DFI Technical Committee Chairs Augered Cast-in-Place Pile Mike Moran, Cajun Deep Foundations, LLC [email protected] Codes and Standards Thomas Gurtowski, Shannon & Wilson, Inc. [email protected] Deep Foundations for Landslides/Slope Stabilization Prof. Vern Shaefer, Iowa State University [email protected] Drilled Shafts Paul Axtell, Dan Brown and Associates [email protected] Driven Pile Andrew Verity, Terracon [email protected] Ground Improvement Marty Taube, Menard [email protected] Helical Piles and Tiebacks Gary Seider Chance Hubbell Power Systems, Inc. [email protected] Marine Foundations Rick Ellman Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers [email protected] Micropiles Jonathan Bennett Brayman Construction Corporation [email protected] Seismic and Lateral Loads Kwabena Ofori-Awuah KCI Technologies, Inc. [email protected] Slurry Walls Nicolas Willig, Case Foundations [email protected] Soil Mixing Dennis Boehm, Hayward Baker, Inc. [email protected] Subsurface Characterization for Deep Foundations Trustee Liaison: Bernie Hertlein, GEI Consultants [email protected] Sustainability Carlos Englert, Schnabel Engineering [email protected] Testing and Evaluation Don Robertson, Applied Foundation Testing [email protected] Tiebacks and Soil Nailing Ed Laczynski, G.A. & F.C. Wagman, Inc. [email protected] 74 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • NOV/DEC 2014 ROC Equipment exhibitors was aimed at discussing the needs of women in foundations careers and identifying potential goals of a DFI group that could meet these needs, e.g., scholarship, mentoring/networking (women practicing and researching deep foundation topics paired with young professionals/students), etc. In preparation for the meeting, DFI conducted a brief survey to understand the level of activity of DFI members in other women-focused organizations, the scope of their most effective activities, and the via- bility of and interest in forming a separate DFI women’s group. The survey was issued to a small subset of DFI members, both men and women. The survey is still open, and we encourage all DFI members to participate. Please access the survey at ht tp: / /survey.constantcontact .com/ survey/a07e9xj5axwi0ti9ki3/start. The survey results generally indicate: • There is value in creating a separate DFI women’s group, though many respon- dents do participate to varying extents in other women-focused organizations. • Professional support of women is needed at all experience levels: undergraduate, graduate, transition to professional, early career and mature career. • Recruitment and retention of women into deep foundations careers are both important topics, and the meeting attendees concurred. The meeting attendees generally agreed that the initial activities of the DFI Women in Deep Foundations Group should focus on retention and then expand to recruiting. Several other organizations provide a wide variety of educational and networking opportunities for women, e.g., Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and corporate networks. The meeting attendees suggested that networking and mentoring of women in DFI would be the first step to fostering greater success and interest by women in foundations. DFI was created to be a forum for collaboration of all practitioners in the deep foundations industry, and the women’s group will promote all women from all member types working in the deep foundations industry. Initial activities will likely include organizing a women’s networking event to encourage women to become acquainted with each other and establish a DFI women’s network. Such a networking event would be open to women and men who are interested in promoting the success of women in foundation careers. It is hoped that mentoring relationships will develop through the network. The group suggested several creative ideas for using the funds promised by the DFI Trust, e.g., conference registration fees for young engineers to attend networking events. In addition to mentoring and networking, DFI will also increase the visibility of women in deep foundations careers by promoting their achievements in magazine articles and publishing more photographs of women at conferences,
