September/October 2021 - 74

of Bentley Systems. During these sessions, Mary Ellen Large,
P.E., D.GE, DFI director of technical activities, Anne Lemnitzer,
Ph,D., P.E., University of California, Irvine, and Jewels Stover,
Nicholson Construction, U.S., provided professional
development presentations. The webinar series is available at
www.dfi.org/groups.asp?isi.
Prospects & Applications in India, held on March 17 in
collaboration with the IGS Delhi Chapter. IGS chairperson,
Aarti Bhargava of Aimil, chaired the workshop proceedings,
while Bappaditya Manna, Ph.D., IIT Dehli, coordinated the
online workshop. J.T. Shahu, Ph.D., IIT Delhi; Andres M.
Baquerizo, Keller North America; and Sunil Basarkar, Ph.D.,
Afcons Infrastructure made presentations.
Along with the Groundwork and WiDF India webinars, the
CFA workshop is free to watch on the DFII YouTube channel
accessible from www.dfi-india.org.
2021 Annual Conference
The tentative conference schedule is available at
www.dfi.org/India2021. Six keynote presentations, 18 paper
presentations, and a panel discussion are scheduled during
November 12-20, along with dedicated slots for Groundwork
and WiDF India.
Afternoon sessions on November 12, 13, 19 and 20 feature
WiDF India
WIDF India webinar discussion
The Indian WiDF group did commendable work from February
through May 2021, providing webinar discussions on various
topics related to technology, professional development and
public relations. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions
of R. Chitra, Ph.D., Central Soils and Materials Research Station
(CSMRS), Delhi; Akanksha Tyagi, Ph.D., Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT); Sunil S. Basarkar, Ph.D., Afcons Infrastructure,
India; and Sridhar Valluri, Keller India. The sessions were
conducted by Yogini Deshpande, Ph.D., Renuka Consultants;
Akhila Manne, C.Eng, Unirac Solar India; Dola Roychowdhury,
GCUBE Consulting Engineers, India; and Sayantani Ghosh, P.E.,
Langan Engineering & Environmental Services.
Geotechnical Society Collaboration
The chapter's active collaboration with Indian Geotechnical
Society (IGS) is important. The latest interaction was a oneday
workshop, Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) Piles Theory,
74 * DEEP FOUNDATIONS * SEPT/OCT 2021
technical presentations and panel discussions. The keynote
presenters are Benjamin (Ben) Rivers, P.E., senior geotechnical
engineer, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); Duncan
Nicholson, retired director - Ove Arup and Partners and Arup
Fellow Ove Arup and Partners; John Endicott, Ph.D., AECOM
Fellow and executive director at AECOM Asia Co., Hong Kong;
R. P. Singh, Ph.D., DGM (Civil), National High-Speed Rail
Corporation, Mumbai; Alok Bhowmick, managing director,
B&S Engineering Consultants; and Nikolas Schmitz,
MHWirth, Germany.
Prerecorded versions of the papers that will not be
presented live will be available on the conference platform,
which will be launched a few weeks before the conference.
Technical Initiatives
The in-between weekdays, November 15-18, will have
The activities of the DFI of India Geotechnical Characterisation
for Foundations Committee are progressing well. The
geotechnical testing laboratory for a lab technician training
program has been established at the National Construction
Academy (NAC) in Hyderabad. DFII is also planning more
knowledge-sharing workshops and training programs on
reverse circulation drilling (RCD) technology and the construction
of bored cast-in-situ piles. G. Venkata Prasad, director
of operations of DFII, prepared an informative 10-minute video
detailing chapter initiatives that can be viewed on the DFII
website and the DFI of India YouTube channel noted earlier.
2-hour sessions exclusively for the sponsors and exhibitors.
http://www.dfi.org/groups.asp?isi http://www.dfi-india.org http://www.dfi.org/India2021
September/October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September/October 2021
