Corporate Associates Presidential Group
Update October 2019
CAPG has been very active on behalf of the ISSMGE Corporate Associates, whose numbers are now up to 40. We welcome Expander Body Panama from Bolivia as the newest CA. Some notes follow:
CAPG Chair
Peter Day is now the Chair of the CAPG, with Sukumar Pathmanandavel being Co-Chair. Kim Chan continues to be our coordinator. CAPG teleconferences continue to be held every six weeks and you are welcome to attend or delegate someone if not available. Contact Kim.Chan@ghd.com for further details.
CAPG Plenary Sessions
CAPG Plenary sessions were successfully delivered in the 2019 ISSMGE regional conferences held in Perth (April), Reykjavik (August), Cape Town (October) and we have just completed Taipei, also in October. The final CAPG plenary session to be held at a regional conference will be in Cancun, Mexico, in November 2019. Reports of these sessions are and will become available in the ISSMGE Bulletins.
The leadership and contribution from the core group of the CAPG has been amazing, with particular thanks to Kim Chan (GHD) for delivering the ANZ plenary session, and Yuli Doulala-Rigby (Tenser) for the Europe Plenary session. Through Peter Day’s focussed approach, individuals from Corporate Associates Arup, Aurecon, Centre for Geomechnics and Railway Engineering, Fugro, Keller, and SRK Consulting delivered in Cape Town very well received presentations on Innovations from the industry. The leadership and help of the YMPG, Lucy Wu, Chair and the young members is gratefully acknowledged. We congratulate Ceres Chong, from GEO HK, who ably chaired the Taipei Plenary session, and followed that with a dynamic Q&A session organised the following day to cater for popular demand. Hugo Acosta-Martinez (Aurecon) is coordinating the Cancun session which will be conducted in Spanish to get maximum impact.
We are grateful for all those who contributed at the panel sessions, both from corporate associates, and other organisations, as well as those corporate associates who submitted and presented at the innovation session in Cape Town. We also thank the members of the YMPG and CAs who organised pre plenary sessions in various cities. Contribution and support from the ISSMGE Regional Vice Presidents for planning and delivery of these sessions is gratefully acknowledged.
It is fair to say that through these intense activities, the profile of the corporate associates and CAPG have never been higher or more active than at present. We are fully supported by all the Board of the ISSMGE, by the President, Professor Charles Ng, and all the Vice Presidents.
“Are we over designing?” Survey
To add a strong analytical framework to the CAPG work, we launched the “Are we over designing?” survey with good results to date. 44 responses have been received, with our target being 200 by Dec 2020 (i.e. in just over 14 months’ time) for a comprehensive and statistically representative survey.
We have had limited individual responses from Corporate Associates to the survey. We can easily reach our target of 200, if each of the Corporate Associates participates with their own submissions. Full details of how to undertake and submit the survey can be found both on the ISSMGE website (https://www.issmge.org/news/are-we-overdesigning-a-survey-of-international-practice), and in Geoworld (https://www.mygeoworld.com/file/139638/capg-overdesign-survey). We stress that in addition to providing valuable insight into the practice of design across various countries in the world, the survey is also a great opportunity to benchmark your companies approach to design of relatively simple geotechnical problems. No details of the company are required nor would these details, even if provided, be released.
CAPG GeoWorld Page
We have also noticed an increasing need to continue the discussions started at the various plenary sessions, so we have set up a CAPG GeoWorld page (https://www.mygeoworld.com/groups/corporate-associates-presidential-group-capg). Please register into GeoWorld, join the CAPG group and contribute to this important platform. There is a number of discussions set and we are interested in getting the views from different stakeholders and geographies.
Sydney 2021
Looking ahead, CAPG will be thinking about arrangements for Sydney 2021 - a major occasion in the geotechnical calendar.
From a social and branding perspective, we are interested to understand if there will be interest from our CAs for a formal/ informal gathering in Sydney, perhaps a dinner at this time. Please let us know your interest ASAP.
CAPG in Africa & India
We have also been asked to contribute to the development and growth of the geotechnical profession in Africa and India in 2020. Your early indication of interest in participating in these intiatives would be gratefully appreciated.
Please contact Peter Day (day@jaws.co.za) and/ or Sukumar Pathmanandavel (sukumar.pathmanandavel@gmail.com) for any information you require.
Thank you for your continued support of the ISSMGE. Peter, Sukumar, Kim and the core CAPG team are committed to providing further service and value to the Corporate Associates. Your participation and/or feedback is always appreciated.
Best regards,
Peter Day, Chair CAPG,
Sukumar Pathmanandavel, Co-Chair CAPG
20October 2019
