March/April 2022 - 53

ANIRUDHAN I.V., CHAIR
DFI of India
Since posting our
l as t repor t in
September 2021,
D F I o f I n d i a
successfully conducted its annual
conference, DFI-India 2021, in a virtual
format from November 12-20, 2021.
Simultaneously, other initiatives like
the newsletter, student outreach
programme called Groundwork, Ground
Characterisation Committee (DCGCF)
and CFA Pile technology activities have
been progressing well. Seeing some
improvement in the chapter's financial
status was heartening, thanks in part to
wel l-wishers' Corporate Social
Responsiblity (CSR) funding described
at the column's end, and to good support
for the annual conference.
The new COVID-19 variant means
the DFI of India (DFII) office remains
online after a brief get together for the
annual conference in November 2021.
However, we have much to offer
digitally and otherwise this year, with
plans described as follows.
DFII Newsletter
The timely publication of the chapter's
quarterly newsletter in January
included a cover story, Bring Your AGaME,
which is noteworthy. This
edition also features two technical
articles, details of different chapter
activities, and the chapter's eleventh
annual conference summary, apart
from the regular features.
The previous newsletter in October
covered the DFI of India 2021
conference details and technical
articles on monitoring and data
management for foundations, as well
as various activities of DFI of India
during the third quarter, and a personal
achievement column.
The next edition of DFI of India News
will be released in April, with all issues
accessible at www.dfi-india.org.
DFI India 2021 WiDF session conference participants
This year's Groundwork webinar
program started with an insightful
presentation by Vivek Kapadia, director
of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam
Limited, in Gujarat, India. His case study
was of foundation treatment for a concrete
gravity dam - Sardar Sarovar Dam.
The 1,210 m (0.75 mi) long and roughly
128 m (420 ft) high mass concrete gravity
3
structure that required 6.82 million m
2
(7.68 thousand ft ) of precooled concrete
was constructed in the 1960s. The studies
and mitigation measures undertaken
were commendable. R. Chitra, Ph.D.,
director at the Central Soil and Materials
Research Station, Department of Water
Resources, in New Delhi, India, offered a
fitting introduction to the topic, and
Kapadia, to this year's students.
Student Outreach
After the webinar series that ran
monthly from January - May, 2021, the
main focus of Groundwork was a
problem-solving competition for graduate
and research students in geotechnical
engineering. Forty students in 11
groups participated, with the best solutions
judged by five experts from academic
and professional fields. Abhishek
Patel, a research scholar from the Indian
Institute of Technology, Guwahati, won
the top position. Patel presented his
competition entry and the topic of his
research. Free registration for DFII's next
conference and a cash prize were
awarded to the top three teams, comprising
11 students. Springer, a wellknown
international publisher, offered
cash vouchers for 5 winners.
REGIONAL REPORT
The next webinar was provided by
Barnali Ghosh, Ph.D., technical director
at Mott MacDonald (London), on the
topic, " How can engineers of tomorrow
contribute to sustainable development? "
Monthly webinars will continue from
March to June for the Groundwork
programme, with details available at
www.dfi-india.org.
Women in Deep Foundations
(WiDF) India
The Indian team of WiDF had a wonderful
90-minute interactive session during
the DFI-India 2021 annual conference.
The session titled " Success
Stories Within Us " was moderated by
Srilakshmi (Lucky) Nagarajan, general
manager, Engineering and Business
Development, Giken America, and
Annapoorni Iyer, founder, Engosym Consultants.
Jayamohan J, Ph.D., principal,
LBS Institute of Technology for Women,
Thiruvananthapuram, India, narrated
his journey of " Training Girl Students to
become Professional Women Civil
Engineers " through the case studies the
students undertook. Anupama Choudhury,
senior contract engineer, AFCONS
Infrastructure in India, proudly presented
her case of having a dream
project in the challenging Chenab Bridge
Project in Himachal Pradesh, India.
DEEP FOUNDATIONS * MAR/APR 2022 * 53
http://www.india.dfi.org/ http://www.india.dfi.org/
March/April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March/April 2022
