Inside This Issue1 – A Message from the President |
Editorial BoardPedro Sêco e Pinto Download ISSMGE Bulletin – Volume 1 Issue 1 March 2007 |
A Message from the President
By Professor Pedro Sêco e Pinto
Following my past policy of informing all ISSMGE Members about the main ISSMGE activities through my messages in the ISSMGE Newsletters, it is for me a great pleasure to address all of you in this first issue of the new ISSMGE Bulletin. Our goal is to make ISSMGE News more attractive to all of you and the ISSMGE Bulletin has been devised to include a message from the president, current TC activities, reminiscences, views of young members, case histories, activities of member societies, other news and an event diary. Osamu Kusakabe, ISSMGE Board Member, has kindly accepted to co- ordinate ISSMGE Bulletin.
Bearing in mind that when you receive this message, about 18 months will have passed since my election in Osaka, 11 September 2005, and it is timely to review the progress made, to analyze the present situation, and to think of the future. The visits and meetings with Member Societies of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, France, Netherlands, India, CTGA (Senegal), Hungary, Italy, Korea, Germany, Slovenia, United Kingdom, Croatia, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, Japan, Spain, Ukraine, Indonesia, SEAGS (Singapore) and Egypt have been a great opportunity to become acquainted with their achievements, needs and expectations. I should like to stress that the generous reception, the warm hospitality, the enthusiastic attendance to the lectures that I have delivered, have left me with wonderful memories and were a balsam for the tiring trips. Also, during 2007 I am planning to visit Member Societies from Tunisia, Albania, Vietnam, SEAGS (Malaysia), Croatia, Italy, Poland, Greece, Venezuela, Nigeria, Spain, Mexico, Indonesia, Australia, China, CTGA (Cameroon), SEAGS (Thailand), India and Sri Lanka.
This interaction with Member Societies helps me to lead the Society with hope by exploring the windows of opportunity and creativity whilst considering the past lessons and preparing for the future with respect and attention to the Member Societies activities. I always have in mind the best interests of all Member Societies and particularly supporting weaker members, hopefully contributing to the strengthening and cohesion of our Society. I believe that we are on the right path, but there is still a long way to go. We are living in a world of great change and complexity and ISSMGE needs to face these challenges, to continue our efforts in order to build the future and to turn our dreams into reality. Twenty three Technical Committees were set up based on a policy of innovation, with better involvement of Member Societies and greater geographical distribution of core members, the inclusion of young engineers, and the cooperation between ISSMGE and Industry. The chairpersons were requested to put considerable efforts in the Planning of Activities, and the dissemination of the TCs work and deliverables. Their mid-term report will be submitted for Brisbane Council meeting. Also it is important to stress that the success of the TCs requires the combined efforts of TC Chairpersons, Core Members, appointed Members and Host Member Societies. The TCs will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in geotechnical engineering.
In 2006, Touring Lectures took place in Chile (21-22 August) and Paraguay (24-26 August) and in Tunisia, (15-16 December) and covered the following topics: Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, Design of Pile Foundations and Soil Improvement. In all, there were more than 100 attendees, and all received a volume containing the lectures and a CD Rom. The Touring Lectures were considered to be a great success and have contributed for the increase in membership. In 2007, Touring Lectures will take place in Albania (19-22 April), Vietnam (2-5 May), Croatia (17-19 May), Nigeria (3-5 September), Indonesia (17-18 October), China (30-31 October) and Sri Lanka (16-18 December) and will cover topics such as Embankment Dams Engineering, Ground Improvement, Eurocodes 7 and 8, Environmental Geotechnics and Soil-Structure Interaction. The ISSMGE Touring Lectures address the real needs of practicing engineers and are organized with the support of Industry and participation of Technical Committees.
