REGIONAL REPORT DFI Europe Gianfranco Di Cicco and Professor Massimo Grisolia techniques and behavior, ground improvement (including grouting and deep mixing) and design and modelling. Professor Massimo Grisolia chaired and hosted the conference at the venerable Sapienza University in a very special and memorable way. Maurice Bot t iau of Franki Foundations Belgium, DFI Europe treasurer, and Daniele Vanni, Trevi, co- chaired the program committee. They were supported by committee members Professor Paolo Marzano of Sapienza Frank Haehnig President DFI Europe [email protected] deep foundation work. He has extensive experience in sales activities in the mechanical industry and he is committed to serving the deep foundations industry to find sustainable solutions to the demanding market. Konkka has an M.Sc. in economics and law from University of Eastern Finland. To maintain continuation of Dutch representation on the board, Patrick IJnsen of the Van ’t Hek Group joined as a new board member. He replaces Pieter Arie Kraaijeveld, formerly of Volker Staal en Funderingen, who is no longer working in the deep foundations industry. IJnsen is vice president of Van ’t Hek Conference banquet A very active summer is behind us, one in which we supported DFI wi th an outstanding International Conference on Deep Foundations and Ground Improve- ment in cooperation with the European Federation of Foundation Contractors (EFFC) in Rome, Italy. The conference was held on June 5-8 at the Sapienza University of Rome and represented the industry with preconfer- ence activities, excellent presentations, young professional activities and views from clients of major projects around the globe. In all, more than 70 verbal presentations and 38 poster presentations were delivered during the two-day event, and topics included deep foundation University, and Gianfranco Di Cicco of GDConsulting, DFI secretary and trustee. On behalf of the entire DFI team, I express our thanks for all of your efforts. A recap of the conference was provided in the July/Aug issue of Deep Foundations. New Board Members Ate Konkka is back at Junttan Oy in Finland, and has rejoined the DFI Europe Board. He replaces Miika Eskelinen of Junt tan Oy, who could no longer participate at board functions due to extensive traveling. As the director, piling rig technologies, Konkka works with clients to find cost- effective and modern solutions for their Group in the Netherlands. In this role he is primarily responsible for design and innovation. He has been with this company since 2000. Van ’t Hek Group is a versatile deep foundation contractor that is specialized in sheet piling, various deep foundation pile systems, monitoring and foundat ion des ign, and operates worldwide. IJnsen started his career in Hektec, the engineering agency of Van ’t Hek Group, where he was responsible for design and monitoring. On behalf of the chapter, I would like to express its gratitude to Miika and Pieter Arie for their dedication to DFI Europe. Ate Konkka Patrick IJnsen DEEP FOUNDATIONS • SEPT/OCT 2018 •63
