ISSMGE Bulletin: Volume 6, Issue 3

vol.6-3-p.27-34-1NEWS ON RECENT CONFERENCE

NGM 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark

The 16th Nordic Geotechnical Meeting (NGM), organized by the Danish Geotechnical Society (DGF), took place successfully from May 9th to 12th, 2012, with the participation of 255 delegates. The aim of the conference was to strengthen relationships between practicing engineers, researchers and scientists in the Nordic region.

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Professor Paul W. Mayne during his keynote presentation: “Site investigation in the year 2012”.

For the first time this year, English was chosen as the official language in this series of conference. All information, Bulletins 1-3 and the conference website were prepared in English and speakers were requested to present in English. Most of the articles were written in English as well, although Swedish, Norwegian and Danish were also accepted.

It has always been the tradition to ask each Nordic country to provide one keynote speaker. However, this time, two keynote speakers were invited from outside the Nordic region, namely the US and the UK. The idea was to add relevant international input.

To put the NGM into its context, the European vice-president of ISSMGE, Prof. I. Vaniček, was invited to talk about the society’s current activities.

Keynote speakers

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Dr. Brian Simpson delivering his keynote presentation: “Eurocode 7 – Fundamental Issues and Some implications for users”.

On Thursday morning, Professor Paul W. Mayne of the Georgia Institute of Technology, US, gave an enthusiastic and interesting presentation on “Site investigation in the year 2012”. Members of the audience are now familiar with the difference between a lab rat, a field mouse and a fruit bat, and they were also enlightened about the connection between a geotechnical conehead and the 20-year-old film ‘Coneheads’.

On Friday morning, Dr. Brian Simpson, director of Ove Arup & Partners Ltd and honorary professor at the University of Nottingham, UK, delivered a thorough keynote presentation on “Eurocode 7- Fundamental Issues and Some implications for users” with a typical British sense of humour.

Reception at the Copenhagen City Hall, Wednesday evening

The reception took place at 6 pm at Copenhagen’s City Hall. Chairman of the Danish Geotechnical Society, Anders T. S. Andersen, welcomed participants from the mayor’s podium before a Danish buffet was served with the city hall’s famous “Rådhuspandekager” (City Hall Pancakes). Afterwards, delegates had the opportunity to enjoy the nearby amusement park, Tivoli Gardens, on a sunny spring evening.

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