PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Finding Common Ground and the 2017 New Administration! T hings are changing with a new President in Washington, D.C., and at DFI! Well, maybe our DFI election was a little bit less tumultuous and maybe unlike Washington politics, our theme is “Finding Common Ground” and we really mean it. “Finding Common Ground” is the key to our success, by bringing together over 3,000 con- tractors, engineers, manufacturers, sup- pliers, academics and owners with common interest in our industry. I’m very honored and also excited to start a two-year term at the helm of such a great organization as DFI, and I’d like to start by thanking Past President John Wolosick for his excellent stewardship and for leaving us in great shape. We have an excellent team on the Executive Committee with Matt Janes as vice president, Mike Wysockey as treasurer and Gianfranco Di Cicco as new incoming secretary (don’t slip up and call him Giancarlo – he plays baseball for the Miami Marlins). I’m very happy to report that DFI is in strong shape, financially and otherwise. Our sound financial foundation has allowed us to help our technical committees be active and vibrant, including funding research and other committee project activities through the DFI Committee Project Fund. For example, the Best Practice Guide to Tremie Concrete coming from one of those funded projects (jointly with our colleagues at the European Feder- ation of Foundation Contractors) has been downloaded over 9,000 times from the DFI website alone. DFI, through our Committee Project Fund, has directly con- tributed more than $500,000 to research activities initiated by our technical committees during the last five years, and, even better, has helped procure over $1,000,000 of in-kind contributions. The DFI Educational Trust has almost $3,000,000 in assets, and awards dozens of scholarships annually. Our annual meeting in New York City last October set a record for us with almost 1,100 in attendance. DFI is expanding globally: DFI of India has now set up an office and hired full-time staff; our inaugural joint conference with the Piling and Foun- dation Specialists Federation in Melbourne, Australia, offers the opportunity to initiate a collaboration in Southeast Asia; and our next big quadrennial DFI-EFFC International Conference on Deep Foundations and Ground Improve- ment in 2018 in Rome will be a fantastic meeting with our European colleagues. Dan Brown, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE. President [email protected] DFI members are well posi- tioned for the challenges of the “Please look for me at one of our meetings and give me a handshake and encouragement – I need it and I’ll appreciate it!” next few years, which look to provide an opportunity to build on our success with forecasts for increased construction activity. The one “common ground” that appears to resonate in U.S. politics these days is the need for increased spending on infrastruc- ture. Especially with the fresh start of a new administration, the U.S. market looks to pro- vide opportunities for DFI members to contribute in this area. Expect increasing use of public-private partnerships and innovative contract deli- very systems (design-build, CMGC) to deliver large infra- structure projects. And a recent study by Oxford Economics projects that worldwide infra- structure spending will grow from $4 trillion/year in 2012 to more than $9 trillion/year by 2025. So, it is an exciting time to be an active participant in DFI, and I hope you will all find opportunities to participate in DFI technical committees, conferences and other activi- ties. And, for me, it’s a big responsibility to lead DFI but I’m excited about it. So please look for me at one of our meetings and give me a handshake and encouragement — I need it and I’ll appreciate it! P.S. The editors asked me for a photo. So, for my inaugural column, I’m shown at the top of the mountain, where I feel I am in taking over as DFI president. Of course, the only way to go from there is down, but I’m enjoying the view at the moment! This is from Imogene Pass on a motor- cycle trail ride in Southwestern Colorado. Past President Wolosick has his Porsche, but my rides match my more off-the-beaten-path taste (and smaller wallet). DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JAN/FEB 2017 • 7
