their contact e-mail address President Dr.Ooi Teik Aun South East Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS) Email: TA Ooi [email protected] Secretary-General Dr. Noppadol Phienwej Email: [email protected] [email protected]
[1-2] Approximate number of members (both domestic and international) - The total number of members is 136 [1-3]How many student members approximately? - NONE-
[2-1] Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015):
1. Visits and Touring Lectures by Prof Jean Louis Briaud, President ISSMGE and Lectures by various speakers.
Hanoi - 2-day seminar at the National University of Civil Engineering (NUCE) on 18th and 19th February 2013. Bangkok - 1-Day Soil and Foundation International Seminar on 21 February 2013. 2. The Tunnelling & Underground Space Technical Division of The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) and Association of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia (AGSSEA) jointly organized a 2 -day “Applied Course on Engineering Geology and Rock Engineering” on the 15th-16thJuly 2013 at the Professor Chin Fung Kee Auditorium in Wisma IEM, Selangor, Malaysia.
3. Special seminar on Experiences in Engineering Geology and Construction in Rocks for Building and Infrastructure Development was in held at the SC Park Hotel in Bangkok on 24th July 2013. This one -day seminar was jointly organized by The Engineering Institute of Thailand under H.M. the King’s Patronage (EIT), Thai Geotechnical Society (TGS), Association of Geotechnical Society in Southeast Asia (AGSSEA), Geotechnical Engineering Research & Development Center (GERD): Kasetsart University and Thailand Underground and Tunnelling Group (TUTG).
4. The 18SEAGC & 1AGSSEAC was successfully held on 29 – 31 May 2013 in Singapore with more than 350 participants. The conference was organized by the Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS) under the auspices of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS) and the Association of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia (AGSSEA) and co-organized by the Society for Rock Mechanics & Engineering Geology (Singapore) (SRMEG) and supported by the SIMSG and ISSMGE.
5. The 2-day seminar was held at the National University of Civil Engineering (NUCE) in Hanoi on 18th and 19th February 2013.
6. The 1-day seminar was held at the Chaphya-park Hotel in Bangkok on 21st February 2013. It was organized by the Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT) and Thai Geotechnical Society (TGS).
7. The 18ICSMGE was held successfully on 2-6 September 2013 in Paris. The conference attracted more than two thousand participants. Two days were devoted to theme lectures..
8. GEOTEC HANOI 2013 (28-29 NOVEMBER 2013 HANOI, VIETNAM) Second International Geotechnics for Sustainable Development at the Melia Hotel, Hanoi, with more than 500 attendees from 28 countries. The conference proceeding consists of 112 papers, of which 84 were presented.
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9. A special seminar on the topics of “Experiences in Engineering Geology on infrastructure development in rocks” was organized on 24 July, 2013, at SC park hotel in Bangkok, by the Engineering Institute of Thailand, Thai Geotechnical Society, and Geotechnical Engineering Research and Development Center (GERD) of Kasetsart University.
10. The one day seminar on “Practical Design and Construction of Ground Improvements, Deep Excavation and Foundation” was held on 8th August 2014 at the Sunflower Ballroom of Himawari Hotel, Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA with a record turnout of 212 participants.
11. One Day Short Course on “Design & Construction of Pile Foundations” Reported by Ir. Yee Yew Weng On 4th of July 2014, more than 120 Engineers attended a seminar at Tan Sri Prof. Chin Fung Kee Auditorium, Wisma IEM entitled “Design & Construction of Pile Foundations”.
12. Tunnelling & Underground Space Technical Division of The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM TUSTD) on 3rd–5th March 2015.
13. 1th Geotech Thailand Conference Theme Geotechnical Engineering-The Foundation of Country’s Development 16-17 October 2014 The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand
[2-2] Organizing National Conferences etc. if you would like to refer to (2013-2015): [2-3] Ongoing MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE (not necessarily in Asia) -NONE- [2-4] Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): [2-5] Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): The Geotechnical Engineering Journal of the of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS) and the Association of Geotechnical Societies in E- Format four times a year in March, June, September, December and soft bound volume is published on an annual basis. - Current Issues: Volume 46 (March, June) 2015 - Volume 45 (March, June, September, December) 2014 - Volume 44 (March, June, September, December) 2013
[2-6] Awards (2013-2015): -NONE- [2-7] Other important achievements (2013-2015) -NONE
[3] Planned future activities: - The 19th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference and 2nd Association of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia Conference (19SEAGC-2AGSSEAC) will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 31 May – 3 June 2016. - Piled Foundation design by Prof Harry Poulos; Post conference short course
SRI LANKA : 1. Name of the Executives President : Prof S A S Kulathilaka ([email protected]) Hony.Secretary : Eng K L S Sahabandu ([email protected]) 2. No. of Members Local : Approx. 400 International : Approx. 35 Student : Category not applicable 3. Activities 3.1 Geotechnical Forums
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To keep its members and the interested public informed of latest developments in geotechnical engineering, SLGS in January 2005 had formalized a monthly interactive event of 1½ hr duration, referred to as the “Geotechnical Forum”. Geotechnical Forum on “New Framework for Predicting Compacted Soil Behaviour” and was conducted on 19th December 2013 at the Auditorium of Organization of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka (OPA). The lecture was delivered by Prof. Kodikara of the Monash University, Victoria Australia. Currently, Prof Kodikara leads research on fundamental analysis of soil/atmosphere/structure interaction problems including unsaturated soil behaviour and applications to modelling of infrastructure behaviour. Geotechnical Forum on Use of Dynamic Replacement Technique to Improve Soft Ground and was conducted on, 29th April 2014 at the Auditorium of Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL). The lecture was delivered by Dr. Theva Muttuvel, Senior Geotechnical Engineer of the Coffey Geotechnics, Australia.
SLGS Annual Conferences Annual Conference 2013 The Sri Lankan Geotechnical Society organised and successfully held its annual conference 2013 at ICTAD Auditorium, “Savsiripaya”on 30th September 2013 preceding the last General Meeting. Three presentations on contemporary topics were made as follows: i. Micropile foundation systems for railway bridge structures - Eng. K. L. S. Sahabandu and Dr. J. S. M. Fowze of the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB), Sri Lanka ii. Soft ground tunnelling with application in Railways – Eng. C. J. Medagoda, and Dr. J. S. M. Fowze of the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau(CECB), Sri Lanka iii. Application of Geosynthetics in Railway Projects - Richard Ong, Area Manager-Asia, Tensar International Ltd Annual Conference 2014 The Sri Lankan Geotechnical Society organised and successfully held its annual conference 2014 at ICTAD Auditorium, “Savsiripaya”on 30th September 2014 preceding the last General Meeting. Conference presentation on the topic “Optimization of High Capacity Bored Piles” was delivered jointly by Prof T S Peiris, Dean Faculty of Engineering, SLIIT and Prof H S Thilakasiri Professor Department of Civil Engineering University of Moratuwa
3.3 SLGS Newsletters The Newsletter of SLGS has been published in a new format since July 2005. The following issues of the Newsletter were published during the above period. SLGS Newsletter, November 2013 Issue SLGS Newsletter, February 2014 Issue SLGS Newsletter, August 2014 Issue 3.4 SLGS Geotechnical Journal SLGS Geotechnical Journal, Volume 6: Number 1 issue of the SLGS Geotechnical Journal in October 2014. The issue on Ground Improvement consist of nine articles from renowned personality in the field of Ground Improvement as follows; i. Interpretation and analysis of test embankments in soft clays with and without ground improvement by Balasubramaniamet al. ii. The application of vertical drains and vacuum preloading for improving soft ground by Rujikiatkamjorn and Indraratna. iii. Use of shock mats for mitigating degradation of railroad ballast by Indraratnaet al. iv. Ground improvement to mitigate earthquake-induced soil liquefaction hazards by Wijewickreme. v. Performance of highway embankments constructed over Sri Lankan peaty soils by Karunawardena and Toki. vi. Design and performance of bridge approaches constructed using geogrid-reinforced piled embankment method by Karunawardena and Wedikkarage Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Asia Page 22 of 27
vii. Practice of reinforced embankment on hard foundation - a case study of Phitsanulok, Thailand by Baralet al. viii. Subgrade soil stabilisation using native vegetation by Pallewattha et al. ix. An Analysis of Compacted Pavement Subgrade Behaviour Due to Climatic Effects by Kodikara and Islam.
3.5 Geotechnical Workshops A Workshop on Monitoring Early Warning and Mitigation of Landslides was conducted with the collaboration of JSPS core to core program at Hotel Galadari on 6th May 2014. Joint research program on “Landslide and Debris floor: Monitoring, Early warning and Mitigation” has been initiated by University of Tokyo, Japan and sponsored by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
The full day workshop was consisted with following interesting presentations. i. Prefailure deformation of unstable slope observed by tilt sensors Prof.Taro Uchimura, University of Tokyo Dr.Wang Lin, Chuo Kaihatsu Corporation, Japan ii. Debris flow Pre warning and its comparison with monitoring data Dr.Tian Honglin, Institute of Mountain Hazards & Environment,Chinese Academy of Sciences, China iii. Integration of field monitoring and mechanics based warning against rainfall included landslide Prof.Huang An-Bin, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan iv. Landslide Hazard Zonation Mapping and Early Warning Systems Kumari M Weerasinghe Senior Scientist, National Building Research Organization v. Analysis and Mitigation of Wewendon Estate Landslide at Gampola Nuwara Eliya Road M I D H Wijewickrama, Project Management Division National Building Research Organization
3.6 SLGS Seminar: Introductory Training on the Use of Plaxis Sri Lankan Geotechnical Society organised a 2-day seminar in association with Plaxis AsiaPac Pte. Ltd. on 24th and 25th September 2013
The programme was conducted jointly by Dr. William Cheang, Principal Geotechnical Consultant in Plaxis AsiaPac. Pte. Ltd together with Prof. H S Thilakasiri, Vice President SLGS and Dr. J S M Fowze, Asst. Secretary SLGS.
3.7 SLGS Project Day Having clearly identified the need to promote research in the field of geotechnical engineering from an early stage in a carrier, SLGS has formulated the event called “Project Day”. The “Project Day” competition is held among Sri Lankan undergraduates doing projects in the field of geotechnical engineering. Project Day was successfully organized by SLGS with the participation of University of Peradeniya. The event was held on 26th June 2014. There were 13 presentations presented by the Competitors, 7 from University of Moratuwa, 4 from University of Peradeniya and 2 from University of Ruhuna. Competition was won by Miss W G P Kumari and S K E Sanjaya of University of Ruhuna and University of Peradeniya respectively.
4. Future Events 4.1 International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering (ICGE2015 Colombo) While planning to enhance the frequency of its routine activities as mentioned above, the Society has already made plans to hold a 2-Day International Conference in Geotechnical Engineering on 10th and 11th August 2015.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Asia Page 23 of 27
Pre Conference Seminar A one-day pre-conference Seminar has also been planned to be held on the use of Plaxis prior to ICGE2015 event on 9th August with the collaboration of Plaxis.
THAILAND: President: Prof. Suttisak Soralump of Kasetsart University, Bangkok. Activities of TGS 1. Tea talk lecture has been organized to give an opportunity for the professional sector, Geotech company to present their technology to TGS member. 1st Tea Talk, March 2015: Vibro Stone Column technology, by Wilhelm Degen, sponsored by Ceteau (Thailand) Co. Ltd. 2nd Tea talk: April 2015: Geogrids for Road, Rail and other trafficked areas, by Mr.AngelroRicciuti, sponsored by Ceteau (Thailand) Co. Ltd. 2. Annual Geotechnical problem solving competition: April 2015, for the fourth year civil engineering student throughout the country. 3. Annual Geotechnical senior project competition: May 2015, for the fourth year civil engineering student throughout the country.
Future activities 1. 2nd National Geotechnical conference will be held in the 14-16 Oct 2015. 2. Chai Muktaphun award will be given to one distinguish Thai geotechnical engineer in July 2015. This is an annual event.
UZBEKISTAN: (1-1) Uzbekistan Geotechnical Society (UzGS) Chair: Dr. Prof. Askar Khasanov Vice Chair: PhD Ilkhom Usmonhodjaev Technical Secretary: PhD Zokhir Khasanov Samarkand State Architectural and Civil Engineering Institute. Geotechnical department. Address: 140147, Lolazor St №70, Samarkand, Uzbekistan Tel: +998 93 3305566, +998 93 3305522 Tel/Fax: +998 66 22370016 E_mail: [email protected] (1-2) 33 members (both domestic and international) (1-3) 5 student members
(2-1) Organizing International Conferences: International conference: The 4th Central Asian Geotechnical Symposium: Geo-Engineering for Construction and Conservation of Cultural Heritage and Historical Sites, 21-23 September, 2012. 105 participants. International conference: Building Materials, Construction and Soil Mechanics. Challenges and Solutions. 19-20 April, 2013. 87 participants. International conference: Problems of soil mechanics and complex systems of rheology, 203, 19-20 April. 57 participants. Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015): (2-2) Organizing National Conferences (2013-2015): National Conference: Modern methods and technologies in geotechnics, 2014. 25-26 April. 49 participants. (2-3) Ongoing MOU: UzGS has MOU with Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society (2009) (2-4) Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): - (2-5) Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): - (2-6) Awards (2013-2015) - (2-7) Other important achievements (2013-2015) -
(3) Planned future activities: - Nil
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Asia Page 24 of 27
VIETNAM (1-1) Name of your president, international secretary and their contact e-mail address President: Dr. Phung Duc Long, [email protected] Secretary: Mr. Mai Trieu Quang Contact email: [email protected] (1-2) Approximate number of your members (both domestic and international) 600 members, (30 international, which is minimum number for an ISSMGE country member) (1-3) How many student members approximately? Nil
(2-1) Organizing International Conferences, Workshops, Seminars etc. (2013-2015): 1st International Conference on “Foundation and Soft Ground Engineering Challenges in Mekong Delta”, June 5-6, 2013, Binh Duong, Vietnam. 2nd International Conference on Geotecnics for Sustainable Development, GEOTEC HANOI 2013, 28-29 November 2013, Hanoi, Vietnam. 500 participants from 30 countries (incl. 200 international). International Conference on "Multiphysical Interaction and environment - MINE 2015”, March 09, 2015, Mekong University, Vinh Long. (2-2) Organizing National Conferences, Workshops, Seminars, etc. (2013-2015): Workshop on Plaxis applications, 10-12, July 2013, Da Nang, Vietnam Plaxis Special Workshop, 16-18, September 2014, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (2-3) Ongoing MOU with other member societies of ISSMGE (not necessarily in Asia) 5th IPA International Workshop in Viet Nam, 3-5 December 2014, Ho Chi Minh City (2-4) Current hosting of ISSMGE TC and ATC (Asian Technical Committee): Nil (2-5) Periodical journals and magazines (2013-2015): Vietnamese Geotechnical Journal (VGJ) releases four issues per year. During 2013-1015, the following issues have been published: VGJ issue March 2013 VGJ issue June 2013 VGJ issue September 2013 VGJ issue December 2013 VGJ issue March 2014 VGJ issue June 2014 VGJ issue September 2014 VGJ issue December 2014 VGJ issue March 2015 (2-6) Awards (2013-2015) Nil (2-7) Other important achievements (2013-2015) Nil
(3) Planned future activities: International Seminar on Numerical Analysis in Geotechnics (NAG2015), 20 August 2015, Hanoi National Geotechnical Day, Hanoi, 2015 Bilateral Vietnam-Japan Geotechnical Seminar, Hanoi, (early 2016)
[3] Activites of VP for Asia until May 2015
Attending international events and delivering lectures 2013 Oct 16 – Japan-Korea Joint Workshop, Seoul, Korea Nov 1– Lecture at Tongji University, Shanghai, China Dec 1– Earthquake Engineering Workshop, Auckland, New Zealand Dec 4 – ISAFE Symposium, Singapore
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Asia Page 25 of 27
Dec 22 – Indian Geotechnical Conference, Roorkey, India 2014 March 19 – ISSMGE Board Meeting, London, UK March 25 – Seminar, Indonesian Member Society (HATTI), Bandung, Indonesia Visit mud volcano, Surabaya, East Java Apr 24 – Round table meeting with Korean Geotechnical Society, Seoul, Korea Future of geotechnical engineering; use of IT and CIM (Information technology), Decreasing population, Decay of existing structures, Nuclear waste disposal June 12 – President of the Japanese Geotechnical Society (2 years) Aug 25 – IS Seoul (TC204), Korea. Preparation of ICSMGE 2017 has started. Sept 12 – ISSMGE Board Meeting, Goiania, Brazil Oct 13 – ISRM Council meeting, Sapporo Oct 20 – Soft Soil Conf, Bandung, Indonesia Nov 11 – Indonesian National Conference, Jakarta, Indonesia Nov 20 – Disaster mitigation seminar, Kathmandu, Nepal 1) Dec 18 – Indian Geotechnical Conference, Kakinada, India Jan 21 – Chennai, India Jan 26 – Workshop on mitigation of landslide disaster by monitoring and early warning, Chiang Rai, Thailand 2) Feb 23 – ISSMGE Board meeting in Wellington, New Zealand Mar 3 – Seminar and site visit, rainfall-induced slope failure in Cittagon, Bangladesh 1) The registration fee was only US 250 $ / person with lunch. This event offered a one-day bus trip on landslide sites between Kathmandu and Pokhara which is a famous Himalayan sightseeing spot. Many foreigners were attracted to this event. As a consequence, the conference gave a good surplus fund to the Nepalese Society. The Society is able to pay the international membership fee until 2017. I believe this is one of the ways for small member societies to survive; joint venture of academic events and tourism. 2) This was a joint event with participants from Chinese Taipei, China, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Early warning on slope failure during heavy rain is a contribution to people’s safety: Geotechnical engineering for the people.
Planned events/issues I am involved in 2015 Aug 10 – Intl Conf. by Sri Lankan Geotechnical Society, Colombo, Sri Lanka Sep 27 – Landslide Conference, Bali, Indonesia Nov 2 – Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering Conf., Christchurch, New Zealand Nov 9 – Asian Regional Conference, Fukuoka, Japan 3) 2016 May 26 – International mini symposium, Nagoya, Japan 4) 3) Registration fee is 50,000 Yen = US 424 $ (118 Yen = 1 US $) 4) Registration fee is 30,000 Yen = about US 244 $ (as per May 29, 2015) Four conferences, 1), 2) 3) and 4) are Low Cost Conferences with very reasonable registration fees.
2017 ICSMGE in Seoul: many events to take place.
Other issues Asian Regional Conference, Fukuoka, November, 9 2015 – in Fukuoka Engineering Day Session: One day session, Interaction between practitioners, researchers and administrators, simultaneous translation. ICSMGE in Seoul, 2017. Organizing Committee was established in April, 2014. Young Geotechnical Engineering Conference will take place together. CAC meeting in Edinburgh on Sept 14, 2014. New TC (Technical Committee) on Land Reclamation proposed by Japan and Singapore
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Asia Page 26 of 27
Asian Technical Committee: New one was proposed on Urban Engineering. Scope is wide but initially metro construction will be focused on (deep excavation and tunneling), being similar to TC204. I am asking the people to pay attention to population decrease and decay of existing structures. Syrian member society How to pay the membership fee under international banking sanction I tried to communicate with the key person but no reply has been received. Ethiopia is interested in joining ISSMGE. Contact person: Dr. Esayas Gy Youhannes, [email protected] Assistant Prof. Concrete Materials & Structures, Head of Construction Materials Lab, Addis Ababa University The world politics is getting more and more complicated. ISSMGE has to be careful enough to maintain its non-political standpoint. I will finish the University of Tokyo at the end of March 2015 in accordance with the rule of my civil engineering department. I will spend time on President of JGS : disaster mitigation for people, Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Asian Regional Conference. Private sectors; early warning of rainfall induced slope failures and others Minor load in a private university; Kanto Gakuin University one day a week.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Asia Page 27 of 27 Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Australasia Report by Mark B Jaksa
REPORT FROM THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF ISSMGE FOR AUSTRALASIA ISSMGE COUNCIL MEETING, EDINBURGH
This report contains a summary of the highlights of the activities of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) and the New Zealand Geotechnical Society (NZGS) for the period since the last Council meeting in Paris in September 2013.
Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS)
The AGS (www.australiangeomechanics.org), which was formed in 1970 as a joint technical society of the Institution of Engineers, Australia and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has continued to grow in membership, despite a general downturn in the infrastructure market in Australia over the last two years or so. At the time of writing this report the total AGS membership was 1,668, with 1,370 full members, 30 retired, 268 student (undergraduate and postgraduate) and 53 corporate members. The AGS currently has 942 (56%) ISSMGE members.
The AGS is subdivided into 7 chapters, each of which is active and most organise monthly technical meetings and an annual, half-day or full-day, seminar. Details of the chapters’ technical programs are given on the AGS website.
The AGS publishes a quarterly journal, Australian Geomechanics, which contains peer-reviewed papers, some news content and advertisements. The AGS National Committee is currently exploring opportunities to upscale the journal to a higher quality international journal. The new journal will be a joint initiative with the NZGS. A DVD or USB stick containing the back issues of the journal have been regularly sent to the members. Present issues are available to members from the AGS web page.
In November 2014, the AGS hosted the 7th International Conference on Environmental Geotechnics in Melbourne. The conference was chaired by Prof. Malek Bouazza and was the initiative of TC215. The conference attracted more than 300 delegates and was highly successful.
The AGS, in conjunction with TC102, will hold the 5th International Conference on In-situ Testing and Geophysical Characterisation in the Gold Coast, Queensland from 5–9 September 2016. The Conference Organising Committee is chaired by Allan McConnell and details of the conference are given at www.isc5.com.au.
The AGS will again be bidding to hold the next ICSMGE in Sydney in 2021. Despite the ISSMGE being almost 100 years old, and 6 bids by the AGS, the ICSMGE has never been held in Australasia and the AGS, with the support of the NZGS, plans to convene a highly successful and memorable conference, given the opportunity.
The AGS runs a number of professional training and education courses for its members according to demand, but generally on a two-year cycle. These courses include the following: Geology for Engineers; Engineering Geology; Soil and Rock Logging; and Field Techniques for Landslide Assessment.
The AGS has a number of awards to recognise exceptional performance of its members and these are listed in the AGS’s website. The following awards have been made since the last report to Council: John Jaeger Memorial Award (2015): Professor John Carter; EH Davis Memorial Lecture (2013): Professor Malek Bouazza; AGS Practitioner Award (2014): Dr. John Simmons;
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Australasia Page 1 of 2 DH Trollope Award (2014): Dr. Annan Zhou; AGS–Don Douglas Youth Fellowship: Chris Lenthall; Australian Geomechanics Award: N. N. S. Yapage, D. S. Liyanapathirana, C. J. Leo, H. G. Poulos and R. B. Kelly
New Zealand Geotechnical Society (NZGS)
The NZGS (www.nzgs.org) was recognised at the Paris ICSMGE as the best member society, of which it is extremely proud. The NZGS membership has grown by 1% since 2013 and, at the time of writing this report, it currently sits at 1,048, of which 620 (59%) are ISSMGE members, 902 are full members and 73 are student members.
The NZGS is subdivided into 8 branches, each of which is active and arrange regular (generally monthly in the case of the Auckland and Christchurch branches) technical meetings. Details of the chapters’ technical programs are given on the AGS website. In addition, the NZGS organises a national symposium on an approximately two-yearly cycle.
The NZGS biannually publishes the NZ Geomechanics News. This publication adopts a glossy, magazine format and contains predominantly news articles with some technical papers. Recently, the New Zealand Geotechnical News has been made available, free-of-charge, via the web (www.nzgs.org/Publications/Geo_News/index.htm) and also formatted for Android tablets (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details? id=com.nzgs.nzgeomechanicsnews) and iPads (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nz-geomechanics- news/id889020140?ls=1&mt=8). Past issues are available from the NZGS web site.
In February 2015, the NZGS hosted the very successful 12th Australia New Zealand Geomechanics Conference in Wellington. More than 300 registrants participated in the event, which is the regional congress of both the AGS and NZGS and is held once every four years. The symposium is also a regional conference of the ISSMGE. The ISSMGE Board also met in Wellington during the conference and were given presentations by the NZGS President, Gavin Alexander, and the AGS Chair, Darren Paul, on the state of both member societies. By all accounts, the conference was highly successful, both technically and socially, and the Board were extremely grateful for the hospitality shown by the NZGS.
Members of the NZGS are also currently organising the 6th International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering (6ICEGE), which is to be held in Christchurch in November 2015. The Conference Organising Committee is chaired by Prof. Misko Cubrinovski from the University of Canterbury and details of the conference are given at www.6icege.com.
As a consequence of the Christchurch earthquake in 2011, the NZGS has been heavily involved in the development of new and updated seismic guidelines for NZ, with modules on liquefaction, foundations, retaining walls, site investigation practice, ground improvement design, ground improvement specifications guidance, scoping geotechnical investigation programmes, rockfall design and post disaster geotechnical response.
Prof. Misko Cubrinovski (University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand) delivered a webinar on the Impacts of Liquefaction in the 2010-2011 Christchurch Earthquakes.
The NZGS has a number of awards to recognise exceptional performance of its members and these are listed in the NZGS’s website. The following awards have been made since the last report to Council: New Zealand Geotechnical Society Geomechanics Lecture (2015): John Wood; New Zealand Geotechnical Society Geomechanics Award (2015): Tam Larkin and Chris Van Houtte; New Zealand Geotechnical Society Scholars (2014): Maxim Millen, Kelly Robinson
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Australasia Page 2 of 2 Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Europe Report by Antonio Gens
REPORT FROM THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF ISSMGE FOR EUROPE ISSMGE COUNCIL MEETING, EDINBURGH, 13th September 2015
This interim report contains an overview of the state of the ISSMGE in Europe and a summary of the highlights of the activities in the region since the Council meeting in Paris in September 2013.
Member Societies There are 37 European Member Societies (out of a total of 89) involving 38 countries as the Czech and Slovak Republics are joined in a single one. With respect to the membership list submitted to the Paris Council of September 2013, it should be noted that Georgia has re-established their membership to the International Society. I am also happy to report that Cyprus is well on the way to become a new Member Society. The constitution for the Cypriot society of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering has now been finalised and it is expected to achieve national registration by July 2015: Subsequently, the Cypriot Society will be applying to the ISSMGE for membership in accordance with established procedures.
Regional Conferences Obviously, the prime Regional Conference event is the quadrennial European Conference to be held in Edinburgh from the 13th to the 17th September 2015. At the time of writing this report (May 2015) the organization is well in hand to deliver what promises to be an outstanding Conference. The XVI European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering has as overall subject: Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development and covers a wide range of topics that have been classified in 6 themes: A: Infrastructures and Development, B: Slopes, Geohazards and Problematic materials, C: Environment, Water and Energy, D: Investigation, Classification, Testing and Forensics, E: Parameter Selection and Modelling, and F: Developments in Education and Practice. The Conference has been organized by the British Geotechnical Association through a Conference Organising Committee (COC) chaired by Professor Mike Winter. The Conference is structured over four days and the technical programme includes 3 Keynoted lectures, 6 Invited lectures, 6 Main Sessions and 35 Discussion Sessions. In addition there will be a number of Workshops and Meetings organized by various Technical Committees. In contrast to previous Conferences, no limits were set for the number of papers that could be submitted by each Member Society. Out of the 1,025 Abstracts initially proposed, 676 papers have finally been accepted that will be published in the corresponding printed and digital Proceedings. As many as 374 papers will be presented orally and the remainder have been offered poster presentations. It is worth noting that an electronic poster scheme is also being provided that will be open to all authors of papers whether they are presenting orally or by poster. It should provide good opportunities for all authors to engage with their audience. In addition, a series of Technical Tours and an extensive Social Programme will complete the Conference activities. All of the 74 Technical Exhibition stands have been sold and a number of Sponsors secured although further sponsorship opportunities remain to any interested organization. The COC has also implemented a scheme offering free registration to potential delegates that could not attend the event otherwise. Just prior to the Edinburgh Conference, the 24th European Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference will take place in Durham, UK on 11th and 12th September. Special arrangements have been made for EYGEC delegates to travel to and attend the European Conference. In addition to the general European Conference, there are also a number of European Conferences involving sub-regional groups of Member Societies: The Danube-European Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, The Nordic Geotechnical Meeting and the Baltic Sea Geotechnical Conference. The 15th Danube-European Conference on Geotechnical Engineering was held at the Vienna University of Technology on 9-11 September 2014 organized by the Austrian Society of Engineers and Architects. The
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Europe Page 1 of 7 Organizing Committee was chaired by Professor Heinz Brandl and co-chaired by Professor Dietmar Adam. It was a Jubilee Conference celebrating its 50th Anniversary with the theme: Geotechnics of Roads and Railways (Geotechnik im Straßen- und Eisenbahnbau), that alluded to the theme of the first Conference. There were 427 participants from 47 countries. It was decided that the next Conference will take place in Skopje in 2012. In addition, the Turkish Member Society was accepted as a new member of the Danube group. Professor Heinz Brandl has been a key figure in the organization and running of this series of Conference. He has recently stepped down as officer of the Austrian Member Society after 47 years (4 as Secretary and 43 as Chairman). The ISSMGE is very grateful for all his many efforts on behalf of the International Society over so many years. The 17th Nordic Geotechnical Meeting will take place in Reykjavik (Iceland) on 25-28 May 2016. It is being organized by the Iceland Member Society under the chairmanship of Haraldur Sigursteinsson. The 13th Baltic Sea Geotechnical Conference, which will be held in Vilnius on the 15-17th of September, 2016 with the theme Historical Experiences and Challenges of Geotechnical Problems in Baltic Sea Region. It is organized by the Lithuanian Geotechnical Society with Vytautas Kuliešius as chairman. One of the yearly highlights of the European meeting calendar is the European Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference (EYGEC). The 23rd EYGEC was held at the Technical University of Catalonia in Barcelona on 3-5 September 2014 organized by the Spanish Member Society. It was attended by 50 delegates nominated by 26 different countries. The president of ISSMGE, Roger Frank, participated in the meeting and Professors César Sagaseta (Spain) and Lidija Zdarvkovic (UK) delivered special lectures. The delegate from France, Audrey Huckert, was presented with the award to the best paper/presentation. The Conference followed the well-established tradition of providing an effective forum for promising young geotechnical engineers to present their work, discuss their results, share experiences and, of course, make new friends and connections. As noted above, the 24th EYGEC will be held in Durham just before the Edinburgh Conference whereas the 25th EYGEC will be organized by the Romanian Member Society in 2016. Other International Conferences In addition to the above, a number of ISSMGE Conferences have been held in Europe often organized by Technical Committees or by Member Societies: Workshop: Wave propagation and soil stiffness: Particle-Continuum Duality. Bristol, 20-21 March 2014 (TC101-TC105). Conference on Soil-Structure interaction: Retaining structures. St. Petersburg, 16-18 June 2014 (TC207) 8th European Conference on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering. Delft, 17-20 June 2014. (ERTC7). 2nd International Conference on Information Technology on Geo-Engineering. Durham, 21-22 July 2014 (Joint Technical Committee JTC2 of FedIGS). International Symposium on Geomechanics from Micro to Macro. Cambridge, 1-3 September 2014 (TC105). 10th International Conference on Geosynthetics (10ICG). Berlin, 21-25 September 2014. (German Geotechnical Society). International Conference CIGOS-PARIS 2015 on Innovations in Construction. Cachan, France. 11- 12 May 2015.
Future Conferences: International Symposium on Energy Geotechnics. Barcelona, Spain. 2-4 June 2015 (TC304) 3rd International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG). 10-12 June 2015. Oslo, Norway. 3rd International Conference on the Flat Dilatometer DMT'15. 14-16 June. Rome, Italy. (TC-102). International Symposium on Geohazards and Geomechanics. 10-11 September. Warwick, UK. (TC- 105, TC208, TC, 302). Workshop on Volcanic Rocks & Soils. Ischia, 24 September. (Italian Geotechnical Society) Geo-Environment and Construction European Conference. 26-28 November 2015. Tirana, Albania (Albanian Geotechnical Society). Underground Construction Prague. 23-26 May 2016 (The Czech Tunnelling Association )
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Europe Page 2 of 7 3rd ICTG International Conference on Transportation Geotechnics. Guimaraes, 4-7 September 2016 (TC202).
National meetings Many of the Member societies organize National meetings, too numerous to be listed here. As examples, I have attended the following ones: 14th Šuklje memorial day. 11 October 201, Ljubljana. Slovenian Geotechnical Society. 70th Anniversary of the State Research Institute of Building Constructions (NIISK), 11 December 2013, Kyiv, Ukraine (attended by I. Vanicek). XXth Széchy Károly memorial session, 14 February 2014, Budapest, Hungary. Hungarian Geotechnical Society. 14th National Congress of Geotechnics. 7-9 April 2014, Covilha, Portugal. Portuguese Geotechnical Society. o 4th Workshop Portuguese-Spanish of Geotechnics (7-April 2014). Hellenic National Society meeting. 5–7 November 2014, Athens. Hellenic Geotechnical Society.
Technical Committees Thirteen ISSMGE Technical Committees (TCs) are under the care of European Member Societies: - TC-102: In-situ testing. Portugal, Chair: António Viana de Fonseca - TC-104: Physical Modelling. UK, Chair: Andrew McNamara - TC-106: Unsaturated soils. UK, Chair: David Toll - TC 201: Dykes and levees. Netherlands. Van Meindert - TC 203: Earthquake. Greece, Chair: Kyriazis Pitilakis. - TC 204: Underground Construction. Netherlands, Chair: Adam Bezuijen. - TC 205: Safety and serviceability. UK, Chair: Brian Simpson. - TC 207: Soil-structure interaction Russia, Chair: V. Ulitsky - TC 211: Ground improvement. Belgium, Chair: Noël Huyberchts - TC 212: Deep foundations. Italy, Chair: Alessandro Mandolini. - TC 213: Scour erosions. Germany, Chair: Michael Heibaum - TC 216: Frost. Germany. Chari: Mattias Vogler. - TC 301: Historic sites: Renato Lancellotta
European Regional Technical Committees.
In addition of the ISSMGE TCs, there are several European Regional Technical Committees focused on issues especially relevant to European Geotechnics.
- ERTC-3: Piles. Chair: Maurice Bottiau (Belgium), This is a very active Committee with a steadily expanding membership. The Committee has held a number of online and face to face meetings. The Committee is organizing an International Symposium in Louvain (Leuven), Belgium, in April 2016 devoted to the theme: Pile design in Europe - How did EC7 changed daily practice? In addition DLT guidelines and Design exercises are being prepared. A new open web page is being developed.
- ERTC-7: Numerical Methods. Chair: César Sagaseta (Spain) The Committee has organized a very successful 8th European Conference on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering (NUMGE) in Delft on 17-20 June 2014. The next NUMGE Conference will take place in Porto (Portugal) in 2018. The Committee is also organizing a workshop just prior to the Edinburgh Conference-
- ERTC-10 Evaluation of Eurocode 7. Chair: Trevor Orr (Ireland). The main activity for ETC 10 is the planning and preparation with TC205 and TC 304: Engineering practice of risk assessment and management of a workshop on Eurocode 7 and safety and serviceability in geotechnical design during the XVI ECSMGE in Edinburgh.
- ERTC-12: Evaluation of Eurocode 8. Chair: vacant
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Europe Page 3 of 7 The main purpose for ETC 12 is to provide general, as well as, specific comments on the EC8 code from the point of view of earthquake geotechnical engineering practice, and in the light of the latest research. Also, it is intended to establish comparisons with other national or international codes with the help of International Observers and to propose improvement and modifications to EC 8. Following the untimely death of Professor Michele Maugeri, a new chairman will be appointed. Finally, it should be noted that the ERTC-16 on Education and Training was discontinued because of a general consensus that its activities were better pursued within the TC- 306 on Geo-engineering education.
Additional items The selection of the Member Society that will in charge of the next XVII European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering to be held in 2019 will be decided in the meeting of the European Member Societies that will be held in Edinburgh on September 15th. Up to the present, two Member Societies have formally expressed their intention to submit a bid to the meeting: Groupement Belge de la SIMSG (Belgium) and The Icelandic Geotechnical Society (Iceland). The Swedish Geotechnical Society (SGF) has instituted the Sven Hansbos Award o the occasion of the 90th birthday of Professor Professor Sven Hansbo. It will be delivered yearly at the SGF annual Conference. This year it has been presented to Per-Evert Bengtsson, SGI.
Departed I am very sorry to report that three key persons in the European and International Geotechnical community have recently passed away: Professor Dr Milan Maksimovic (President of the Serbian Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering), Professor Michelle Maugeri (Chair of the ERTC-12 on Evaluation of Eurocode 8) and Professor József Mecsi (president of the Hungarian Geotechnical Society).
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Europe Page 4 of 7 APPENDIX REPORTS SUBMITTED BY INDIVIDUAL MEMBER SOCIETIES IN EUROPE
ALBANIA Year 2013:
Training Seminar with civil engineers and specialist of other fields of engineering with theme: "New Technologies in Geotechnical Engineering" Publishing our magazine "Geotechnics" Nr. 14 40% of our members take part in international scientific activities. One member of our society finished his PhD study in the field of tunnels.
Year 2014:
Preparing for the organization of Geo-Environment and Construction European Conference that will be held in Tirana in November 2015. Till now we have 80 abstracts (from Europe, Asia, Africa) and will be 7 invited lecturers. Training Seminar with theme :"Test for soils with disturbed structure" with engineers at Banja Hydro-power plant, one of the most biggest hydro-power plant in Albania. Organizing the 2nd International Congress on Roads in Albania 42% of our members take part in international scientific activities. Publishing our magazine "Geotechnics" Nr. 14
Year 2015:
Organization of the Geo-Environment and Construction European Conference that will be held in Tirana in November 2015. Till now we have 80 abstracts (from Europe, Asia, Africa) and there will be 7 invited lecturers. Papers can be submitted till 15 June. 45% of our members take part in international scientific activities. Four doctoral theses are in course in the field of geotechnical engineering from our members. Publishing two dispenses at Polis University, "Geo - Environment" and "Engineering Geology" from Prof. Luljeta Bozo.
GERMANY National and international conferences (2013 - 2015):
The German Geotechnical Society has hosted two major events in Berlin between 21 and 26 September 2014: rd - 33 Baugrundtagung (German National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering), 23 – 26 September 2014, and th - 10 International Conference on Geosynthetics (10 ICG) of the IGS, 21 – 25 September 2014, jointly with the German chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS).
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Europe Page 5 of 7 The connection between the DGGT’s national Baugrundtagung, one of the largest civil engineering conferences, and the 10th International Conference on Geosynthetics (10 ICG) of IGS the most important international Geosynthetics conference, attracted a wide range of experts from the sectors concerned. Altogether about 1,800 participants visited both conferences: 1230 attendees at Baugrundtagung (includes 280 combi tickets for both conferences) 830 attendees at 10 ICG (includes combi tickets as well) The 10 ICG offered special and keynote lectures and presented the world’s state-of-the-art for geosynthetic products, research and application in numerous parallel technical and training sessions. One conference day was devoted to the Young IGS Members and the Young Geotechnical Engineers from the German Geotechnical Society who reported about their research and practical engineering experiences in two special sessions. Both conferences were complemented by a large joint exhibition where 139 exhibitors presented their products and know-how. th The 10 International Conference on Geosynthetics (10 ICG) was conducted under the auspices of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). Professor Roger Frank, President of ISSMGE, attended both events and gave a welcoming address.
In the field of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering, the biennial conference venues have been decided until 2016. The 34th Baugrundtagung will take place in Bielefeld (Germany), 14 - 17 September 2016
Activities for young geotechnical engineers:
Besides the website www.junge-geotechniker.de, the DGGT has created a facebook profile to reach and motivate young geotechnically interested people. The website and the facebook profile are provided for young students and practitioners working in the area of geotechnical engineering to share their knowledge and exchange information with fellow geotechnical engineers.
The working group “Young Members of DGGT”, a regionally subdivided communication platform between young DGGT members, the chairs and institutes of Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology and the corporate members of DGGT was founded in 2009. The aim of this network is to share information about possible interesting field excursions, topics for student research projects and bachelor and master theses or other issues of mutual interest. On 26 October 2015 the Young Members working group of DGGT will present its first workshop in Cologne (Germany), called “Every beginning is difficult”, concerning the problems at the career start of a geotechnical engineering profession.
Publications:
The periodical journal of the DGGT is the “geotechnik” with 4 issues each year. Between 2013 and 2015 the German Geotechnical Society published 4 recommendations of its working groups as printed books, 2 pocket books on tunnelling (Tunnelbautaschenbuch) and 6 conference proceedings.
SPAIN The activities carried out each year by the Spanish Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (SEMSIG) are the following: - Two seminars (June and December) about actual geotechnical works, presented by construction companies.
- A workshop in February, jointly with the association of geotechnical contractors (AETESS), about theoretical and practical aspects of special foundations (some years, a second session of the workshop is held in November).
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Europe Page 6 of 7 - One lecture in March, at the occasion of the General Assembly of SEMSIG. 2015’s Lectures was Prof. José Manuel Roesset, being the title: “Algunas Aplicaciones de la Dinámica de Suelos“.
- Every four years, normally the year before the International Congress, we celebrate our National Conference during three days. The 10th Conference, will be in October 2015 in La Coruña.
- In each event, a short volume is published in Spanish language. The National Conference has more formal Proceedings with the Communications and General Reports, as a system of paper reviewing and selection.
- The Bulletin of the SEMSIG is published with four issues per year.
SWEDEN
Sven Hansbo’s Award
One of our Honor members, Professor Sven Hansbo, had his 90th birthday on the 29th of December. At the celebration dinner SGF announced that a new Award has been instituted, Sven Hansbo’s award. SGF would like to draw the attention of Sven's excellent efforts over the years to both geotechnical engineering in Sweden as well as to the Swedish Geotechnical society. Through his commitment and interest in developing the area he inspires geotechnical engineers both nationally and internationally. The prize will be awarded at SGFs annual conference, the Foundation day, to a person that as Sven questions and develops theories, transform them into practical application and make sure that the practical solutions are available to the geotechnical society. During Foundation day, 2015, Sven Hansbo himself handed over the prize to the first winner of this award, Senior Geotechnical Engineer Per-Evert Bengtsson, SGI.
Competence and Education
Education and Courses within different parts of the field of geotechnical engineering has been high up on the list for activities for SGF during a number of years. However, at the moment SGF is in the process to take one major step further to provide the geotechnical society with possibilities for education and increased competence. A matrix of competence, identifying the main requirements of knowledge and experience within different areas of the geotechnical engineering has been established in cooperation with other organizations. Three levels of competence have been identified; low, medium and high. SGF is now in the process of developing courses that will be available for the geotechnical society, making sure that it is possible for each geotechnical engineer to develop their skills within the area, by combination of courses and experience from practical application.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – Europe Page 7 of 7 Appendix 4: Regional Reports – North America Report prepared by Paul Mayne
Summary of North American Regional Events: 2013-2015 Submitted by ISSMGE V.P. - Paul W. Mayne (25 May 2015)
Activities held in 2013: (since 18th ICSMGE - Paris)
GeoMontreal 2013, The Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS) held the 66th Canadian Geotechnical Conference “Geoscience for Sustainability” at the Hilton Montreal Bonaventure Hotel (30 Sept - 03 Oct). http://www.geomontreal2013.ca/
Activities held in 2014:
ASCE GeoCongress 2014 "GeoCharacterization and Sustainability", Atlanta: 23-26 Feb 2014 at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, held by the Geo-Institute: http://content.asce.org/conferences/geo-congress2014/
GeoRegina 2014 "Engineering for the Extremes", The Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS) held the 67th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, Delta Regina Hotel (28 Sept - 01 Oct). http://www.georegina2014.ca/
Mexican Society for Geotechnical Engineering: National Meeting on Geotechnical Engineering "The New Generation of Geotechnical Engineers" 19-21 Nov 2014 Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico: www.smig.org.mx/archivos/pdf/bulletin_1.pdf Vallarta, Jalisco, MEXICO Activities in 2015
Joint ASCE-ADSC-DFI-PDCA conference: International Foundations Conference & Equipment Expo (IFCEE) at Marriott Resort in San Antonio, Texas (17 - 21 March 2015. This was a huge 2700- attendee event jointly held by the ASCE Geo-Institute (G-I); Association of Drilled Shaft Contractors (ADSC), Deep Foundations Institute (DFI), and Pile Driver Contractors Association (PDCA): http://www.ifcee2015.com/
Upcoming: GeoQuebec 2015 in Canada (20-23 Sept 2015) is the 68th Canadian Geot. Conference and 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference: http://www.geoquebec2015.ca/en/
XV PanAm Conference - Joint North America + South America Regional Event, Hilton Buenos Aires - Argentina: November 15th - 18th 2015. THREE EVENTS: XV Panamerican Conf on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (PCSMGE)
6th International Symposium on Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials
8th South American Congress on Rock Mechanics
Website: http://conferencesba2015.com.ar
Scheduled Activities for 2016:
Joint ASCE Geo-Institute and Structures-Institute Conference in Phoenix, AZ (14-17 Feb 2016): http://geo-structures.org/ This will be the venue for the ISSMGE Board Meeting for Spring 2016.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Item 4: Regional Reports - North America Page 1 of 2 GeoVancouver 2016: 69th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, Westin Bayshore Hotel, (Oct 02-06, 2016): http://www.cgs.ca/calendar.php?yearsel=2016
Sociedad Mexicana de Ingenieria Geotécnica: http://www.smig.org.mx/ P.S. Prof. Joe Wartman at Univ Washington (who attended the Nov 2015 event and member of IAC) may organize a technical session with the Mexican Society in 2016.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Item 4: Regional Reports - North America Page 2 of 2 Appendix 4: Regional Reports – South America Report prepared by Jarbas Milititsky
SOUTH AMERICAN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EVENTS 2014-15
Date Country Event 2014 WORLD TUNNEL CONGRESS 2014 9 to 15/05 Brasil & 40th ITA-AITES GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Conference ALCONPAT Paraguay 2014 and 8 to 11/09 Paraguay Paraguayan Conference on Geotechnical Engineering - COPAINGE 2014
COBRAMSEG 2014 / XVII National Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 9 to 13/09 Brasil VII Portughese-Brazilian Geotechnical Conference, VI National Symposium on Rock Mechanics and VI National Symposium on Young Geotechnicals
XIV National Geotechnical Conference & 15 to 18/10 Colombia IV South American Conference on Young Geotechnicals
26 to 28/11 Chile VIII National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering 2015
2º CFPB | International Conference on 12 to 15/06 Bolivia Deep Foundations in Bolivia
SEFE 8 | International Seminar on 23 to 25/06 Brasil Special Foundations and Geotechnics
01 to 02/07 Costa Rica XII National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering
19 to 21/07 Brasil National Conference on Geosynthetics/REGEO
25 to 27/11 Brasil VIII Brazilian Symposium on Non Saturated Soils
XV Panamerican Conference of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, VIII South American Congress on Rocks Mechanics 15 to 18/11 Argentina and Six International Symposium on Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials
Book, by ABMS: Brasil - Professor Victor F. B. de Mello Legacy
Technical Publications, by ABMS: Brasil - Soils and Rocks (Vol. 37-1, 2 e 3) - Geotecnia (118 to 133)
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 4: Regional Reports – South America Page 1 of 1
Appendix 5: Innovation and Development (IDC) Committee Report prepared by Dimitrios Zekkos
BOARD LEVEL COMMITTEE PROGRESS REPORT
June 14 2015 October 2013 – June 2015 Prepared by: Dimitrios Zekkos
1. MEMBERSHIP
Chair: Dimitrios Zekkos (USA) – Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; [email protected]
Vice Chair: Kok-Kwang Phoon (Singapore) - Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Singapore; [email protected]
Coordinator: Chrysa Kalogri (Greece) – Engineer, Geoengineer.org [email protected]
ISSMGE Board Liaisons:
Mark Jaksa (Australia) ([email protected])
Paul Mayne (USA) ([email protected])
Etienne Marcelin Kana (Cameroon) ([email protected]).
Marc Ballouz (Lebanon) ([email protected])
Members
Sarah Stallebrass (UK), Assistant Dean Civil Engineering, City University, UK; [email protected]
Xavier Vera-Grunauer (Ecuador) – CEO of Geoestudios, [email protected]
Chung-Tien Chin (Taiwan), Senior Vice President, CTBC, [email protected]
Devendra Singh (India) - Professor, Department of Civil Engineering Indian Institute of Technology; [email protected] Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 5 – IDC Page 1 of 5
Xiaojun Li (China) – Associate Professor, Tongji University
Mohamed Al-Gharleb Sakr (Egypt) - Professor of Geotechnical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta University; [email protected]
Lucy Wu (Hong-Kong, China) – Engineer, Arup [email protected] (Liaison with Student Young Members Participation Group)
Liaisons with other Board Member Committees
• TOC Liaison: Guilia Viggiani (Italy) • CAPG Liaison: Vasiliki Dimitriadi (Greece) • SYMPG Liaison: Lucy Wu (Hong-Kong) • PIC Liaison: Amr Elhakim (Egypt)
2. ORIGINAL TERMS OF REFERENCE
The following terms of reference have been provided by the ISSME President and Board as part of the original Mission of the IDC in 2009: “The IDC will be the think tank of ISSMGE. Its task will be to think of ways to make ISSMGE progress in a manner which will increase its usefulness to the members and provide excitement for the future of geotechnical engineering in ISSMGE. Among the possible tasks are: a. Develop innovations to better serve our members and to increase the impact and influence of ISSMGE and the Geotechnical Engineer in the world. b. Develop ways to enhance the value of the web site as a technical resource worldwide. c. Develop ways for individual members to communicate with each other in a very easy fashion. d. Initiate the webinar series e. Create and select the recipient for a best innovator of the year award. This award will be given yearly. The award will consist of a certificate which will be given to the ISSMGE member receiving the award. f. Strengthen and bring to a steady state the International Journal on Geoengineering Case Histories. Cooperation with the Technical Oversight Committee (TOC) and more generally all the Technical Committees (TC) is expected. g. Develop the Lexicon into an electronic tool available on the web site.”
During the 2009-2013 committee period, a number of these activities were executed and the IDC committee scope has been expanded to include the development of other innovative activities and resources that can have a positive impact on ISSMGE and its members. Below is a list of activities that have been ongoing since October 2013.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 5 – IDC Page 2 of 5
3. 2013-2015 ACTIVITIES
Activity #1: ISSMGE Website Technical Content Growth
The IDC has been working on the enhancement and improvement of the ISSMGE website so that it can become a premier resource of content in geotechnical engineering. This is a continuous, never-ending process. An indication of the growth of the ISSMGE website is its traffic. The ISSMGE website traffic has been growing systematically from about 2900 visitors in June 2012, to 6900 in January 2015 (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1: Daily traffic of ISSMGE website from June 2012 to January 2015.
The committee has been concentrating its effort on maintaining existing content/resources such as the Electronic Lexicon, conference database, etc. as well as creating new technical content that can be of value to the geo-profession. Specific activities include:
Creation of databases with technical papers made freely available for download on the ISSMGE website. A new platform was created that archives papers published in conferences. Up to 2013, the ISSMGE website made available online about ~4 papers. In collaboration with the President, French Geotechnical Society, TC 204 representatives Dr. Adam Bezuijen and Tiago Dias and Geoengineer.org IT specialists, two databases have been established with a total of ~1500 papers from 8 conferences that are immediately available for download. Databases and indexed papers are searchable, and are hosted on the ISSMGE website under new category: “Resources/Publications.” Efforts are underway to increase the papers of these databases.
Archiving recorded lectures, special lectures and webinars and making them available through the ISSMGE website. These resources are also available under the “Resources” tab of the ISSMGE website.
Platform for the automation of TC membership. Through an initiative of the Secretary General, Prof. Neil Taylor, a platform has been created that allows Member Countries to nominate members for the various Technical Committees of ISSMGE. The platform has also an online approval process for all members and updates the content of the ISSMGE website, so that the listed TC membership remains always current and correct.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 5 – IDC Page 3 of 5
Activity #2: Webinars The webinars have become part of the normal operation of the ISSMGE and take place every two months. A new functionality has been added to the website to allow viewers of the webinars to submit questions to the webinar speaker within 48 hrs from webinar launch. The responses by the speaker are also recorded. All the content is archived and remains available online on the ISSMGE website.
Activity #3: Growth of GeoWorld, the Networking Platform for Geoprofessionals
ISSMGE supported and co-founded the creation of GeoWorld http://www.mygeoworld.info, an online communication platform for geotechnical engineers owned and operated by Geoengineer.org (ELXIS SA). The platform was announced by President Jean-Louis Briaud in November 2011 and today has more than 4,500 members and 315 companies and organizations in 163 countries. GeoWorld allows professionals, companies and organizations, to have an easy- to-use professional webpage at no-cost and use that to network with professionals at a global scale. All users can post announcements, publications, photos, videos, host a blog without any programing skills and participate in forums, or use GeoMap, a geographic projection tool of all its members, and companies, as well as geotechnical news and conferences.
ISSMGE has also created a GeoWorld (GW) profile page (available here: http://www.mygeoworld.info/profile/ISSMGE) that is used to promote news of the organization as well as announce new content added on the ISSMGE webpage. Members of GeoWorld have been subscribing to ISSMGE’s GW page and are automatically receiving updates from ISSMGE. This strategy has proven very successful. According to the ISSMGE website traffic statistics, GeoWorld has been the largest website traffic contributor to the ISSMGE website (not including search engines). ISSMGE has also created group pages for each of its Technical Committees. Members of GW can subscribe to these pages and receive updates from the Technical Committee.
The IT opportunities created by GeoWorld are endless. Currently GeoWorld is being expanded to include a job opportunities section. Additional IT tools can be created and incorporated to GeoWorld to make a valuable contribution to the Profession. Steps have been made to better integrate the ISSMGE website with GeoWorld and more work is needed to further integrate the ISSMGE website and the GeoWorld infrastructure.
Activity #4: Development of the 2015 Geotechnical Business Directory
With the support of the ISSMGE, GeoWorld is empowering the development of the 2015 Geotechnical Business Directory. This directory is expected to include nearly 5,000 professionals and 500 companies/organizations. The directory will be available as a platform within GeoWorld and will allow searching for professionals, companies and organizations globally. The directory is expected to become available as an online platform, an e-book as well as a printed on-demand directory in September 2015. A letter by the President of ISSMGE has been distributed to all member countries and corporate associates inviting them to participate.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 5 – IDC Page 4 of 5
Activity #5: Integration of ISSMGE & International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories
The IDC has been increasing its efforts to support the International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories. To that end, the IDC initiated efforts to interwove the journal with the ISSMGE activities. The journal has now a presence on the ISSMGE website and the ISSMGE Bulletin. Recommendations to the Board have been submitted and some are currently being implemented. Initiatives that are currently been undertaken by IDC included: The development of a new website for the IJGCH as the current one is more than 10 years old; The development of an online platform for reviewing submitted manuscripts; The creation of special theme issues; The integration of TCs and Member Societies in the Journal through Special Theme Issues; Securing funding for the journal. Presently, the journal is supported by the Shamsher Prakash Foundation and the Dar Group (Dar Al Handasah – Shair and Partners) with an annual donation of $4900. These organizations are promoted through the journal’s website, as well as through a page insert at the end of all journal papers. Remaining funds are covered by Geoengineer.org Two more companies or organizations are needed to further support the journal.
The integration of the Journal with the core of the ISSMGE activities remains a strategic priority for the IDC.
4. CONCLUDING NOTE
The work of IDC in the coming two years will continue in the directions listed above, as well as other directions that can strengthen the impact of ISSMGE to the geo-profession.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 5 – IDC Page 5 of 5
Appendix 6: Technical Oversight Committee Report prepared by Pierre Delage with the help of Kenichi Soga
TOC report Period September 2013 – April 2015
There is presently 30 Technical Committees: - 101 to 107: Fundamental (7): Lab and in-situ testing, numerical and physical modelling, micro-macro, unsaturated and lateritic soils - 201 to 217: Practical (17): Dykes, Transportation, Earthquakes, Underground, Safety-serviceability, Interactive design, Retaining walls, Slopes, Offshore, Dams, Ground improvement, Deep foundations, Scour – erosion, Soft soils, Geo-environmental, Frost, Land reclamation (new) - 301 to 308: Linked to society (8): Historic, Forensic, Floods, Risk, Megacities, Education, Sustainability, Energy (new)
TOC composition
It has been decided, after discussing with ISSMGE President Roger Frank, to change the TOC composition by considering as TOC members all the regional Vice-Presidents (VP), together with another member from the region proposed by the VP, leading to the following composition: - Africa: Fatma Baligh (VP) and Samuel Ampadu (Ghana), 1 TC - Asia: Ikuo Towhata (VP) and Madhira Madhav, 7 TCs - Australasia: Mark Jaksa (VP) and Michael Pender (New Zealand) - Europe: Antonio Gens (VP) and Giulia Viggiani (Italy), 14 TCs - North America: Paul Mayne (VP) and Gabriel Auvinet (Mexico), 6 TCs - South America: Jarbas Milititsky (VP) and Luis Valenzuela (Chile), 2 TCs Kenichi Soga kindly accepted to follow on as TOC Secretary. The idea was to have TOC members fully aware of the TC activities in their region, given that TC activities are an important part of the ISSMGE regional activities, in particular in terms of organising specialised Conferences and Workshops. The input of VPs and other TOC members for evaluating the TC activity in their region is then appreciated.
Guidelines
An important step completed in 2014 was the completion of the “Guidelines for ISSMGE Technical Committees and ISSMGE Honour Lectures”, with a version finally corrected by Mark Jaksa and approved by the Board in Wellington (February 2015) and made available on the website. By-laws and statutes of ISSMGE are no longer included at the end. The main dispositions of the Guidelines with respect to the functioning of the TCs had been sent in a concise form to TCs and SMs after the London Board meeting (February 2014). They are as follows: (a) Term of TC Chairs: The limitation to two of the 4 years term of TC Chairs (giving an 8 year maximum period). The Chairs who had already completed two terms were invited to organise with their TC members the nomination of a new Chair meeting the following requirements: o Having good knowledge of the subject area; o Being well respected in the geotechnical community; o Being well respected in the TC itself; and o Having a firm commitment and the necessary capacity to organise the activities of the TC.
(b) Membership: an improvement of the membership management is to be conducted through a single database to be filled and kept up to date by TC officers and by the Member societies. The TC membership is as follows:
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 6: Technical Oversight Committee Page 1 of 7 o 4 members nominated by the Chair (who also selects the TC secretary and the Vice-Chair), with voting right; o 2 members nominated by Member societies interested in the TC activities, with voting right; o n corresponding members (no limit in number) who may attend meetings and participate to the TC activities, with no voting right. Note that, to make things simpler and more efficient, it has been decided that there should no longer be neither Core members nor TOC nominated members in the TCs.
(c) Reporting : Reporting of TC activities to the TOC will be made through the dedicated TC reporting website with: o a short annual report (short questions to answer to); o a report at mid presidential term (Autumn 2015); o a final administrative report presenting all the activities conducted by the TC during the presidential term (6 months before the end of the present presidential term, i.e. the Seoul ICSMGE in 2017).
Note that the short annual report was not asked and that the report at mid presidential term has been managed by sending a questionnaire to TC officers.
Changes in Chairs
Following the confirmation of the limitation to two of the number of terms of TC Chairs, a significant number (14) of TC Chairs changed during the period, as follows: 101 (Lab, Koseki), 102 (in-situ, Viana), 104 (Physical mod, McNamara), 105 (micro-macro, Hyodo), 106 (Unsaturated, Toll), 202 (Transportation, Tutumluer), 207 (Retaining Structures, Lisyuk), 211 (Ground improvement, Huybrechts), 212 (Deep Foundations, Pandolini), 214 (Soft soils, Paniagua), TC215 (Environmental, Bouazza), 301 (Historic, Lancellotta), TC305 (Megacities, Zhussupbekov), 306 (Education, Hachich),
Two new TCs have also been created: 308 (Geoenergy, Sanchez), 217 (Land reclamation, Watabe).
TC database
The set-up of the new TC database carried out by Neil Taylor and Paloma Peers in 2014 with the technical support of Geoengineer (Dimitrios Zekkos and Kostis Tsantilas) is certainly an important step for updating and further managing TC data (membership, Terms of reference, activities and, later on, reporting). To fully involve Member societies (MS), it was chosen not to keep the old membership lists and to start the new data base from zero. MSs were given clear instructions to enter by themselves the name of their members (two nominated members with voting right and also corresponding members with no voting right). Note that TC Chairs also had to enter in the data base the names of the TC Vice-Chair (if any), of the TC secretary and of the 4 members nominated by him.
The set-up of the new TC data-base by SMs appeared to be a rather tedious process, in spite of the clear instructions given by the Secretariat, who had to answer many questions and to recall various times the way of processing.
A TC website is now composed of three tabs as follows:
At the beginning of May 2015, the TC data-base is still not completed. The degree of completeness seems to depend most often on the motivation of both SMs and TC officers (some TC officers still need to be recalled
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 6: Technical Oversight Committee Page 2 of 7 the right process). The query of the CV of the members by the SMs also slowed down the process, given that some members have been (or still are) very long in providing their personal data to allow the SM to enter their data in the system. It seems that dynamic TC officers and TC members did contact the concerned SMs to speed on the process and some of these TCs have already almost completed the data base updating. Another technical concern is the right insertion of the Terms of references in the data base. Rather few TC (around 5) did it properly. For the others, the mention “Terms of References has not been published yet.” appears on the TC website (see above), even when the Terms of reference are existing (elsewhere, generally in “Additional information”). A message has been sent in early May 2015 by the TOC to the TCs concerned to ask them to correct their site accordingly.
Honour lectures
The procedures set up a new Honour lecture are described in details in the Guidelines. The present Honour Lectures are as follows: ISHIHARA (Earthquake, TC203), MITCHELL (Site characterization, TC102), BISHOP (Laboratory testing, TC101), KERISEL (Monument preservation, TC301), SCHOFIELD (Physical modelling, TC104), McCLELLAND (Offshore geotechnics, TC209), FUJITA (Underground construction, TC204), MENARD (Soil Improvement, TC211), ROWE (Environmental geotechnics, TC215), TSCHEBOTARIOFF (Soil-Structure Interaction and Retaining Walls, TC207), PROCTOR (Transportation Geotechnics, TC202), BLIGHT (Unsaturated Soils, TC106). Two projects are presently underway: KREBS- OVESEN (Safety and serviceability, TC205), Risk, TC304 (LACASSE proposed as Lecture name, under discussion). One new has been recently proposed: TC305 Megacities (FADEEV proposed as Lecture name).
Honour lectures can be delivered at the ICSMGE (7 were given in Paris from TCs 101, 104, 203, 209, 211, 215, 301), others are presented during the TC specialised Conference. Some can be presented first at the ICSMGE and afterwards in the specialised TC Conference. Some candidacies have been presented by TCs to have their Honour lecture presented in the forthcoming ICSMGE in Seoul. This is to be discussed in the forthcoming meeting of the Seoul Conference Advisory Committee in Edinburgh.
TC Websites
There are now various websites in link with ISSMGE and TC activities and this topic has already been discussed in details between Board members and Dimitrios (Geoengineer). Kenichi carried out in November 2014 an extensive and sound analysis of the TC websites that is now presented (note that the structure of the TC website changed and that some comments are no longer valid whereas some others still hold):
1. There are three websites: - ISSMGE (issmge.org - main website) : ISSMGE is an organisation of organisations (TCs), so it doesn't want to host networking and other user created contents on its website. As this would require lots of maintenance and letting through from the webmaster. No plans of hosting websites of other TCs. - GeoWorld (mainly for networking) : ISSMGE supported main goal is to support networking and host user created contents (like a forum). Has ~3500 members. Some TCs only update information here. Some TCs are active and some are not. In our view does an okayish job with regard to networking. More for member interaction than TC websites. Apparently not necessarily best adapted for TC websites, which is why most TCs end up creating one separate (this makes it difficult to have consistent website layout across committees). - Whatisgeotech : This vulgarisation website allowed the publication of a paper on Geotechnical Engineering in Forbes, a major achievement for the promotion of Geotechnical Engineering. It also introduces some TCs based on the geotechnical structures that they deal with. It seems to be an attractive website to promote our profession outside the geotechnical world.
2. Major issues - Since there are three different websites and many more for each TCs, they have different login details. This makes it difficult to use these services as you need to do multiple signups and remember passwords.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 6: Technical Oversight Committee Page 3 of 7 - Multiple websites results in some websites going out of date. Information is all over the place. Although ISSMGE has a view that it will show display the core information and GeoWorld deals with networking and member sign ups, some of the information are updated in Geoworld and not in ISSMGE website. This shouldn't be the case. There is a confusion of which one being the core website. - The TCs own websites : (a) don't follow same style and layout (b) have their own member login page (c) some have their own forum. We may need to unify???
The survey made by Kenichi is attached in Annex 1. One can see that various TC don’t have any website.
CAPG-TOC exchanges
There have been fruitful exchanges between TOC and CAPG (Sukumar) with Pierre Delage participating to two CAPG meetings aimed at forwarding a questionnaire about State of the Art (SOA) and State of Practice (SOP) in the field covered by the TCs, with excellent and fast responses of many TCs. The aim is to hold a meeting during the ECSMGE (16th Sept 2015, 10 -11 AM – room for 50 attendees) to discuss about reinforced cooperation between TCs and professionals.
TC activities
It seems the TOC and ISSMGE Board could be better informed about current TC activities so as to provide a more detailed and complete list of activities at Board meetings. In this regard, it is proposed that regional Vice-Presidents keep informed and check in more details the events organised by the TCs in their region so as to report to the TOC sometime before Board meetings.
In view of the Edinburgh Council meeting, a short questionnaire (prepared by Neil Taylor and Pierre Delage) has been sent to TC officers on 7 May. A short review of the 11 TC reports received on 21 May (TC101, TC102, TC202, TC203, TC213, TC217, TC301, TC302, TC303, TC304, TC308) and insider knowledge (Kenichi Soga in TC105 and Pierre Delage in TC106) is now briefly made based on the questions asked:
Updating the Terms of reference Yes (TC102, TC202, TC203, TC213, new TC217, TC302, TC308) Needs updating (TC301, TC303, TC304) Previous old one (TC101, TC106) No (TC105)
A message has been sent by the TOC recently (May 2015) to the TCs and the TOC is following the updating and the right presentation of the ToR within the format asked by the data base.
Membership No issues (TC304) – This is a well organized TC. More data needed - Some national societies need to upload the members (TC101, TC102, TC105, TC106, TC202, TC203, TC213, TC301, TC302, TC303, TC308). New TC217 sent a message to all MS for nominated members
Typical member # – 30-50 (some are corresponding members)
Work Tasks Lots in general who submitted their TC reports, with however some exceptions.
Website Yes (TC101, TC102, TC202, TC203, TC213, TC301, TC303, TC304, TC308) No (TC105, new TC217, TC302; TC106 have an old one but requires updating)
Some reports mention that their TC meeting will be held at the Edinburgh conference.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 6: Technical Oversight Committee Page 4 of 7 Some personal thoughts
Looking at how TCs works since my start as TOC Chair, I realised that, not surprisingly, TCs are forums in which, besides fruitful and constructive exchanges, some conflicts of influence may also occur between various schools of thought or business groups.
- In the case of Fundamentals (TC1ii), conflicts or tensions between schools of thought when they exist are more linked to scientific issues; - In TC2ii concerned with applications, commercial issues may intervene in link with obvious financial interests and the risk is that the management of Technical events or Guidelines might not be completely impartial but aimed at emphasising some approaches without giving enough places to others; - Personal conflicts of influences affecting the Chair nomination also occurred in some TCs with sometimes some nationality (or continental) issues. - Another issue is the excessive national feature of some TCs. Some countries are apparently very much attached to the TC that they manage and they consider that no other country should deal with the TC and hence, the topic. Sometimes, their activity shows an insufficient degree of internationality with mainly local events and no contact with comparable events of interest in the same field in other continents.
Concluding remarks
Many things changed since the Paris Conference and it is hoped that this will enhance the dynamism of TCs in their activities.
The new composition of the TOC that knows includes all regional VPs is expected to provide a stronger connection between the TOC and TC activities, to gain, through the active participation of the VPs, a better idea of the events organised and of the other activities carried out with respect to the Terms of reference of the TCs. Note that the CAPG- TOC joint initiative aimed at better knowing the situation in terms of production of State of the art and State of practice reports prepared by TCs will also provide fruitful information in this regard. This will be dealt with in a special CAPG-TOC meeting is planned in the Edinburgh Conference.
The limitations to two of the number of 4 years terms of TC Chairs (resulting in a maximum period of 8 years) resulted in a number of changes of TC Chairs. In this context, dynamic TCs will most probably keep their high level of activity whereas some changes could provide a new dynamism in other TCs with less activity.
The set-up of the new database (still not completed) resulted in better involvement of TC Officers and Member Societies in the constitution of the TCs. It is hoped that some change in TC membership will also result in more active participation, with less “sleeping members” who rarely show up at TC meetings.
The reception of the remaining questionnaires from TCs will help to elaborate a sound and global idea on their activities during this period.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 6: Technical Oversight Committee Page 5 of 7 Annex 1: Websites, November 2014
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 6: Technical Oversight Committee Page 6 of 7
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 6: Technical Oversight Committee Page 7 of 7 Appendix 7 - Young Member Presidential Group (YMPG) Report prepared by Jennifer Nicks
ISSMGE Council Update:
Formerly named the Student and Young Member Presidential Group (SYMPG), the YMPG was established in 2009 as a Board Level Committee (BLC) within ISSMGE by Past-President Jean- Louis Briaud. With the aim of increasing the attractiveness of the ISSMGE for younger generations of geotechnical engineers, the YMPG works to develop and foster initiatives for Board consideration. The first term extended from 2009-2013, with President Roger Frank renewing the YMPG for his term. A report detailing the work of the YMPG during the first term can be downloaded to learn more.
Membership Consisting of a Chair, appointed for a 4-year term by the ISSMGE President, and 3 members from each region, nominated by the Regional Vice Presidents, the YMPG has 19 members total representing a broad global reach. Membership is restricted to ISSMGE members 35 years of age or younger at the time of appointment, and members serve 2-year terms, renewable for an additional 2 years depending on interest, activity level, and eligibility. The current membership cycle will rotate at the end of 2015.
Amongst the members, elections were held for the Vice-Chair and Secretary to round out the YMPG Executive Leadership Team. As of 2013, the Executive Leadership Team includes:
Chair: Jennifer Nicks (USA) Vice-Chair: Aleksandra Chepurnova (Russia) Secretary: Juan Ayala (Chile)
Integral to the success of the YMPG is its membership. For 2013-2015, the YMPG membership includes:
Africa: Sherif Adel Yahia Akl (Egypt) Mohamed Elbyhagi Elfadil (Sudan) Abdou Xaadir Gaye (Senegal)
Asia: Ilhan Chang (Korea) Janaka J. Kumara (Japan) Lucy Wu (Hong Kong)
Australasia: Martin Barrientos (New Zealand) Ross Kristinof (Australia) Darshan Leckraz (Australia)
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 7 – SYMPG Page1 of 6 Europe: Aleksandra Chepurnova (Russia) Sabatino Cuomo (Italy) Felix Jacobs (Germany)
North America: Julian McGreevy (Canada) Mehdi Omidvar (USA) Cassandra Rutherford (USA)
South America: Juan Ayala (Chile) Marcelo Heidemann (Brazil) Marcos Montoro (Argentina)
Besides being interested in advancing student and younger member interests, each member brings their own diverse background and experiences. Bios for each member are on the YMPG website.
Four ISSMGE Board Liaisons also sit on the YMPG membership, and include: President Roger Frank, Fatma Baligh (Vice President for Africa), Paul Mayne (Vice President for North America), and Vlasta Szavits-Nossan (Appointed Board Member). Prior to her departure from the Board, appointed member Nicoleta Radelascu also participated as a liaison on the YMPG. Their involvement is essential to the YMPG to ensure the work will be applicable within the ISSMGE mission and procedures.
Corresponding Membership While formal YMPG membership is limited to three members from each region, there are an unlimited number of Corresponding Members (CMs). As a CM, they receive e-mails about the work of the YMPG, learn about student and young member (YM) events around the world, and have opportunities to get involved. In addition, YMPG initiatives and task forces are determined based on the feedback from our CMs. Participation is not limited only to YMs; anyone in the geotechnical community interested in the activities of YMs can join. Those interested can sign- up or contact the YMPG Chair for more information.
As of May 14, 2015, the YMPG has 270 CMs. The number of CMs has grown linearly since March 2014 when the CM listserv was developed. The increase in CMs is at a rate of about 16 new members per month.
Administrative Actions In the first two years of operation for the second term, the YMPG completed several administrative activities:
Voted to change our name from the SYMPG to the YMPG. This action was not meant to eliminate students from the mission; it was meant to focus efforts on younger members as a whole, of which students are generally included.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 7 – SYMPG Page2 of 6
Refined our mission statement to clarify our target audience. Initially, the mission focused on “the next generation of geotechnical engineers.” It was decided that the aim should encompass more than just the next generation but younger generations in general.
Created a CM listserv that users can freely join to stay connected. The listserv is housed on Google Groups whereby CMs can visit the site to see past announcements and receive e- mails with new announcements. Various announcements are sent, including minutes from the YMPG meetings, notices for ISSMGE webinars, calls for abstracts for various conferences, requests for PhD and postdoctoral applications, etc. More information about CMs can be found on the Young Members page of the ISSMGE website.
Established YMPG liaisons to all other ISSMGE BLCs because of the overlap of younger member interests in all aspects of the ISSMGE operation. The role of YMPG liaisons is to communicate between the committees and ensure younger member interests are considered and pursued. The YMPG liaisons to each BLC are:
Awards Committee: Cassandra Rutherford Corporate Associates Presidential Group: Julian McGreevy Innovation and Development Committee: Lucy Wu Professional Image Committee: Janaka Kumara Technical Oversight Committee: Jennifer Nicks
Developed a two year YMPG work plan. This process consisted of identifying initiatives that would accomplish the objectives of the YMPG; four primary themes resulted, with task forces set up to work on those initiatives.
Task Forces: Communications & Marketing (Chair: Marcos Montoro): To communicate and promote S/YM and YMPG activities and events of interest
Membership (Chair: Julian McGreevy): To develop methodologies for measuring and increasing the membership of younger members in the ISSMGE
Motivation Mechanisms (Chair: Mehdi Omidvar): To develop motivation mechanisms to encourage more YM involvement within the ISSMGE and establish ISSMGE as the professional society of reference for YMs
Website (Chair: Lucy Wu): To update and maintain the web-presence of the YMPG
Each task force was charged with developing a statement of work (SOW) focusing on their objectives. The SOWs consisted of a membership list, task force objectives, background, task items, deliverables, and schedule for completion. Ranging from creating and maintaining a solid web-presence, to enhancing younger member networking opportunities, to developing motivation mechanisms, to communicating and marketing activities and events of interest to younger members, the YMPG really works not only for the Board, but for all ISSMGE
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 7 – SYMPG Page3 of 6 members interested in advancing the profession and retaining bright young minds within the geotechnical discipline.
Completed Work Plan Activities Besides the basic administrative actions, the YMPG has accomplished many notable tasks over the past two years. The following products have been delivered:
Guidelines for author submissions to the YM Arena in the ISSMGE Bulletin were drafted and distributed. (Communications & Marketing Task Force) A membership map which tracks the global distribution of CMs and their technical interests has been successfully developed. It is based on the information provided by ISSMGE YMs and allows members to connect with others in their area or current practice/technical interests. (Membership Task Force) A list of technical contacts for younger geotechnical engineers to contact regarding questions and interests has been developed and included in the membership map; a separate list will also be posted to the ISSMGE website. (Membership Task Force) A flyer was developed highlighting benefits of membership in the ISSMGE for younger members and the various opportunities available; member societies are encouraged to share this flyer with their members. (Membership Task Force) Evaluation criteria for a consolidated Outstanding Young Geotechnical Engineer Award were developed in collaboration with the ISSMGE’s Awards Committee. The criteria are based on: (a) geotechnical project development and construction, (b) research contributions in the geotechnical community, (c) involvement in national and international geotechnical societies, and (d) publications and education in the geotechnical discipline. (Motivation Mechanisms Task Force) A template for contributions to the YM Arena in the ISSMGE Bulletin was drafted and distributed. The template helps ensure consistency and is modeled after the International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories format. (Motivation Mechanisms Task Force) Three (3) YM Arena articles were coordinated and submitted for the ISSMGE Bulletin (Motivation Mechanisms Task Force): a. Geothermal Energy for Heating and Cooling: Full-Scale Testing and Numerical Modelling - YM: Guillermo A. Narsilio, recipient of the ISSMGE Outstanding Young Member Award, Sept. 2009 b. 3 Young Faculty receive NSF CAREER Award - YMs: (1) Shideh Dashti, (2) Tong Qiu, and (3) Cassandra Rutherford c. The International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) – YM: Irene N. Nyirenda, President of the Young IGS Members The YMPG Board Level Committee page on the ISSMGE website was updated to include information about the YMPG, task force initiatives, and member bios. (Website Task Force) Content has been included to the ISSMGE Younger Member page on information for becoming a CM, with a link to the Corresponding Membership map. (Website Task Force) An ISSMGE Bulletin article was drafted and published that provided ISSMGE members an update of the YMPG. (Website Task Force)
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 7 – SYMPG Page4 of 6 Ongoing Work Plan Activities Each task force continues to work on and maintain several tasks under their umbrella.
Communications & Marketing: This group is focused on communications with YMs and marketing of the YMPG and other YM activities. They are working closely with the Motivation Mechanisms task force on the YM Arena articles by soliciting select individuals (e.g. the previous YM award winners, iYGEC outstanding presentation winners, etc.), issuing a broad call to CMs, and posting on the ISSMGE website.
Members: Marcos Montoro (Chair), Sherif Akl, Juan Ayala, Martin Barrientos, Abdou Xaadir Gaye, Janaka Kumara, and Mehdi Omidvar.
Membership Task Force: The membership task force was formed to support the YMPG with developing methodologies for measuring and increasing the membership of younger members in the ISSMGE. Work for the task force is currently ongoing on trying to improve coordination between YM groups in national societies and the ISSMGE, increasing the number and contributions of CMs, and increasing the presence/application of the ISSMGE Foundation for YMs. The group also continues to advocate for the reduction or elimination of fees for students and younger members of the ISSMGE and has collected data to support the development of a strategy for reducing the cost of membership in the ISSMGE for student members. Additionally, the group is looking at solutions to increase and track YM membership in technical committees (to take advantage of the unlimited TC corresponding members).
Members: McGreevy (Chair), Sherif Akl, Aleksandra Chepurnova, Felix Jacobs, and Jennifer Nicks.
Motivation Mechanisms: The Motivation Mechanisms (MM) task force is responsible for developing motivation mechanisms to encourage students and younger member involvement in the ISSMGE. Members from this group will work with the organizers of the 19th ICSMGE in 2017 in Seoul, Korea to help plan and/or communicate YM activities at the conference. This will help increase participation and serve as a means for younger members to build their professional network.
This task force is also working towards expanding the ISSMGE Bulletin’s Young Members’ Arena concept to publish more information on the ISSMGE website and serve as an additional resource for YMs. The YM Arena will serve as a peer-reviewed section of the ISSMGE website, with the top papers referred to the Bulletin. Calls for contributions have been sent out and uploaded to GeoWorld. The MM task force will continue to develop the YM Arena as a great avenue for ISSMGE members to learn what YMs are working on and provide an outlet for YMs to publish.
Members: Mehdi Omidvar (Chair), Aleksandra Chepurnova, Mohamed Elbyhagi, Abdou Xaadir Gaye, Ross Kristinof, Janaka Kumara, Julian McGreevy, Cassie Rutherford, Lucy Wu
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 7 – SYMPG Page5 of 6 Website Task Force: As the name suggests, the Website task force is charged with updating and maintaining the web- presence of the YMPG. There are three locations for S/YM content: (1) ISSMGE Younger Members webpage, (2) YMPG Board Level Committee webpage, and (3) the YMPG page on Geo-World. While the task force has already incorporated some information on these sites (see completed activities), much more is planned. Before making any content live, the task force has created a test website to ensure any changes will be useful and relevant to YMs. They will work closely with the IDC to explore features and capabilities that would be useful to the YMPG and also attract the YM audience.
Members: Lucy Wu (Chair), Juan Ayala, Martin Barrientos, Mohamed Elbyhagi, Janaka Kumara, Julian McGreevy, Marcos Montoro, Cassie Rutherford
Future Needs Membership rotation will occur at the end of 2015. Each Regional Vice President will nominate three members to serve for the next two years. These nominations will be based on activity and interest level from existing YMPG members and CMs, along with recommendations from the national societies. If you know of an active YM wanting to serve on the YMPG, please contact your regional VP. Also, there is always an open call for more CMs.
Regardless of membership, the YM Arena is open to any YM(s) wanting to publish research, case histories, and other YM works. Please forward the call for contributions.
Moving forward, the YMPG is excited to continue its work and looks forward to increased involvement from YMs and other ISSMGE members!
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 7 – SYMPG Page6 of 6 Appendix 8: Corporate Associates’ Presidential Group Report prepared by Sukumar Pathmanandavel
CAPG Report for the Edinburgh Council Meeting in Edinburgh, Sept 2015
1. CAPG organisation and activities.
The following Corporate Associates (CAs) form the core team of the CAPG, Sukumar Pathmanandavel, Coffey – Chair Valérie Bernhardt, Terrasol/ Setec Chaido Doulala-Rigby (Yuli), Tensar Kim Chan, GHD Karel Allaert, Jan de Nul Gabriele Zapf, Siemens
Representatives from the other board level committees (BLCs) are Young Member Presidential Group - Julian McGreevy, Professional Image Committee - Valérie Bernhardt Technical Oversight Committee - Pierre Delage Innovation and Development Committee - Vasiliki Dimitriadi
CAPG holds regular (6 weekly) teleconferences to advance CAPG agenda. We are often joined by the President, Roger Frank in our calls. We thank the active contribution of all who join these calls.
Over the past two years, the CAPG has been focussed on two key activities:
a. Executing the CAPG Plan 2013 to 2017, approved by the Council in Dec 2013.
b. Activities to increase the number of Corporate Associates
These are described below.
2. Executing the CAPG Plan 2013 to 2017
The CAPG plan (the document can be found on the ISSMGE web site) requires increased and public interaction of academics and the commercial sector, for the betterment of the geotechnical profession and commercial practice. To this end, CAPG has approached both the commercial and academic professions as follows:
Commercial – we have largely completed the task of listing selected influential companies in the world, who we feel would have a strong interest in participating in activities that highlight state of the art and state of practice, and the gaps that are present in various aspects of geotechnical and geo environmental fields. Our intention is to develop a survey that will be completed by responsible members of each of the influential companies. The results of this survey of influential companies can be used to highlight significant gaps between state of the art (SOA) and state of the practice (SOP) and possibly provide guidance on how the gap might be bridged. We believe that this firsthand information from commercial organisations will assist ISSMGE in its conduct of its activities, particularly through its wide influence in the geotechnical world.
The current status on the influential companies is that we have a list of 40 companies, with interaction at the following stages of development -
7 activated (or committed) companies 14 reasonable chance, but not yet activated (committed) companies 7 possible companies, and 12 companies with no data
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 8: CAPG Page 1 of 3
Our intent for the remainder of 2015 is to do further work on these companies (and others that are brought up in the meantime) and create a final listing 30 or so influential companies that are committed to support and complete our survey.
Academic – early on in our work, we took the decision that the various areas of the geotechnical and geo- environmental practices will be categorised in accordance with that of the ISSMGE Technical Committees (TCs). Therefore strong liaison was required with the TCs, and this has been well provided by Pierre Delage, the Chair of the TOC. On the CAPG behalf, Pierre has enlisted the support of the TCs to answer a CAPG questionnaire on the State of the Art (SOA) and State of the Practice (SOP) from the point of view of the TCs. This took place in February/ March 2015.
We received significant and speedy response with 25 of the 32 TCs responding within a very short period. This is really a very good response by the TCs and many TCs have expressed interest in the activities of the CAPG. Thanks are due to Pierre Delage and Valérie Bernhardt for their assistance in making this happen.
Next Steps
At the Edinburgh conference we plan to have a break out session for CAs, TCs, invited participants and conference attendees (scheduled for Wednesday, 16th Sept 2015, AM – room for 50 attendees). The intention is to bring together key members of the TCs who have expressed interest in participating with the CAPG, and Corporate Associates, and formalize our thinking on Items 1 to 3 below. Of course the Board, the Council as well as any of the conference participants, are most welcome to join and participate.
1. For the various TCs, develop CAPG view of both State of the Art (SOA) and State of the Practice (SOP), based on the results of the CAPG questionnaire (which will be presented at the breakout session)
2. Select key areas of geotechnical and geo environmental practices for development by CAPG
3. Start the development of the Survey Questionnaire.
Finally, it has been proposed by the ISSMGE Board that at the Seoul 2017 conference there is to be a Geotechnical practitioners’ lecture to promote practice of geotechnical engineering. The details of this lecture are to be worked out at the Edinburgh conference.
It is hoped that the results of the CAPG survey of influential companies, planned to be activated in 2016, can be used to inform the geotechnical practice lecture (ie the data can be used by the lecturer). CAPG also plans to publish the results of the survey of influential companies at the Seoul conference, as per the CAPG Plan 2013-2017.
3. Activities to increase the number of Corporate Associates
We have noticed a number of Corporate Associates have either cancelled or not renewed their CA subscription this year, and we are not having new CAs joining in any meaningful number. The following actions have been taken by the CAPG (in consultation with the President and the Secretary).
a) Improve the format and content of the CAPG material on the ISSMGE web site.
b) Improve the content of the information provided to potential Corporate Associates, in particular a brochure that highlights the benefits to them of being part of the ISSMGE.
The above two items are being led by Valérie Bernhardt on behalf of the CAPG.
c) The President is to write to each of the vice presidents of the ISSMGE and request they find opportunities to present on ISSMGE at their locations, including locations where they travel to for ISSMGE purposes. The President will supply them with an overall presentation on the ISSMGE which they can modify to suit local conditions. This way the potential corporate associates will have a better understanding of being CA of the ISSMGE.
d) The President will also write to influential members of the geotechnical world, in particular the editorial board of the Case Histories, asking them to make contact with companies they are acquainted with and urge them to become CAs.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 8: CAPG Page 2 of 3
e) CAPG to help with preparation of a press release from the President/ ISSMGE that marks mid-term of the President’s office as well as covering matters of interest to the ISSMGE including say, Edinburgh conference, technical committees and CAPG.
The energetic activities of Marc Ballouz, Paul Mayne, Fatma Baligh amongst others in the Board of ISSMGE to increase CA numbers is gratefully acknowledged. Also acknowledged is the consistent and courteous follow up by the ISSMGE Secretariat (Paloma Peers) of all the CAs past, present and future.
Sukumar Pathmanandavel, CAPG Chair, 1 June 2015.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 8: CAPG Page 3 of 3
Appendix 9: Award Committee Report by Charles Ng and Esve Jacobsz
Report on the Activities of the ISSMGE Awards Committee (AWAC) (18th May 2015) I. Introduction
Under the presidency of Professor Roger Frank with effective from September 2014, a new Awards Committee (AWAC) was formed and approved by the Board of the ISSMGE. In order to maintain continuity between the previous AWAC and this new one, the current chairman of AWAC was appointed since he had served as a Board level liaison with the previous AWAC. Moreover, the secretary was invited to continue to serve as the same role in this new AWAC. Other memberships to this committee were formed through consultation and nominations by regional vice-presidents. The composition of this new AWAC consists of representatives from six regions.
II. Membership and Responsibilities of Awards Committee
Committee members
Chairman: Charles W.W. Ng (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region)
Secretary: Esve Jacobsz (South Africa)
Regional representatives:
Lidija Zdravkovic (Europe) Werner Bilfinger (South America) Max Ervin (Australasia) Teik Aun Ooi (Asia) Kerry Rowe (North America) Carlos Quadros (Africa)
Board level liaison:
Antonio Gens Vlasta Szavits-Nossan
The main responsibilities are to work with the ISSMGE Board to devise and improve awards guidelines and nomination procedures, to coordinate review process, to conduct review of nominations and to make recommendations to the Board for consideration and approval. Ad hoc members may be recruited to serve in the AWAC, if necessary.
III. Types of ISSMGE Awards
The ISSMGE offers the following awards to recognise those members who have made important contributions to our profession, society and the world. Awards will be given once every four years
1. ISSMGE Outstanding Geotechnical Project Award 2. ISSMGE Outstanding Innovator Award (individual or team)
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 9: Award Committee Page 1 of 5
3. ISSMGE Outstanding Member Society Award 4. ISSMGE Outstanding Paper Published in the International Journal of Geo-Engineering Case Histories Award 5. ISSMGE Outstanding Professional Image Award 6. ISSMGE Outstanding Technical Committee Award 7. ISSMGE Outstanding Young Geotechnical Engineer Awards (up to three awards)
Guidelines for the nomination of the various awards follow below. All nominations must be made through the local ISSMGE Member Society (except the Outstanding Paper Award) and must reach the ISSMGE Secretariat by the deadline, which will be announced approximately one year before the next International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE) to be held in Seoul, South Korea in 2017.
IV. Purpose and Nomination Procedures for Each Type of Awards
1. ISSMGE Outstanding Geotechnical Project Award
Purpose To recognize projects that best illustrate superior geotechnical engineering skills and represent significant contributions to geotechnical engineering progress and society. Criteria reflect the importance placed on sustainability while continuing to recognize innovative design and construction. Any geotechnical engineering project, regardless of its location, is eligible, e.g. projects such as tunnels, dams, innovative foundation engineering solutions and military projects.
Nomination of candidates Nominations for the award will be invited from ISSMGE Member Societies and must reach the ISSMGE Secretariat by the announced date. Member societies are encouraged to arrange their own competitions to identify an outstanding geotechnical project which can then be nominated for the ISSMGE award.
The nomination package should include: A cover letter, signed by the nominator (Chairman of the ISSMGE Member Society), introducing the nominated project. A written motivation, not more than five pages in length, to address the following: (i) Originality and innovation – new or innovative application of technology, design, materials, process/methods and construction; (ii) Resourcefulness in planning and solving design challenges – (a) complexity of the problem or situation addressed, (b) creativity in solutions; (iii) Sustainability considerations – (a) environmental, (b) social, (c) economic; (iv) Project planning and delivery – (a) financing, budget and schedule, (b) meeting the client’s needs particularly related to budget and schedule adherence; (v) Contribution to the well-being of people and communities, including aesthetic value; (vi) Photographs, design drawings, figures, sketches as applicable.
2. ISSMGE Outstanding Innovator Award (individual or team)
Purpose The ISSMGE Award for Innovation in Geo-engineering is awarded to an individual ISSMGE member or groups of ISSMGE members (researchers, consultants and contractors) in recognition of innovations in Geo-engineering that have a pronounced impact on geo-engineering practice, research and education. The term “innovation” is used broadly to describe any major,
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 9: Award Committee Page 2 of 5
unprecedented achievements that led to a major advancement in our profession. Examples include:
The development of a theory or a design approach that has pronouncedly affected our understanding of earth materials or design methods for geotechnical infrastructure. The invention of a technique or a technology that has significant applications in field or laboratory investigations or measurements. The successful implementation of an unprecedented construction technique that has a sustained impact in geotechnical construction. Other outstanding innovations or approaches (e.g. development of software, internet technologies) that impact the practice or education of the Geo-engineering profession worldwide.
Nomination of candidates ISSMGE Member Societies are invited to nominate important contributors in their respective fields. Nominations are limited to one per Member Society for the award. The nomination package should include the following:
A cover letter, signed by the nominator, indicating the person/parties nominated and the name of the award (Outstanding Innovator). A written motivation, not more than two pages in length, which should include reference to the supporting evidence of distinguished accomplishments (technical papers, etc.) by the nominee. The nominee’s CV (up to 5-pages) or biographical information. In case of a group of individuals, CVs for all individuals should be provided if judged applicable by the nominator. Three letters of recommendation.
3. ISSMGE Outstanding Member Society Award
Purpose To recognise the most outstanding ISSMGE Member Society. Criteria for evaluation relate to extent of the society’s activities, given the number of members and the rate of progress and advancement. These activities could include:
Conferences and workshops supported by the local Society and/or endorsed by ISSMGE in the past 4 years. Encouragement given by the Member Society and recognitions for its members in terms of awards and honours. Contributions to ISSMGE Technical Societies through member participation. Contributions to the advancement of science and technology through publications by the members in scholarly journals and conferences. Any other information representing the contributions by the Society, including those that have made an impact on community welfare and safety (e.g. affected by natural hazards). In judging the nominations, emphasis will be placed on growth in achievements or new and recent developments.
Nomination of member societies Nominees for these awards are individual member societies. Member Societies are invited to nominate themselves by submitting a brief submission (not more than two pages) addressing the above. The necessary supporting documentation should accompany the nomination. Nominations must reach the ISSMGE Secretariat by the announced date.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 9: Award Committee Page 3 of 5
4. ISSMGE Outstanding Paper in The International Journal Of Geo-Engineering Case Histories Award
Purpose To recognise the most outstanding paper published by an ISSMGE member in the International Journal of Geo-Engineering Case Histories.
Nomination of candidates The two best papers published in the International Journal of Geo-Engineering Case Histories (IJGCH) during the past four years (2013-2016) will be selected by the IJGCH Editorial Board. The IJGCH will be requested to nominate two papers and send the nominations to the ISSMGE Secretariat who will relay them to the ISSMGE Awards Committee.
5. ISSMGE Outstanding Professional Image Award
Purpose The ISSMGE Outstanding Professional Image Award in Geo-engineering is awarded to any individual or organization, preferably from outside the ISSMGE Society, who contributed outstandingly in promoting geotechnical engineering and showing its importance as a profession in life.
Nomination of candidates ISSMGE Member Societies are invited to nominate candidates for this Award. Candidates would be public relations individuals or organization, author of any geotechnical contribution that has made an impact within or through the news, media, internet, and/or the general public.
Nominations are limited to one per Member Society. Nominations must reach the ISSMGE Secretariat by the announced date.
The nomination package should include the following: A cover letter, signed by the nominator, indicating the person/organization/parties nominated and the name of the award (Outstanding Professional Image). A written motivation, not more than two pages in length, which should include reference to the supporting evidence of distinguished accomplishments (advertisement, movie, promotion, documentary, activity or innovative approach) by the nominee, with a copy of that accomplishment if applicable (printout, CD, USB, etc.). The nominee’s CV (up to 5-pages) or biographical information. In case of a group of individuals, CVs for all individuals should be provided if judged applicable by the nominator. An organization can submit one qualification document that describes it and its activities with the CVs of key personnel as deemed applicable by the nominator.
6. ISSMGE Outstanding Technical Committee Award
Purpose To reward an ISSMGE Technical Committee in recognition of one or more of the following achievements: Conducting work in solving geo-engineering problems that are within the Technical Committee’s sphere of activity. Finding effective solutions to important theoretical geo-engineering problems. Effectively enhance current geo-engineering practice through up to date and innovative solutions concerning guidelines, standards, technologies, laboratory methods or recommended laboratory apparatus.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 9: Award Committee Page 4 of 5
Providing education and training with emphasis on current geo-engineering issues.
Nomination of technical committees Award nominations for particular committees are to be submitted to the ISSMGE Secretariat by the announced date by the chairs of the ISSMGE Member Societies who wish to nominate for this award. The nomination package should include the following: A written motivation, not more than two pages in length, which should include relevant attachments (publications, patents, reviews, confirmations of implementation, etc.) concerning the subject of the award. Information regarding active participation in conferences, seminars, workshops as well as other meetings concerning the Technical Committee’s work which is presented in such a way as to document and confirm that the Technical Committee’s outstanding activities entitle it to an award. Information as regards to the organising of conferences, seminars and other types of meetings concerning the Technical Committee’s activities since the last quadrennial ISSMGE conference (regular meetings, internet conferences, etc.). Demonstration of the effectiveness of organisational meetings for scientific, engineering, educational and training purposes.
7. ISSMGE Outstanding Young Geotechnical Engineer Awards (up to three awards)
Purpose The aim of the ISSMGE Outstanding Young Geotechnical Engineer Award is to acknowledge the contribution of young members to the profession and to the society. The award will be given in recognition of achievement during the four-year period preceding the year of the award. The ISSMGE Outstanding Young Geotechnical Engineer Award will be presented up to three individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the practice or research in geotechnical engineering through their contribution to one or more research or industrial projects. There would be a maximum of 3 awards made every 4 years, which are presented at the ICSMGE. The awards each amount to a cash prize of £1,000. The nominations would be evaluated holistically based on contributions to any or several of the following criteria: Geotechnical project development and construction; Research contributions in the geotechnical community; Involvement in national and international geotechnical societies; and Publications and education in the geotechnical discipline.
Nomination of candidates The awards will be given to ISSMGE young members who are less than 36 years of age on 31 December of the year of the quadrennial ICSMGE conference. One nomination may be made by each member society, which should include the following:
A written motivation, not more than two pages in length, clearly explaining why the candidate is deserving of this award, provided by the candidate’s current organization and endorsed by the member society. The nominee’s one-page CV.
Nominations must reach the Secretary General by the announced date.
Candidates will be evaluated by the ISSMGE Awards Committee in consultation with the ISSMGE Young Members Presidential Group (YMPG) and the finalists will then be recommended to the Board for final decision.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 9: Award Committee Page 5 of 5 Appendix 10 - Professional Image Committee Report prepared by Sherif Wissa
Summary Report ISSMGE Professional Image Committee Activities This report provides information PIC membership, charge, and activities during the past few months
1- PIC Members
Amr F. Elhakim, PhD Assistant Professor Soil Mechanics and Foundations Research Laboratory Cairo University, Giza Egypt
Edyta Malinowska, PhD Professor, Warsaw University of Life Sciences Warsaw Poland
Gang Zheng, PhD Professor of Geotechnical Engineering Dean of School of Civil Engineering Vice President Chinese Institution for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Tianjin University P.R.China
Hoe I. Ling, PhD Professor Columbia University, New York City USA
Jie Han, Ph.D., PE, Fellow of ASCE Professor The University of Kansas Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Learned Hall, 1530 W. 15th Street, Room 2150 Lawrence, Kansas 66045 USA
Professor Mark B. Jaksa, PhD Professor of Geotechnical Engineering Vice-President (Australasia), International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering The University of Adelaide South Australia 5005 Australia
Roger Estephan, PhD Associate / Senior Geotechnical Engineer Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners) Beirut Lebanon
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 1of 14
Sherif Wissa Agaiby, PhD Director of Geotechnical and Heavy Civil Engineering Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners) Smart Village, Giza Egypt
Christian Moormann Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. IGS Institut für Geotechnik Universität Stuttgart Pfaffenwaldring 35 D-70569 Stuttgart Germany
Walter I. Paniagua Pilotec Mexico
Wei F. Lee, Ph.D. Vice General Manager, Ground Master Construction/ MICE Engineering Consultants Taipei, Taiwan
2- PIC Charge This section is extracted from the PIC Charge as approved by ISSMGE board, which is attached in Appendix A. The Task of the PIC will consist of being the link between ISSMGE and the general public. The activities of the ISSMGE Professional Image Committee will include:
Objective 1: Website a. An educational and informative website will be created, as a reference to anybody who wants to know what geotechnical engineering is. The website will use simple definitions and explanations describing different geotechnical engineering aspects and activities, with some pictures, videos and animations. It will be complementing the Wikipedia presentation and will include crucial links to many societies and associations around the world for the visitor to pursue his quest if needed.
Objective 2: News media a. Identify the best way to interact with the written press. b. Identify the best way to interact with the television media. c. Identify how to best interact with film makers and special programs such as The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, The Science Channel, and so on (e.g., documentary on the most impressive geotechnical project in the world).
Objective 3: The Public a. Identify the best way to interact with the public in general (e.g., pamphlets and trifolds on home owners geotechnical problems). b. Identify the best way to interact with learned societies, professional associations, etc. interested in geotechnical engineering. c. Identify the best way to interact with the schools (pre-university). d. Identify the best way to interact with government officials. e. Identify advertising agencies which may help in enhancing our professional image f. Interact with science and engineering museums to propose displays.
Objective 4: Disaster response
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 2of 14 a. Identify ways to help our fellow geotechnical engineers/ civil engineers when they are subjected to natural disasters related to geotechnical engineering. b. Identify ways to help the general public when they are subjected to natural disasters related to geotechnical engineering. c. The following is a list of ideas from the ISSMGE membership at large : 1. Offer reduced or free registration to our conferences to disaster victims for one year. 2. Supports RedR - Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief (http://www.redr.org.uk). 3. Open a special fund for disaster victims, raise money 4. Offer to host families of disaster victims for a while 5. Develop guidelines for nuclear power plants protection against tsunamis. 6. Develop guidelines on geotechnical aspects of post-earthquake-disaster activities (investigation, back analysis, reconstruction). 7. Develop guidelines for civilian behavior during and after disasters 8. Organize conferences on what was learned from a disaster to help the economy in the city of the disaster. 9. Help educate the public on the risks it faces. Zero risk does not exist. 10. Help raise the quality control of the work in developing countries 11. Provide full support to member societies in need (technical support). 12. Organize groups of volunteers to go to the site of the disaster and be technical advisors 13. Support GEER, the Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance (http://www.geerassociation.org/)
Objective 5: Awards An award to be given to an individual who distinguished himself or herself in reporting and/or promoting geotechnical activities. This is to be coordinated to fit within current ISSMGE framework / AWAC.
3- Activities This section summarizes the activities of the Professional Image Committee (PIC):
First Skype meeting (June 19th, 2014).
The meeting was attended by Prof. Sherif Wissa, Prof. Mark B. Jaksa and Dr. Amr Elhakim. During the meeting, attendees made several suggestions to start working on. Committee members were asked to volunteer for the following proposed tasks: a. Preparing leaflets/brochures for school children. These leaflets should include geotechnical information that we would of interest to children. b. Preparing a movie about past and present ISSMGE presidents. Each one may talk for a few minutes about what geotechnical engineering means to them and could discuss a project that would be of interest to the public.
Dr. Elhakim, Assistant Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at Cairo University and ISSMGE PIC Secretary, volunteered to be the liaison with the innovation committee. The Innovation Committee was informed of Dr. Elhakim’s appointment.
Prof. Fatma Baligh, ISSMGE Vice President for Africa, attended the Annual General Meeting held on Friday, 25th July 2014 at the Ghana Institution of Engineers, Roman Ridge, Accra. During the meeting, it was agreed to create a Public Relations Committee for the GGS. The PIC suggested encouraging other African National geotechnical societies to form similar committees so as to promote our profession and educate both the public and our professional communities about who we are and what we do. The Professional Image Committee wished to be informed about the activities of the different societies, so as active members within these National societies will surface rather than being nominated.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 3of 14 Second Skype meeting (December 3rd, 2014).
The meeting was attended by Prof. Fatma Baligh, Prof. Edyta Malinowska, Prof. Jarbas Milititsky Prof. Sherif Wissa and Dr. Amr Elhakim. PIC roadmap and the following suggestions were made: a. Involving local geotechnical societies with PIC activities specially that these societies are more involved in their own communities (suggested by Prof. Milititsky). b. Making a connection with the Young Geotechnical Engineers Committee and engaging younger members in working with PIC (proposed by Prof. Baligh). c. Creating social media accounts (e.g. Facebook and twitter) to be regularly updated with the latest news. d. Preparing a periodical e-newsletter for dissemination among members.
Third Skype meeting (January 12th, 2015).
The meeting was attended by Prof. Fatma Baligh, Ms. Valérie Bernhardt, Dr. Amr Elhakim, Dr. Roger Estephan, Prof. Mark Jaksa, Prof. Jarbas Milititsky, and Prof. Sherif Wissa.
During the meeting, the attendees discussed the below agreed/proposed tasks by the Committee members:
Task 1 Prepare leaflets/brochures for school children. These leaflets should include geotechnical information that we would of interest to children.
Task 2 Prepare a movie about past a present ISSMGE presidents. Each one may talk for a few minutes about what geotechnical engineering means to them and could discuss a project that would be of interest to the public.
Task 3 Involve local geotechnical societies with PIC activities specially that these societies are more involved in their own communities.
Task 4 Making a connection with the Young Geotechnical Engineers Committee and engaging younger members in working with PIC.
Task 5 Create social media accounts (e.g. Facebook and twitter) to be regularly updated with the latest news.
Task 6 Prepare a periodical e-newsletter for dissemination among members.
Task 7 Prepare and upload PIC’s page on the website.
Task 8 Prepare and send a questionnaire for all National Geotechnical societies in the aim of better understanding their activities and their “national” regulations for geotechnical engineers (proposed by Roger Estephan)
Task 9 Organize a face to face PIC meeting during Edinburgh’s conference in 2015 (proposed by Valérie Bernhardt)
Task 10 Prepare leaflets/brochures for professionals outside the geotechnical community who may not be fully aware of benefits that geotechnical engineers can bring to them (civil engineers, contractors, etc) (proposed by Valérie Bernhardt)
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 4of 14 Members were asked to provide their preferences to work on the above tasks. Furthermore, the below points were discussed during the meeting:
a. Dr. Wissa will provide materials for preparing the leaflets. b. Dr. Wissa will follow up with the movie making to build on the movie prepared by Dr. Ballouz. Dr. Baligh suggested building on the work of Dr. Zekkos of the Geoengineer website. c. Dr. Wissa will contact Dr. Ballouz to update the “whatisgeotech” website. d. Dr. Wissa will contact Ms. Jennifer Nixx regarding possible collaboration with the young geotechnical engineers committee. e. It was suggested to have liasons with national societies. f. The committee will submit a report on the short, medium and long term goals. Additionally, a presentation will be presented to the board regarding the committee activities. g. Dr. Jarbas volunteered to write a report about the experiences of the Brazilian Geotechnical Society which may be helpful to other national committees. h. Dr. Wissa informed the committee that a greeting card is being prepared for use by ISMGE in special occasions. i. Dr. Baligh proposed creating a calendar for distribution to society members. The preparation of hardcopy and / or mobile application were discussed. Both alternative should be investigated to decide on the more useful alternative. j. Dr. Jaksa suggested preparing a movie about geotechnical engineering in addition to the movie about the mega geotechnical projects. k. Dr. Estephan suggested preparing a draft form of the Questionnaire and circulating it among the PIC members for their feedback and suggestions. l. Dr. Estephan suggested creating a Smartphone Application for the ISSMGE that may serve as a direct interface between the Society and its members as well as all professionals involved in Geotechnical Engineering. m. Ms. Bernhardt volunteered to ensure the liaison with CAPG.
List of tasks according to members’ choices Task 1: Jaksa (x) Lee (x) Wissa (x) Malinowska (x) Task 2: Wissa (x) Task 3: Bernhardt (1*) Elhakim (x) Estephan (2) Jaksa (x) Milititsky (x) Han (2) Lee (x) Zheng (x) Wissa (x) Hoe (x) Task 4: Bernhardt (3*) Milititsky (x) Lee (x) Zheng (x) Wissa (x) Task 5:
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 5of 14 Elhakim (x) Wissa (x) Malinowska (x) Task 6: Han (3) Wissa (x) Task 7: Elhakim (x) Estephan (3) Lee (x) Wissa (x) Malinowska (x*) Task 8: Estephan (1) Han (1) Wissa (x) Task 9: Bernhardt (x) Milititsky (x) Wissa (x) Task 10: Bernhardt (2*) Wissa (x) * Help during Conference in Edinburgh pending confirmation of attendance of the conference.
Fourth Skype meeting (May 31, 2015).
The meeting was attended by Prof. Fatma Baligh, Dr. Amr Elhakim, Prof. Jarbas Milititsky, and Prof. Sherif Wissa. The meeting agenda included: Develop proposals for a geotechnically themed Season’s Greetings card Submit a Poster (Dr. Marc Ballouz suggests using the poster developed in 2013) to send to all country members for translation to be posted online and for use at different occasions and conferences. Revise PIC Member Society questionnaire. It is suggested to only keep questions 16 and 19. Question 16 may be sub-divided to 2 or 3 questions. “What is” Series is an idea suggested by YMPG to create short videos that will be linked to the geotechnical subjects of www.whatisgeotech.org. A budget for making the videos is to be proposed. Coordination with YMPG regarding this series. Contact the company working on a new movie coming up in 3D iMax format DREAM BIG www.dreambigfilm.org about the engineering wonders to include geotechnical projects in the movie. Mobile Application: Since developing the app would require a budget, a proper proposal should be developed in conjunction with the IDC and YMPG and costings given. Work on this task will stop to the expected high budget and Create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social / professional media. Design ISSMGE themed necktie. Design ISSMGE themed bookmarks.
Due to the low participation of some of the committee members, it was agreed to rejuvenate the team by adding new members.
4- Accomplished activities a. Updating the PIC charge for posting on ISSMGE website (attached in Appendix A).
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 6of 14 b. Preparing a workable roadmap based on PIC charge (attached in Appendix B). c. Preparing a greeting card to be used by ISSMGE on special occasions to members all around the world (will be presented in Ednburgh). d. Design ISSMGE themed necktie – material chosen (will be presented in Ednburgh) . e. Design ISSMGE themed bookmarkers. ((will be presented in Ednburgh) f. Prepare an Exhibition Card Holder for Corporate Members to show their affiliation with ISSMGE during events (will be avaialable in Ednburgh) g. Preparing a Questionnaire for sending local geotechnical committees to understand their needs from PIC (attached in Appendix D). The Questionnaire has been revised in light of the comments received from the ISSMGE - Wellington Board Meeting.
5- In-progress activities a. “What is” Series is an idea suggested by YMPG to create short videos that will be linked to the geotechnical subjects of www.whatisgeotech.org. A budget for making the videos is to be proposed. Coordination with YMPG regarding this series. b. Contact the company working on a new movie coming up in 3D iMax format DREAM BIG www.dreambigfilm.org about the engineering wonders to include geotechnical projects in the movie. c. Create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social / professional media. d. Translation of ISSMGE video into other languages (Russian Translation is already ongoing).
6- Upcoming Meetings a. Call for Skype meetings on regular bases well ahead in time so members cvan plan. b. A face-to-face meeting will take place during the Edinburgh conference. It is set to take place on Tuesday September 15th, 2015, from 14:00 to 16:00. c. PIC was contacted by the British Geotechnical Association / Governing Panel of the UK Register of Ground Engineering Professionals to meet during the Edinburgh Conference to present details of its registration scheme (This is a scheme set up by the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Geological Society and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining to identify individuals professionally competent in ground engineering.)A 15-minute presentation during the scheduled PIC meeting is scheduled.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 7of 14
Appendix A
PROFESSIONAL IMAGE COMMITTEE (PIC) CHARGE
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR SOIL MECHANICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
PROFESSIONAL IMAGE COMMITTEE (PIC) CHARGE
1. COMPOSITION presentation and will include crucial The PIC will be composed of the links to many societies and following members: associations around the world for a. Chair the visitor to pursue his quest if b. Vice Chair needed. c. Committee Secretary d. 12 Members Objective 2: News media (approximately) a. Identify the best way to interact with e. ISSMGE Board member the written press liaison: (3) b. Identify the best way to interact with the television media The members will be suggested to the c. Identify how to best interact with film President and Board of ISSMGE and makers and special programs such will be appointed by the President for 1 as The Discovery Channel, National year renewable by tacit consent. An Geographic, The Science Channel, effort will be made to represent all and so on (e.g. documentary on the continents. A member or more of the most impressive geotechnical ISSMGE Board will be chosen as the project in the world). liaison with the PIC. The Board will have the right to discontinue the membership Objective 3: The Public of a PIC member in case of poor a. Identify the best way to interact with performance. A Vice-Chair and a the public in general (e.g. pamphlets Secretary will be selected by the PIC and trifolds on home owners Chair and suggested to the ISSMGE geotechnical problems) President and Board. b. Identify the best way to interact with learned societies, professional 2. TASK associations, etc. interested in The Task of the PIC will consist of being geotechnical engineering the link between ISSMGE and the c. Identify the best way to interact with general public. The activities of the the schools (pre-university) ISSMGE Professional Image Committee d. Identify the best way to interact with will include: government officials. e. Identify advertising agencies which Objective 1: Website may help in enhancing our a. An educational and informative professional image website will be created on the World f. Interact with science and Wide Web, as a reference to engineering museums to propose anybody who likes to know what displays. geotechnical engineering is. The website will use simple definitions Objective 4: Disaster response and explanations describing a. Identify ways to help our fellow different geotechnical engineering geotechnical engineers/ civil aspects and activities, with some engineers when they are subjected pictures, videos and animations. It to natural disasters related to will be complementing the Wikipedia geotechnical engineering.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 8of 14 b. Identify ways to help the general 11. Provide full support to public when they are subjected to member societies in need natural disasters related to of what ISSMGE can do for geotechnical engineering. them (technical support). c. The following is a list of ideas from 12. Organize groups of the ISSMGE membership at large :. volunteers to go to the site 1. Offer reduced or free of the disaster and be registration to our technical advisors conferences to disaster 13. Support GEER, the victims for one year. Geotechnical Extreme 2. Supports RedR - Register Event Reconnaissance of Engineers for Disaster (http://www.geerassociation Relief .org/) (http://www.redr.org.uk). 3. Open a special fund for Objective 5: Awards disaster victims, raise An award to be given to an individual money who distinguished himself or herself in 4. Offer to host families of reporting and/or promoting geotechnical disaster victims for a while activities. This is to be coordinated to fit 5. Develop guidelines for within current ISSMGE framework / nuclear power plants AWAC. protection against tsunamis. 3. MEETINGS 6. Develop guidelines on The PIC will meet 4 times a year by geotechnical aspects of teleconference or in person. An in- post-earthquake-disaster person meeting once a year is activities (investigation, encouraged. Expenses for the meetings back analysis, will be the responsibility of the Member’s reconstruction). country or the member. 7. Develop guidelines for civilian behavior during and 4. EVALUATION after disasters The PIC will prepare a short report to 8. Organize conferences on brief the Board on the status of the what was learned from a committee, each time there is a meeting disaster in the city of the of the Board in person (twice a year, in disaster to help their principle). economy. 9. Help to educate the public on the risk it faces. Zero 5. MEMBERS risk does not exist. a. Chair 10. Help raise the quality b. Vice-Chair control of the work in c. Secretary developing countries d. Members: Approximately 12 e. ISSMGE Board member liaison: 3
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 9of 14
Appendix B
DRAFT COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
International Society for Soil Mechanics
and Geotechnical Engineering
Suggested Communication Plan
Fall 2014
Public Relations address the press and general public, but our vs. Professional very own members and staff as well. An integral Image part of our upcoming communication revolves around a comprehensive internal A Crucial Distinction communication strategy; our representative In essence, Public Relations refers to the function will need to reflect our strategy. relationship between an entity/ organization and the “general public”. The recommendation of Identifying Our Audiences changing the Committee name to Professional Knowing Who We Are Talking To Image primarily stems from the need to not only • Media
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 10of 14 • Governments Internal Communication • Sponsors Two-Way Communication with Our Valued Members • Universities & Organizations • Prospects Communication with our members and supporters in Engineers in other disciplines an effective and timely manner is imperative. They are Potential Society Members our most important asset, it is through them that the Students perpetuating of all that we stand for is made possible. It • Members & Staff is therefore important to keep them informed, listen to • Construction Industry their feedback and offer them value. • Partners & Funders • General Public By keeping our members and supporters up to speed with ongoing activities, offering them a way to give Our communication efforts will not target all our feedback & value we are: audiences, and it is important to note that our relationship with certain audiences will evolve • Showing them just why they are naturally over time via our consolidated leveraged supporting us equity. • Letting them know how they can get involved and help Communication Goals • Giving them pride in their affiliation Inspired from our Society’s Vision & Mission • Reaffirming our value Statements We can achieve this through the following 1. Increase awareness among our various communication routes: audiences regarding our purpose, operations & objectives through communication • E-Newsletter: A comprehensive semi- presence. annual (or quarterly if possible) 2. Elevate & enforce perception among our electronic publication covering all audiences of who we are and what we recent activities, news and represent by creating a positive mindset when achievements. encountering ISSMGE & considering the field • Electronic Direct Mailers/Mailshots: of Geotechnical Engineering and its Weekly announcements, updates Importance. It is vital to crystallise a positioning and calendars. statement for ISSMGE to guide our • Social Networks: Through a Facebook communication process which is to cement the page and/or twitter account, social notion that ISSMGE is as an opportunity & a networks allow for instant updates learning beacon across the globe and continue and facilitates 2-way communication. to educate the public on & advocate the • Website Forum: A round-the-clock achievement possibilities in the future through system that allows for the interaction the Geotechnical Engineering discipline. of members across the globe, the 3. Evoke reactions and therefore “gain value” sharing of knowledge, discussions among our various audiences which could be and a treasure trove of ideas, manifested as follows: suggestions and opportunities. • Mobile Application: A modern trend for • Generate sponsors on-the-go communication, an • Educate & inspire the general public application can be developed to • Incentivize corporations & construction further serve our members. Members industry can gain access to studies, scientific • Re-assure partners & funders research, information undertaken by • Encourage governments to take this discipline the Society and receive instant and our society seriously notifications on updates (events & • Engage our members and cement their news). loyalty • Motivate our staff Communicating Geotechnical Engineering • Impress the Media Educating the Public is a Learning Curve • Convert prospects into members & advocates In order to be able to measure our progress in
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 11of 14 advocating the field of Geotechnical Engineering, and in turn ISSMGE, and “focus” our communication efforts, Membership Enrolment Booth: The creation of a mobile our messages to the public must be broken down into a booth to post at events, with representatives advocating series of concepts, topics or themes. Through these our society and its benefits. This will both facilitate themes, we can systematically increase awareness membership generation and create awareness. and hammer on the importance of Geotechnical Free & Paid PR Coverage: It is vital to identify key & Engineering. Examples of such themes could feature relevant newspapers and magazines through all our key topics such as: networks across the globe and develop a database in order to ensure the press, media and journalists are • Geotechnical Engineering & preserving the invited to and informed of our events and milestone environment achievements. In some cases, we might need to resort • Failures that could have been prevented via to paid coverage from the press in order to be heard by Geotechnical Engineering governments and construction industry entities, again • How Geotechnical Engineering has shaped our this can only be done through consolidating a world today database. • The importance of Geotechnical Engineering & its impact on the future Advertising (Print): As part of our image strategy of • What is Geotechnical engineering (already being an esteemed, credible and reputable somewhat developed through the website & organisation, it is recommended to utilise a “Pull- video) Strategy”, whereby we run a series of ads based on • Experiences of members working on some of the the “theme” and not ISSMGE itself, to generate world’s Geotechnical Engineering feats. awareness, interest and therefore attendance. The equity returns are symbiotic between Geotechnical Through these themes, which should be refreshed Engineering and the ISSMGE. We will need to pinpoint annually, we can begin tailoring our communication all key and more importantly relevant publications in efforts and utilising them for maximum impact. every country in which we operate in order to ensure its Upon the selection of a theme, our key messages must effectiveness. Advertising is a given in International be applied and adapted to every global presence world-renowned publications such as National through the following communication routes: Geographic, American Scientist, Constructech, ENR, GreenSource & Science News. Events (Seminars & Conferences): A series of international events revolving around the topic, E-Advertising: Due to its affordability, and ability to customised and based on economic and community reach millions across the world, we should utilise welfare/benefit relevance in the selected country or city. advertising web space more frequently on relevant e- This will attract local press & media, encourage publications, social networks and websites. government & construction industry interest as well as of course educating all our audiences. General Improvements Internet Search Optimisation: We need to arrange with Literature: This includes the development of brochures, a digital services company/agency to optimise user flyers, forms, media press kits and other printed search returns when using keywords such as publications. We must always be ready to supply our “Geotechnical, engineering, ground, soil etc…” to bump audiences with the information and services they need our websites to the top of the search result list for their in whichever form they prefer. They should consistently reference. showcase who we are, what we do and information relevant to our annual theme. Website: Consider revisiting the user interface to be more inviting, structured and user-friendly. Develop our Environmental: This includes branded roll-ups, posters, organisational story and ensure its clarity on our banners, backdrops & giveaways used in any of our website, for example having a clear, easy to find vision events. These elements must always showcase our & mission statement. A clear link must be included logo, slogan & theme, to re-inforce our professional between the ISSMGE website & geotech.org website. image.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 12of 14
Appendix C
QUESTIONNAIRE TO LOCAL SOCIETIES
Question
This questionnaire is intended to be filled by each member society of ISSMGE. It is issued by the PIC Board Level Committee (Professional Image Committee), in order to:
better understand who are the geotechnical engineers in your country/region, their relationship with your member society how your society communicates and promotes geotechnical engineering within your country region and how ISSMGE through PIC committee can help you about that. Please fill in this questionnaire and return it to: PIC committee
1- COUNTRY NAME / MEMEBER SOCIETY NAME:: 2- Did your Member Society start/propose/accomplish any action to promote geotechnical engineering in your country/region during the last 5 years (with respect to other professions, young people, the general public) ? If so, could you please detail these actions ? and your feedback ? Do you think they should/could be enlarged worldwide ? 3- What are the main problems faced by the geotechnical engineering profession within your country? 4- What improvements does your society find necessary for the geotechnical engineering profession in your country? 5- What type of support does your society expect from PIC for promoting geotechnical engineering in your country?
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 13of 14
Appendix D
REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE BRAZILIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY
(Prepared by Prof. Jarbas Milititsky) Actions from the ABMS (Bras. Geot. Soc) as suggestions for our PIC
- The National Society has a Public Relations (identification of areas of risk, planning, professional assistance (mostly press others), sometimes associated with sister material): societies (Geology) o Material is sent regularly to national - During major disasters, members of the and regional newspapers and ABMS, as volunteers, participate on the work sources of information - related to done by authorities (as a contribution of the disasters, large public works (new profession, with eventual expenses paid by roads, airports, dams, tunnels, ABMS) bridges, new techniques, - ABMS participate as organizer of National environmental issues ) Codes of Practice related to Geotechnical o During disasters (floods, slope Engineering (Foundations, Slopes, Soil failures, etc) press conferences are testing, others) usually organized, mostly during - Regional events of Young Geot. are regularly ABMS events on the subject. organized o Qualified members of the ABMS are - National event of Young Geot. is organized offered to discussion panels on TV every 2 years , at the same time of the and radio stations, when appropriate National Conference o The effects are – ABMS is identified - ABMS organize a competition among young as a source geot. – best MSc and Best PhD every 2 years, - Material is offered for technical magazines on results presented at the national Conference construction, public works, others, usually prior - ABMS organize a competition for to major conferences and events undergraduates – best final project involving - In some technical meetings and conferences, geot. themes; presented at the National the press is invited , depending on the subject Conference being discussed - ABMS organize a national competition on the - Material is sent to the authorities (white “Best Geotechnical Project Built on the last 2 papers) after disasters, advising on the years” necessary measures to improve safety
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 10 –PIC Page 14of 14 Appendix 11: Webinars Report prepared by Paul Mayne
ISSMGE Webinars List of speakers and topics (updated 09 Sept 2015)
COMPLETED TITLE SCHEDULE AND STATUS
1. Fernando Schnaid In-situ testing in geomechanics completed: 01 Oct 2014
2. Cor Zwanenburg Geotechnical aspects of peats completed: 01 Dec. 2014
3. Peter Robertson, USA In-situ testing using the CPT completed: 01 Feb 2015
4. Prof. Misko Cubrinovski, Impacts of liquefaction in the 2010-2011 completed: 15 April 2015 New Zealand Christchurch earthquakes Advanced laboratory testing in research 5. Richard Jardine, UK completed: 01 June 2015 and practice 6. An-Bin Huang, Chinese Landslide risk mitigation with emphasis on completed; 10 Aug 2015 Taipei observation with optical sensors
UPCOMING TITLE SCHEDULE AND STATUS
A. George Gazetas, Greece Geotechnical earthquake engineering planned for Oct 2015
B. Prof. Samuel I.K Characterizing lateritic soils plan for Dec 2015 Ampadu, Ghana Combined Loading of offshore C. Mark J. Cassidy, foundations (2012 E.H. Davis Memorial plan for Feb 2016 Australia Lecture) D. Serge Leroueil, Canada Consolidation and creep plan for April 2016
E. Yoshinori Iwasaki, Japan Conservation of cultural heritage plan for June 2016
F. Lyesse Laloui, Multiphysical behaviour of soils to be invited Switzerland G. Kaushik Mukherjee, Offshore pile design and driveability to be invited Malaysia issues in soft clay Mexico City and Geotechnical H. Gabriel Auvinet, Mexico to be invited Engineering I. Prof. Yasser El- Reinforced earth and its application to be invited Mossallamy, Egypt especially for bridge abutments Challenges in shoring deep excavations in J. Dr. Marc Ballouz, USA to be invited urban areas
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 11: Webinars Page 1 of 1 Appendix 12: International Seminars Report prepared by Vlasta Szavits-Nossan
International Seminars
Letter to Member Societies
On 3rd November 2014 a letter (Annex 1) was sent by the ISSMGE Secretariat to all Member Societies asking if they wished to apply for ISSMGE International Seminars to be held for their members. Revised guidelines for International Seminars (Annex 2) were sent to MSs along with the invitation.
Only one response was received, from the Chairman of the Geotechnical Society of Ireland, Mr. Fintan Buggy, asking to have an international geotechnical expert visit Dublin in late April 2015 to present a lecture at their annual seminar. This initiative was considered by Board Members as not being within the remit for International Seminars. Meanwhile, Mr. Buggy notified the ISSMGE that they had made alternative arrangements for their annual event.
Board Meeting
ISSMGE International Seminars were discussed during the Board Meeting in February 2015. It was thought that perhaps the webinar series had to some extent reduced the desirability of an international seminar. Since the letter to Member Societies has not led to any applications for international seminars, it was concluded that this should be considered a dormant project.
The letter to Member Societies and the revised guidelines for ISSMGE International Seminars are available on the ISSMGE website. If any future interest should arise, the Board Liaisons for international seminars will reactivate the project.
Any suggestions from Members of the ISSMGE Council are most welcome.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 12: International Seminars Page 1 of 4
Annex 1: Letter to Member Societies
International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Société Internationale de Mécanique des Sols et de la Géotechnique Appointed Board Member Professor Vlasta Szavits-Nossan Faculty of Civil Engineering University of Zagreb Kaciceva 26 HR-10000 Zagreb Croatia
Tel: +385 1 4639 621 Fax: +385 1 4827 008 E-mail: [email protected]
3rd November 2014
ISSMGE International Seminars
To the Presidents and Secretaries of Member Societies,
On behalf of the ISSMGE Board, I would like to draw your attention to one of ISSMGE activities, intended for Member Societies to expose their members to views of international experts, who would deliver lectures on a theme of local interest, in the form of International Seminars. You can find the relevant information in the attached Proposed Guidelines for organising ISSMGE International Seminars.
Members of the ISSMGE Board, especially the regional Vice Presidents, invite you to send your proposals to host an ISSMGE International Seminar. The organisation of an ISSMGE International Seminar requires both the engagement of ISSMGE Board Members and commitment from a Member Society. It usually takes between 4 and 6 months to put together such an event.
I hope you find ISSMGE International Seminars interesting for your Member Society. Please, send me your queries and/or proposals on any subject related to ISSMGE International Seminars.
I am looking forward to corresponding with you.
With best regards,
Prof. Vlasta Szavits-Nossan Appointed Board Member
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 12: International Seminars Page 2 of 4
Annex 2: Guidelines
International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Guidelines for organising ISSMGE International Seminars
(Revised: October 2014)
Background
ISSMGE International Seminars (previously known as Touring Lectures) have proven to be an important activity, bringing together practitioners, contractors, and academics, both on stage and in the audience, to their own benefit, irrespective of the region, size, or wealth of the Member Society, thus fostering the sense of belonging to the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. The first Touring Lecture took place in Lagos, Nigeria in 2001. So far, 40 ISSMGE International Seminars have been organized all over the World, particularly in countries with less affluent Member Societies. The following guidelines are intended for use and general implementation by organisers of these events. Though there can and must be variations to organisational procedures depending on the particular region and country concerned, the general underlying principle should be followed: that ISSMGE International Seminars should be informative and engaging, with a keen focus on professional practice.
Purpose
• Facilitate the occasion for a Member Society to expose its members to the views of international experts on a theme of local or regional interest.
• Help close the gaps (both local and international) between practitioners, contractors, and academics.
Responsibility for organisation
ISSMGE International Seminars may be requested by Member Societies, in response to an identified local need. The organisation of an ISSMGE International Seminar requires both the engagement of ISSMGE Board Members and commitment from a Member Society. After a Member Society expresses its inclination to hosting an ISSMGE International Seminar, and the main theme, ISSMGE Board Members, particularly the regional ISSMGE Vice President, will try to engage international experts and industry support. Local industry support should be procured by Member Societies. Having put together an ISSMGE International Seminar, the regional Vice President may offer that Seminar to more than one Member Society, thus optimising means and efforts. If possible, the regional Vice President attends the Seminar as a lecturer, depending on the theme chosen for the Seminar. At least one of the lecturers is from the Member Society. Member Societies should appoint an individual member to head the local organising committee and be responsible for all Seminar-related communication with the regional ISSMGE Vice- President.
Underlying principles
In general, a single theme of interest to the Member Society will be chosen. The local organising committee will advertise the Seminar, so that there are a significant number of delegates in the audience, including students and young geotechnical engineers. Typically, an ISSMGE International Seminar will extend for one or two days and have at least 25% of its time reserved for discussions and/or round tables with effective audience participation. Formal lectures should not be longer than 40 to 50 minutes. Lectures delivered by industry representatives should be devoid of commercial content.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 12: International Seminars Page 3 of 4
All lecturers will be invited 4 months in advance, so as to be able to produce their contributions, which will form the basis for a set of notes that shall be made available to all participants (on paper or CD-ROM format) at the start of the ISSMGE International Seminar by the local organising committee. It can be helpful if the ISSMGE International Seminar is complemented by some form of technical tour which, if suitably organised, can provide an event to bring the delegates together. Any tour should be informative in demonstrating geotechnical engineering practice related to the theme of the ISSMGE International Seminar.
Finance
The hosting Member Society is expected, in principle, to cover costs of meals and accommodation of international lecturers, and all costs incurred by the organisation of the ISSMGE International Seminar. It is advised to attract local industry sponsorship. Local exhibitors could be encouraged to participate in the Seminar. The decision to charge a registration fee to help cover these costs is left at the own discretion of the hosting Member Society, always subject to the tacit understanding that an ISSMGE International Seminar is not for profit.
All lecturers and companies sponsoring ISSMGE International Seminars will be presented by an ISSMGE plaque during the Seminar in recognition for their support.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 12: International Seminars Page 4 of 4
Appendix 13: International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories Report prepared by Pedro Sêco e Pinto
International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories (IJGCH)
1. Background
ISSMGE Board, on March 2009, has taken the decision to consider IJGCH a journal of ISSMGE.
I was appointed on 2013 IJGCH Editor-on-Chief and I strongly believe that IJGCH can be a space of scientific interaction, sharing of experiences and launching of innovative ideas to open new avenues.
The Technical Committees are the spine of ISSMGE, a forum of discussion contributing for the advancement of knowledge in geotechnical engineering. Over the past years a number of developments have taken place and we need to mould the Technical Committees activities for this momentum to capitalise on the potential benefits to contribute with good quality papers for IJGCH. The role of the Technical Committees is important for the success of IJGCH.
2. Journal Characteristics
I believe that this journal can make a difference to the profession since it is a non-profit effort and is suited to the needs of geo-professionals worldwide. It is a high quality, refereed publication, and is available at no cost online so that it can be easily accessible globally by practicing and research engineers that may not afford another journal subscription. The journal also focuses on the practice of the profession and the promotion of useful field data that typically do not get published. It allows the use of colour photos, and papers are accompanied by digital data and online supplemental databases. Finally all projects are included in a google earth database. The journal is also indexed by the Georef database.
A link was established from ISSMGE website and International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories and the following information is given: -Mission and Areas of Interest This e-journal can be easily accessed by all ISSMGE individual members.-Characteristics of the Journal -Procedures for review and publication of submitted manuscripts -Editorial board membership -Present impact to the Professional.
3. Role of ISSMGE TCs
The role of the Technical Committees is important for the success of IJGCH. This e-journal can be easily accessed by all ISSMGE individual members. I am confident that IJGCH with the TCs support will contribute for a synergy between academic and industrial research and will implement co-operation between scientific and technological actors and companies to develop research projects with strong innovation effects. Joining our efforts we will reach our goals and targets and contribute for the success of IJGCH and certainly for the unity and strength of ISSMGE.
4. Actions programmed for 2014-2015
The following actions were taken or are programmed for the period 2014-2015:
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 13: IJGCH Page 1 of 2 1. New Editorial Board Members for the tenure 2013-2017 2. A letter was sent to refresh the EB, in order to have a better regional distribution and also to cover the different fields of Geotechnical Engineering; 3. A letter was sent to TCs chairpersons to encourage their committee members to contribute for IJGCH. This letter was co-signed by Prof. Pierre Delage; 4. New Journal website to be launched by August 2015; 5. A new Journal Paper Review system, with a better interaction between the authors and the reviewers, to be launched by August 2015; 6. Funding for the journal: New Supporting Organizations: Shamsher Prakash Foundation and Dar Al-Handasah group (need two more); 7. Letter to Member Societies to host a special issue of the journal with case histories from their country (to be sent in June).
5. Next programmed issues
I would like to edit IJGCH with a quaternary frequency, but to reach this target, it is crucial to receive TCs papers with good quality. Also we are favouring the publication of Special Issues covering specific topics, Guest Editors have been invited to coordinate these issues. Within this framework the following Special Issues are programmed: i) Case Histories from Greece, organized by the Hellenic Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. Guest Editors: Pahakis, Bardanis and Tsatsanifos. Target publication date: December 2015; ii) “Geotechnical Engineering Case Histories for use in Education.” Guest Editor: Marina Pantazidou. Target Publication Date: 1st trimester 2016.
6. Final remarks
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the valuable support of Dr. Dimitrios Zekkos, Dr. Vasiliki Dimitriadi and Ms. Chrysa Kalogri to move forward IJGCH.
In order to reach our target of editing IJGCH with a quaternary frequency it is important to receive a strong support from the President, Regional Vice Presidents and TCs chairpersons.
Thanking in advance for your co-operation I would like to transmit a message of hope remembering the lines of Aristotle.
“We are what we do Consistently, So the excellence Is not an act But a practice.”
Pedro Sêco e Pinto IJGCH Editor on Chief
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 13: IJGCH Page 2 of 2 Appendix 14: ISSMGE Bulletin Report by Charles Ng
The ISSMGE Bulletin
I have been appointed by the President of ISSMGE, Professor Roger Frank, as Editor-in-Chief of the Bulletin since July 2014. In addition to the many existing items, I have created three new features in the Bulletin to increase the scope of coverage, namely (i) Research Highlights to report on advanced research activities and outstanding accomplishments from reputable research groups worldwide; (ii) Major Projects to enable readers to learn more about interesting, technically challenging and significant projects; and (iii) Young Members’ Arena to provide a corner for our young members to share their joys, activities and achievements with our more senior members.
In the last five issues, we have received contributions to Research Highlights from five well- respected research groups - Cambridge University in the UK, Queen’s University in Canada, the University of Western Australia, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Spain and Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Norway. Texas A&M University in the USA and Imperial College London in the UK have promised to share their accomplishments and findings in the forthcoming issues in June and August 2015.
Three projects have appeared in Major Projects in some previous issues: (i) “The 10-year Extended Landslip Preventive Measures Project in Hong Kong”; (ii) “The Chacao Bridge Project, the Largest Suspension Bridge in South America”; and (iii) “Design and Construction of a Cement Stabilised-Shored Reinforced Soil Wall in Australia since August 2014”. The June issue will feature the project “Innovative Foundation Design for the Happy Valley Underground Stormwater Storage Scheme in Hong Kong”. If you have any interesting project to share, please send it to me.
Also in some previous issues, the Young Members’ Presidential Group (YMPG) has introduced their members via the Young Members’ Arena and has reported on the project “Geothermal Energy for Heating and Cooling: Full-Scale Testing and Numerical Modelling” by one of their members.
The Bulletin relies on the help and support from many individuals. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the significant contributions from our excellent regional editors - Marcelo Gonzalez (Editor for South America), Anthony Kwan Leung (Editor for Europe), Teik Aun Ooi (Editor for Asia), Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn (Editor for Australasia), Alejo O Sfriso (Editor for South America) and Marcelo Sanchez (Editor for North America). Also I would like to thank the President of YMPG, Jennifer Nicks, for her assistance and support to the Bulletin.
To improve the quality of the Bulletin and to meet your needs, please send me your suggestions, comments and criticisms via my e-mail at [email protected].
Reported by Charles W. W. Ng (18 May 2015)
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 14: The ISSMGE Bulletin Page 1 of 1
Appendix 15 – FedIGS Report Report by Jean-Louis Briaud FedIGS
FEDERATION OF INTERNATIONAL GEO-ENGINEERING SOCIETIES 13 May 2015 WHAT IS FedIGS?
FedIGS is an umbrella organization linking international professional societies in the field of “Geo- Engineering” and serving to facilitate cooperation among them
The current members are ISSMGE International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering ISRM International Society for Rock Mechanics IAEG International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment IGS International Geosynthetics Society
Members retain their complete autonomy and there are no dues.
WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF FedIGS?
The goals of FedIGS are:
1. Facilitate cooperation within the geo-engineering profession 2. Coordinate activities in areas of overlapping interest 3. Raise the public awareness and the profile of the geo-engineering profession 4. To remain a lightly structured, inexpensive, and unobtrusive organization
HISTORY OF FedIGS
The evolution of FedIGS can be summarized in the following two figures. In a first phase (1936 to 2000), ISSMGE, ISRM, IAEG, and then IGS were formed. There was a consistent desire to collaborate, several discussions took place but no formal structure was established and each attempt to get organized faded. I a second phase (2000-2009) there was a recognition that a formal structure was essential and FedIGS bylaws were proposed. The councils of the three founding societies (ISSME, ISRM, and IAEG) approved the FedIGS bylaws. In 2010, FedIGS saw a significant restructuring with a simplified vision for the organization described in Figure 3.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 15-FedIGS Page 1 of 4
Fig. 1 – First phase – 1936 – 2000.
Fig. 2 – Second phase – 2000 - 2009.
1. No dues paid by member societies 2. FedIGS is unfunded; each member society pays its own way and so does the president 3. One meeting per year attended by presidents, past presidents and secretaries general 4. Limited number of joint technical committees in areas of clear overarching needs 5. No corporate associate members from industry 6. No FedIGS conferences; instead emphasize cooperation between member conferences 7. Emphasis on learning from each other and sharing successes and difficulties 8. Increase in size (IGS joins in 2014) 9. Simple web site currently sponsored by IGS
Fig. 3 – FedIGS since 2010.
PRESIDENTS OF FedIGS
The presidents of FedIGS have been: William Van Impe (Belgium) 2007-2010 Neilen van der Merwe (South Africa) 2010-2013 Jean-Louis Briaud (USA) 2014-2017
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 15-FedIGS Page 2 of 4
MY VISION AS PRESIDENT
My vision as president is summarized in the Figure below
Fig. 4 – My vision.
FedIGS BOARD MEMBERS
The current FedIGS board members are presented in the figure below
Fig. 5 – FedIGS Board Members in 2015
SUMMARY OF TORINO MEETING – 2014
The FedIGS Board met in Torino where it was hosted by IAEG at the occasion of the 2014 IAEG International Conference. Figure 6 is a summary of the items discussed at the meeting. Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 15-FedIGS Page 3 of 4
Fig. 6 – Summary of Torino 2014 FedIGS meeting
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 15-FedIGS Page 4 of 4
Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 1 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 2 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 3 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 4 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 5 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 6 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 7 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 8 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 9 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 10 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 11 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 12 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 13 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 14 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 15 of 16 Edinburgh Council Meeting Minutes Appendix 16: Audited Accounts Page 16 of 16 Appendix 17: Budget 2015 – 2019 (Updated after Council Meeting) Presented by Professor Mark B Jaksa
NOTES ON ISSMGE BUDGET FOR 2015–2019
1. GENERAL
The ISSMGE budget for the period 2015–2019 is presented in the attached table and is based on the 2013–2017 budget prepared by the previous Treasurer, Prof. Michael Davies, and approved at the Paris Council Meeting in September 2013. The budgeted amounts for 2013 and 2014 are also presented and contrasted against the actuals. To maintain consistency with previous budgets and with the independent auditor’s reports, UK pounds (£) are used.
As with previous budgets, the overriding rationale for the budget is to permit the Society to function, both effectively and professionally. Therefore, the budget should facilitate the strategies developed by the President and the Board, together with the operational activities proposed by the board level and presidential committees.
2. RECEIPTS (INCOME)
2.1 Member Society Annual Subscriptions: Since 2007 the fee structure has been based on a Basic Fee per Capita discounted to allow for low Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) and for large Member Societies. In 2014 the forecast amount of £210,000 fell short by £25,228 or 12%. In 2013, of the 89 Member Societies (MSs), subscriptions were not received from 11. In 2014 this number had risen to 34. It has been observed that a number of MSs fail to meet their subscriptions obligations in a non-Council year. This is reflected by the higher than predicted subscriptions received in 2013 and lower than predicted amount received in 2014. The average of the two years, however, is £211,741, which is roughly on par with the annual budgeted figure. The Member Society Annual Subscriptions (MSASs) for 2015–2017 have been adjusted slightly to reflect the historical receipt cycle and modest inflation amount of 2%. Forecast MSASs for 2018 and 2019 are also included.
2.2 Corporate Associate Subscriptions: In 2011 the fee for corporate membership of the Society was set at US$1,500. It is assumed that this fee level will not increase. The Corporate Associate Subscriptions failed to meet the 2013 budget target and declined relatively sharply in 2014. In 2013, of the 50 Corporate Associates (CAs), 16 did not pay the subscription and in 2014 this increased to 24. It is anticipated that, with a targeted effort to renew CAs in arrears and attract new ones, the number of CAs will increase from the 2014 level. The budgeted revenue reflects a modest increase in Corporate Associate Subscriptions.
2.3 Interest: This is an estimate based on the 2013 and 2014 performance.
2.4 Conference Income: Revenues from registration fees from conferences held under the auspices of the ISSMGE. As a consequence of Board policy in 2012 the ISSMGE requires a proportion of the registration fee income from only the International Conference and the Regional Conferences (5% and 3% of registration fee income, respectively). Prior
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 17: Budget Page 1 of 5 to this all conferences held under the auspices of, or supported, by the ISSMGE were expected to pass on a proportion of the registration fee to the Society. Conference income is, therefore, only expected in the years when the International and Regional Conferences take place.
3. EXPENDITURE
3.1 Secretariat: 3.1.1 Secretary General: Support for the Secretary General is based on the May 2010 proposal from the British Geotechnical Association to host the secretariat. Employment costs and operating expenses are subject to an annual increase of 3% and 2%, respectively, to reflect expected increases in these costs.
3.1.2 President: Administrative support and associated expenses are allocated for the President. Employment costs and operating expenses are subject to an annual increase of 3% and 2%, respectively, to reflect expected increases in these costs. N.B. This budget does not include the costs of additional support that might be provided to the President by their host Member Society or from other sources.
3.1.3 Conference support: Includes support of Regional Young Geotechnical engineering conferences. Additional funding to support the 6th International Young Geotechnical Engineers’ Conferences is included in 2017.
3.1.4 List of members: Provision was made in the 2013 budget for the list of members in years when Council meetings are held (i.e. 2013, 2015 and 2017). The compilation of this list has proved to be problematic and it has been decided that the list will no longer be produced.
3.1.5 Kevin Nash Gold Medal and Prizes: Provision is made for the award of the Society’s Gold Medal and Prizes at the 19th International Conference for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in Seoul, Korea in 2017.
3.2 Travel Expenses: Provision is made for a modest annual increase in the normal budget for Board travel to account for inflation.
3.3. Information Technology (web site) 3.3.1 Licensing fee/web maintenance: In 2012 hosting of the website was transferred to Geoengineer.org from Webforum. Provision for the maintenance fee payable to Geoengineer.org is included in the budget and includes a modest annual increase to account for inflation and additional services.
3.3.2 Future developments: Provision for significant changes or upgrades to the website (or other IT developments) is made to reflect initiatives created by the President and Board.
3.4 Other Activities 3.4.1 International Seminars: To contribute to the travel for ISSMGE Board members and speakers participating in these outreach activities.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 17: Budget Page 2 of 5 3.4.2 FedIGS meeting travel: Provision is made to support travel expenses for the President (or Immediate Past President) and Secretary General to attend meetings of the FedIGS Board.
3.4.3 Initiatives: Provision is made for unspecified initiatives that may be developed by the Board.
3.4.4 Webinars: An annual fee for WebEx video conferencing service is included. The previous Board decided that these costs should be absorbed by the Society rather than passed on to members. Therefore the budget does not contain a credit in respect of fees for members to access this service.
3.4.5 Contingency: Provision is made for a contingency for unforeseen circumstances.
4. TRANSFER TO ISSMGE FOUNDATION AND CASH BALANCE
Consistent with the practice of the previous Board, it is considered prudent to maintain the Society’s reserves (i.e. Cash Balance) at the current level of £500,000. In order to maximise benefit to ISSMGE members, annual surpluses in excess of £500,000 are proposed to be transferred to the ISSMGE Foundation. The amount transferred to the Foundation in any year would be contingent on the financial outcome of the Society.
Professor Mark B Jaksa ISSMGE Treasurer and VP Australasia May 2015 (Updated 18 September 2015)
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 17: Budget Page 3 of 5 ISSMGE BUDGET 2013–2017 APPROVED AT PARIS COUNCIL WITH ACTUALS
2013 2014 2015* 2016* 2017* Budget Actual Budget Actual Budget Budget Budget £ £ £ £ £ £ £ RECEIPTS (INCOME) Member Society Annual Subscriptions 210,000 238,710 210,000 184,772 214,000 218,000 222,000 Corporate Associate Subscriptions 37,000 31,868 37,000 20,107 40,000 45,000 50,000 Interest 3,500 2,490 2,000 2,505 2,000 2,000 2,000 Conference Income 22,000 1,252 - 35,737 5,000 - 20,000 TOTAL INCOME 272,500 274,320 249,000 243,121 261,000 265,000 294,000
EXPENDITURE Secretariat President part time support 18,000 18,000 18,600 18,000 19,100 19,600 20,200 Secretary General support 39,000 27,347 40,200 46,370 41,400 42,600 43,800 Office expenses – President 5,000 5,000 5,100 5,000 5,200 5,300 5,400 Office expenses – Secretariat 6,000 2,816 6,200 1,386 6,300 6,400 6,500 Secretary General 22,000 22,000 22,700 22,700 23,300 24,000 24,800 Conference support 20,000 20,000 5,000 1,202 5,000 5,000 20,000 List of Members 500 - 500 500 Kevin Nash Gold Medal 3,100 3,022 - 3,500 Prizes 2,000 2,000 - 5,000 Sub total 115,600 100,185 97,800 94,658 100,800 102,900 129,700
Travel Expenses President 14,000 14,000 14,500 14,000 14,500 14,500 14,500 Secretary General 10,500 6,042 10,500 9,511 10,500 10,500 10,500 Board members 34,700 39,182 34,000 27,481 34,000 34,000 34,000 Sub total 59,200 59,224 59,000 50,992 59,000 59,000 59,000
Audit Fees & Bank Charges 3,000 2,953 3,000 2,271 3,000 3,000 3,000
Corporation Tax 600 463 1,000 520 1,000 1,000 1,000
Information Technology (web site) Licensing fee/web maintenance 8,700 8,681 10,000 10,572 10,000 10,000 10,000 Future developments - 5,000 - - - 5,000 Sub total 8,700 8,681 15,000 10,572 10,000 10,000 15,000
Other Activities International Seminars (e.g. travel) 5,000 2,261 5,000 - 5,000 5,000 5,000 FedIGS meeting travel 2,000 2,180 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 Initiatives 18,500 18,343 5,000 4,997 5,000 5,000 5,000 Webinars 4,500 4,908 4,600 5,359 4,700 4,800 4,900 Contingency 5,000 - 5,000 - 5,000 5,000 10,000 Sub total 35,000 27,692 21,600 12,356 21,700 21,800 26,900
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 222,100 199,198 197,400 171,369 195,500 197,700 234,600
SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) 50,400 75,122 51,600 71,752 65,500 67,300 59,400
TRANSFER TO ISSMGE FOUNDATION 49,270 81,288 41,600 170,000 55,300 56,896 48,788
CASH BALANCE Cash balance at 1 January 498,870 534,294 500,000 609,415 510,000 520,200 530,604 Cash balance at 31 December 500,000 609,416 510,000 511,189 520,200 530,604 541,216
*: Budget approved at Paris Council Meeting, September 2013.
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 17: Budget Page 4 of 5 ISSMGE PROPOSED BUDGET 2015–2019
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 £ £ £ £ £ RECEIPTS (INCOME) Member Society Annual Subscriptions 240,000 188,000 240,000 188,000 245,000 Corporate Associate Subscriptions 22,000 25,000 28,000 30,000 32,000 Interest 2,500 2,500 2,500 2,500 2,500 Conference Income 15,000 5,000 20,000 10,000 10,000 TOTAL INCOME 279,500 220,500 290,500 230,500 284,500
EXPENDITURE Secretariat President part time support 19,100* 19,600* 20,200* 20,600 21,000 Secretary General support 41,400* 42,600* 43,800* 44,700 45,600 Office expenses – President 5,200* 5,300* 5,400* 5,500 5,600 Office expenses – Secretariat 3,000 3,000 3,500 3,500 4,000 Secretary General 23,300* 24,000* 24,800* 25,300 25,800 Conference support 5,000* 5,000* 20,000* 6,000 6,000 List of Members - - - - - Kevin Nash Gold Medal 3,500* - - Prizes 5,000* - - Sub total 97,000 99,500 126,200 105,600 108,000
Travel Expenses President 15,000 15,500 16,000 16,500 17,000 Secretary General 11,000 11,500 12,000 12,500 13,000 Board members 36,000 38,000 40,000 42,000 44,000 Sub total 62,000 65,000 68,000 71,000 74,000
Audit Fees & Bank Charges 3,000* 3,000* 3,000* 3,000 3,000
Corporation Tax 1,000* 1,000* 1,000* 1,000 1,000
Information Technology (web site) Licensing fee/web maintenance 11,000 12,000 13,000 14,000 15,000 Future developments - - 5,000* 5,000 5,000 Sub total 11,000 12,000 18,000 19,000 20,000
Other Activities International Seminars (e.g. travel) 5,000* 5,000* 5,000* 6,000 7,000 FedIGS meeting travel 2,200 2,500 2,500 3,000 3,000 Initiatives 5,000* 5,000* 5,000* 5,000 5,000 Webinars 6,000 6,000 6,000 7,000 7,000 Contingency 5,000* 5,000* 10,000* 3,000 5,000 Sub total 23,200 23,500 28,500 24,000 27,000
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 197,200 204,000 244,700 223,600 233,000
SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) 82,300 16,500 45,800 6,900 56,500
TRANSFER TO ISSMGE FOUNDATION 71,989 6,000 35,300 0 41,100
CASH BALANCE Cash balance at 1 January 511,189 521,500 532,000 542,500 549,400 Cash balance at 31 December 521,500 532,000 542,500 549,400 564,500
*: Remains unchanged from budget approved at Paris Council Meeting, September 2013. Updated after Council voted against 2% p.a. CPI increase in fees
Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 17: Budget Page 5 of 5 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 1 of 11 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 2 of 11 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 3 of 11 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 4 of 11 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 5 of 11 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 6 of 11 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 7 of 11 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 8 of 11 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 9 of 11 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 10 of 11 Edinburgh Council Meeting Appendix 18 - ISSMGE Foundation Page 11 of 11