PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE The DFI Beehive H aving returned from the DFI Winter Planning Meeting with our trustees and the chairs of our now more than 23 technical committees, I still find all the tech- nical activities going on in our organization kind of mindboggling. Furthermore, we are starting three new committees this year: Tunneling and Underground Systems Committee, Project Information Man- agement Systems (PIMS) Committee and the DFI Europe BIM/Digitalisation Committee. More information will be available soon at www.dfi.org, in eNews- letters and in this magazine. Adding more committees is really a testament to the incredible dedication of the many DFI members who volunteer to serve in these groups and work to improve our industry. It was great news that, thanks to the high level of participation and success of our Annual Conference, we were able to increase our project research funding to $155,000 this year, with six new projects kicking off in 2018. These funds are being leveraged with in-kind and other contributions from our members and other associations to make an even more significant impact. Like a beehive, everyone seems quite busy and important work is getting done. Just read through this magazine or any other issue from the past year for a sample. Each issue has an update of the goings-on of several committees, and you can check out the DFI website under ‘Groups’ and click on some of the technical committee links to see who’s on each committee, who’s the chair, and what’s going on. There’s even a link to volunteer to join and participate. It’s the accumulation of Dan Brown, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE. President [email protected] many small things strung together that, collectively, can make a huge impact. These many small accom- plishments by DFI technical committees and research activities accumulate to make a big difference. Our Winter Planning Meeting included a leadership development session as a part of our ongoing efforts to help our These many small accomplishments by DFI technical committees and research activities accumulate to make a big difference. committees be as efficient and effective as possible. These committees are the heart of DFI and the place where things get done; so, we want to do our best to ensure that everyone involved has the most meaningful and impactful experience possible. I hope that all of our DFI members will consider becoming involved and engaged in one or more technical committees and contri- buting your part to the ongoing work to improve our industry. I’m sure that you would find it rewarding to join the beehive! Each of DFI’s 23 technical committees has a dedicated web page with a description of the committee, recent news and related publi- cations. From ‘Resources’ in the right-hand column, you can learn about joining a committee, access committee rosters, find the most recent committee chair report, search for more publications and join DFI’s LinkedIn Group to connect with your peers. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAR/APR 2018 • 7
