PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE DFI and Working Together O ne of the best things about DFI is seeing people from different companies and various professions working together for a common purpose. From a personal level, it's fun to learn from people who have different perspectives. For example, I'm a practicing engineer, but I learn a lot from contractors who are capable to build something that I’ve designed and from sup- pliers and equipment manufacturers who provide the constructor with the tools to do it. We can all be better at our jobs when we know more about the big picture and how we individually contribute to a common effort. I read a quote attributed to Henry Ford: “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success.” This theme of “Finding Common Ground” is what makes DFI unique and so successful as an industry organization. However, it’s not just an internal motto for our organization; DFI is actively col- laborating with other associations and trade groups to leverage our ability to serve our members’ interests and be a positive force in our industry. Our meetings and conferences are one of the best ways we can collaborate to make them more effective and engage a broader audience. A great example is the Inter- national Foundations Congress and Equipment Exposition (IFCEE) in March 2018. DFI will participate along with ADSC: The International Association of Foundation Drilling, the Geo-Institute of ASCE, and the Pile Driving Contractors Association. Another example is our joint international conference with the European Federation of Foundation Contractors (EFFC) in June 2018 in Rome, Italy, which promises to be an outstanding opportunity to learn from worldwide case histories. I recently returned from a wonderful trip to Australia where we had our inaugural joint conference with the Piling and Foundation Specialists Federation, which was a great meeting and a big success in that part of the world. We extend our reach worldwide with other such collaborations and through our regional chapters. Besides meetings and con- ferences, we represent our mem- bers’ interests by collaborating on technical issues to enhance our ability to represent consensus and exert positive influence on important industry issues. Dan Brown, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE. President [email protected] One of my goals during my tenure as DFI president is to DFI is actively collaborating with other associations and trade groups to leverage our ability to serve our members’ interests and be a positive force in our industry. Much of this effort happens through our technical committees, such as our joint DFI- ADSC micropile committee. Our recent and on-going joint initiatives with EFFC on tremie concrete and support fluids represent other collaborative efforts with trade associations. strengthen our connections and collab- oration with other industry groups, and to make DFI even more effective for our members. To go back to the Henry Ford quote, I think we have had great success as an organization by working together across disciplines related to our industry, and we have made a good beginning and have had progress and, even, some successes through the DFI organization work- ing collaboratively with other groups in North America and worldwide. I hope we can build on that success and be- come even stronger as we strive to “Find Common Ground.” P.S. They ask me for a fresh photo each issue, so here’s one of me looking for some common ground to get up this hill!
