Vice President — Regional Report for Australasia
The ISSMGE is the pre-eminent professional body representing the interests and activities of Engineers, Academics and Contractors all over the world that actively participate in geotechnical engineering.
See the ISSMGE website – http://www.issmge.org/ for full details of all ISSMGE activities.
1. Introduction
What a year it has been! The following is a summary of recent highlights of ISSMGE activities regionally and internationally.
2. 20th ICSMGE Sydney 2022
The ISSMGE Board agreed that while we had hoped that a full in-person conference and Council Meeting would be possible, the board supported the 20th ICSMGE being a hybrid conference. The organising committee has been working hard to develop a hybrid programme to suit a wide range of international time zones.
Dates have been confirmed for the conferences in Sydney as follows Sunday 1 May through Thursday 5 May 2022 and registration is now open via the conference website https://icsmge2022.org/registration.php The 7iYGEC will proceed the conference from Friday 29 April to Sunday 1 May 2022.
3. ELECTION OF ISSMGE PRESIDENT 2022-2026
As a consequence of the 20thICSMGE being pushed back to May 2022, and in accordance with the Statutes and Bylaws, the deadline for receiving nominations for the next ISSMGE President has been extended to 30th January 2022.
The President invited the Board and Board-Level Committee Chairs to continue in their present posts until the new Board elections and the duration of next Board will still be approximately 4 years starting from May 2022. Congratulations to Graham Scholey, who has been nominated to represent Australasia on the ISSMGE Board.
4. ISSMGE Virtual University and Conferences
The following have recently been added to the website: How to perform reliability analyses on a spreadsheet – Dr Lei Wang; Collapse of Fujinuma Dam by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and its reconstruction — Prof. Fumio Tatsuoka and Dr. Antoine Duttine Probability Analysis in Civil Engineering — Prof. Jie Zhang.
For a listing of all ISSMGE and ISSMGE supported conferences, and full information on all events, including deadlines, please go to the Events page at https://www.issmge.org/events. However, for updated information concerning possible changes due to the coronavirus outbreak (ie. postponements, cancellations, change of deadlines, etc), please refer to that specific event’s website.
5. ISSMGE Time Capsule
The Time Capsule Project (TCP) aims to create and sustain a conversation about the past, present and future of geotechnical engineering to the benefit of our over 20,000 members. Contributions from all sectors of the ISSMGE, including legacy material, will be held and promoted through an online platform. This platform will be formally launched at the 20th ICSMGE.
From November 2021 onwards, a series of informal and engaging “showcases” will be hosted to enable contributors to learn from each other’s experience. Even draft contributions can be presented so we can learn from each other. The concept is novel and exciting even for us in the TCP Design Team!
For further information, please make contact with TCP Design Team directly or through the form available at: https://www.issmge.org/the-society/time-capsule.
6. ISSMGE FOUNDATION
The next deadline for receipt of applications for awards from the ISSMGE Foundation is the 31st January 2022.
7. Next Board Meeting
The next ISSMGE Board Meeting will be held online 29 November 2021.
Thank you for the opportunity to represent the AGS and NZGS on the ISSMGE Board this past few years. Graham, I wish all the best for your term on the board.
Best regards,
Philip Robins
philip.robins@beca.com
