Activity of Member Asia
13th Asian Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
The 13th Asian Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering was held at ITC Sonar Bangla Sheraton and Towers, Kolkata on 10-14 December 2007. The preparations for the Conference had been going on for the best part of last three years. The conference was supported – technically and financially – by the industry and the civil engineering profession in a big way. 470 delegates – 260 from India and 210 from abroad – participated in the conference.
Delegates came from Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, South-east Asia, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Brazil, Germany, France, Turkey, Russia, UK and USA
The Inaugural function of 13th ARC 2007 was held at 9 a.m. on 10th December 2007. The function was presided over by Prof. Pedro Seco E Pinto, President, ISSMGE. Dr. E. Sreedharan, Managing Director, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd was the Chief Guest. Also present on the dais were Dr. M. R. Madhav, Vice-President for Asia, Er. Mahavir Bidasaria, President, IGS, Dr. Neil Taylor, Secretary- General, ISSMGE, the Chief Patron Shri B. D. Mundhra, Dr. N. Som, Chairman, Organizing Committee and Dr. K.S. Rao, Secretary.
The highlights of the conference were the presentation and discussion of 271 papers from all over Asia and the rest of the world. There were eighteen technical sessions covering the fourteen chosen themes of the conference. A large number of authors – nearing 200 – were given the opportunity to make oral presentation of their papers. The plenary sessions saw invited presentations by ten keynote speakers.
The pre-conference Proceedings – Volume 1 were published in two parts. This contained all the 271 papers presented at the conference. The post – conference volume containing the keynote lectures, proceedings of technical sessions and other relevant details of the conference will be published by August 2008
A technical exhibition was held to display materials, processes, equipment and software development in geotechnical engineering. Thirty two organizations from India and abroad took up stalls in the exhibition.
An Industry-academia interactive session on the theme “Characterizing the ground” was held on the last day of the conference in a plenary session. Three speakers from Industry and three from the academics gave their views on need for close interaction between field and academics.
Nine TC/ATC meetings were held in separate sessions during the conference. These were organized by the respective technical committees of ISSMGE and the Asian Region. These were highly successful in focusing attention on specific issues relates the themes of the concerned technical committees.
The Asian Societies’ meeting was held on 11 December 2007. This was attended by representatives from all member societies of the Asian region. Hong Kong was chosen as the venue for the 14th ARC to be held in 2011.
Apart from the technical activities of which there were plenty a welcome reception was held for the delegates on the hotel lawns on 10th December evening. A cultural programme giving a glimpse of the rich tradition of Indian music and dance was presented at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre on 11th December. A gala banquet on 13th December gave an opportunity to delegates to mix freely and interact outside the technical surroundings. Visits to Santiniketan, Mayapur Iskcon temple and a Kolkata City tour were organized for the delegates on 12th December 2007.
Lighting up the lamp
The Asian Societies’ meeting
Reported by Dr. N. Som, Chairman, Organizing Committee, 13th ARC 2007.
Download ISSMGE Bulletin – Volume 2 Issue 1
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