EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UPDATE Honoring Past Contributors, Envisioning the Future As I write this update enroute to DFI’s annual Winter Planning Meeting, I realize how many innovative, forward- thinking individuals I will be working with this year. Initially, I will meet with the DFI Educa- tional Trust to create a new strategic plan for programs beyond scholarships and paper competition awards. The Ed Trust board members include many past DFI presidents and Distinguished Service Award winners, whom we proudly entrust with the future of our industry and DFI. Their foresight in starting the Trust scholarship funds and assisting the younger generation in pursuing careers in deep foundation design and construction is notable. Following the Trust meeting, I will meet with the DFI Board of Trustees, technical committee chairs and regional committee chairs. This group of over 40 individuals takes its leadership role seriously, and during two-day planning sessions shares insights on industry trends and offers ideas on how DFI can remain relevant in the coming years. So much talent and leadership in one place brings to mind the importance of recognizing our members’ achievements and contributions — and DFI takes such recognition to heart. By April 15, several judging committees will have nominations in hand for DFI’s award programs, and will undertake the difficult task of determining the winners for 2013. Our top awards — the Distinguished Service Award, Outstanding Project Award, C. William Digital Edition Access the digital edition of Deep Foundations from the DFI website at www.dfi.org. Interactive features let you bookmark pages, add notes, and share the magazine with colleagues. All URLs and emails are live links. You can con- tact committee chairs and colleagues, register for events, and link directly to the websites of all the advertisers. Bermingham Innovation Award and Ben C. Gerwick Award for Innovation in Design and Construction of Marine Foun- dations — all recognize quality, ingenuity, problem-solving skills, significant achievements and contributions to our industry. The Bermingham and Gerwick Awards also pay tribute to “the greats” who built the foundation for today’s award winners. Read more about how to nominate your colleagues and your projects for these prestigious awards on page 23. We also look forward to recognizing outstanding students and young professors who enter our annual paper competitions, and to highlighting important individuals at our conferences and seminars. Among those are the annual Osterberg Lecturer, Hal Hunt Lecturer and Keynote Speakers, chosen to address our membership on current topics of interest, such as rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy, the importance of communication in our I DFI F IN D I N G C OMMON G R O U N D Theresa Rappaport Executive Director [email protected] business, and innovations that imp a c t o u r d a y - t o - d a y engineering and construction work. This year we will also select a John Mitchell Lecturer to present at our International Conference on Pi l ing and Deep Foundations, sponsored jointly with EFFC (European Federation of Foundation Contractors), in Stockholm, Sweden in May 2014 (see more on this conference on page 31), honoring Mitchell, an early organizer of the conference and another “great” in our industry. As I join the current DFI leadership at Ben C. Gerwick Awards C. William Distinguished Service Outstanding Project the annual Winter Planning Meeting to compare thoughts about where DFI should be in 5, 10, 15 years, it always helps to look back on the successful leaders that came before and brought us to where we are today. CALL FOR ENTRIES Deadline: April 15, 2013 For more information: www.dfi.org/about.asp Bermingham 2013 DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAR/APR 2013 • 9 O T N A S D I N N U S T O I F T U E P T E E D
