4th Young Geotechnical Professionals Conference

Welcome to the Fourth Australia New Zealand Young Geotechnical Professionals Conference, and for those visiting the west for the first time, welcome to Perth. First held in Sydney in 1994, from a joint initiative of the Australian Geomechanics Society and the New Zealand Geotechnical Society, the conference has since been successfully held in Auckland (1996) and Melbourne (1998).

In recent years, there has been a strong push for increased participation by “young” geotechnical engineers in society matters. This topic was first discussed at the Third ANZ YGPC, where the topic “How could the AGS and NZGS better serve their younger members” was debated in an open forum. Since then, the “Young Australian Geomechanics Society Corner” was established in the AGS journal (Australian Geomechanics), in which young geotechnical engineers are encouraged to contribute anything from seminar advertisements to stories on “life’s little lessons”. In addition, there is an ever increasing amount of direct input in AGS/NZGS affairs, with many committees now including at least one young representative.

With this in mind, I hope that all delegates attending the Fourth ANZ YGPC are able to both increase their own involvement in the geomechanics community, and encourage others within their organisation to do the same. This can come in the form of an active involvement by joining your local AGS/NZGS committee, by attending technical meetings, or by writing articles for society magazines or newsletters. It all counts. Please feel free to contact me ([email protected] or at Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, AUSTRALIA 6907) if you would like any further information on becoming involved in the AGS or NZGS. If I can’t help you myself, I will point you in the direction of someone who can.

As is always the case with events like this, there are a large number of people to thank for their involvement. Firstly I must thank the other (past and present) organising committee members: Mike O’Neill, Andrew House, Davide Bruno and gerard Dyson. All of them have put in a tremendous amount of time and energy to ensure the conference is a success. In addition, there have been a number of industry representatives (IR) and senior mentors (SM) who have provided great assistance at various stages of the conference organisation, with thanks going to : Dr Anthony de Nicola (IR), Dr Stephanie Watson (IR), Ms Eloise Browne-Cooper (IR), A/Prof. Martin Fahey (SM), Prof. Mark Randolph (SM), Dr Mohamed Khorshid (SM) and Mr Charles Waterton (SM). I would also like to thank the members of the Western Australian Chapter of the AGS, and acknowledge the support of the AGS National Committee. Thanks also to the various paper reviewers. In addition, thanks also to the NZGS (particularly Debbie Fellows and Jaime Bevin) for their support in organising what is a very strong New Zealand contingent.

In respect to conference events, I would like to thank the Fremantle Port Authority for providing their facilities for the site visit, and Mr Matthew Tutton (from Golder Associates) for organising the schedule for the afternoon, and for offering to act as ‘tour guide’. I would also like to thank the various keynote speakers and session organisers, each of whom have agreed to give up their time to help make the conference a success. Thanks also to St George’s College for providing the conference facilities and assisting with organisation, and to Golder Associates for arranging (and sponsoring!) the conference barbecue.

With this said, I would like to wish all delegates an enjoyable conference. I hope each of you benefit from the opportunity to present your own research, from the opportunity to “network’, and from an active participation in all formal and social aspects of the conference. The organising committee and myself are looking forward to meeting you at the conference.

Best regards,

Phil Watson
Chairman of the Organising Committee