The Association of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia (AGSSEA) had its origin at the 16th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference (16SEAGC) held in Kuala Lumpur in 2007. Currently, it has eight national member societies. They are the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS), Vietnam Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (VSSMGE), Hong Kong Geotechnical Society (HKGES), Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS), Thai Geotechnical Society (TGS), Chinese Taipei Geotechnical Society (CTGS), Indonesian Geotechnical Society (HATTI) and Malaysian Geotechnical Society (MGS).
The founding President of Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS), Dr. Za-Chieh Moh has sensed the timing and mooted the idea of setting up a Federation of Geotechnical Societies in Southeast Asia. With the direct ISSMGE membership of many national societies or institutions in Southeast Asia, he conveyed a vision for the promotion of cooperation among the geotechnical societies in the region for the advancement of knowledge in geotechnical engineering and to provide necessary assistance to member societies with insufficient resources.ty (MGS). The current chairman is Prof. San Shyan Lin. Past Chairmen include Dr ooi Teik Aun & Prof K Y Yong.
The inaugural meeting of AGSSEA was held on 5 December 2007 at the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia. A draft statute of the association was tabled and objectives were defined. Membership is opened to any professional society or institution engaged or otherwise actively interested in geotechnical engineering or related fields. The objectives are (i) to arrange for periodic local meetings within the region for the discussion of geotechnical topics in cooperation with the member societies, (ii) to arrange for geotechnical conferences, symposia, seminars and lectures to be held in the region jointly with one or more member societies; and (iii) to publish a technical journal which contain papers of interest to geotechnical engineers.
Since its inception in 2007, AGSSEA has organized many meetings to plan, discuss and co-ordinate the implementation of various activities. It has organized conferences, short courses, seminars, public lectures and touring lectures given by renowned speakers. AGSSEA has supported many regional conferences and symposia. The “Geotechnical Engineering” journal is now jointly published by AGSSEA and SEAGS. The AGSSEA-SEAGS Newsletters are published on a regular basis. AGSSEA has its own website at www.agssea.com where journal papers, newsletters, notices, etc. can be downloaded.
The inaugural AGSSEA Geotechnical Conference under the joint “18th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference (18SEAGC) & Inaugural AGSSEA Conference (1AGSSEAC)” was held in Singapore in 2013. The 19th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference and 2nd AGSSEA Conference will be held in 2016. It is anticipated that more than 350 participants will be attending this conference.
Ir. Kenny Yee
Hon. Secretary- General, AGSSEA
18 Nov 2014
