On May 16th, the First Forum on In-Situ Testing in Geotechnical Engineering was successfully held in Hefei and Nanjing, China. The forum was jointly organized by the Earth Sciences Division of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Technical Committee TC102 on In-Situ Testing of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, and the Geotechnical Engineering Society of the China Civil Engineering Society. Anhui Jianzhu University and Southeast University co-hosted the event.
The academic committee chairs for this forum were Professor Paul W. Mayne, Professor Anand J. Puppala, Academician Yunmin Chen, and Academician Jianmin Zhang. The forum focused on the theme of Intelligent In-Situ Testing and Data Mining in geotechnical engineering. Renowned experts and scholars from various countries including the United States, Australia, Norway, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, and China were invited to deliver academic presentations in the field of in-situ testing.
The opening ceremony of the forum was chaired by Professor Cai Guojun, the Vice President and Standing Committee Member of the Party Committee of Anhui Jianzhu University, who also served as the Chair of the Forum Organizing Committee. Professor Cai Guojun warmly welcomed the participating scholars from both domestic and international backgrounds and provided a brief introduction of the distinguished guests and an overview of the forum. Professor Jason T. DeJong, the Chair of the Technical Committee TC102 on In-Situ Testing of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, and Professor Zhang Jianhong, the Secretary-General of the Geotechnical Engineering Society of the China Civil Engineering Society, delivered speeches on behalf of the organizing institutions. Professor Chen Jun, the Dean of the School of Transportation at Southeast University, gave a speech representing the co-hosting institution.
The forum consisted of two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with a total of nine invited presentations by renowned scholars from both domestic and international backgrounds. These experts engaged in in-depth discussions on various cutting-edge topics, such as modern theories of in-situ testing in geotechnical engineering, research and development of in-situ testing technology and equipment for offshore engineering, ultra-deep in-situ testing technology, intelligentization of in-situ testing technology, and database construction techniques. The experts aslo conducted in-depth discussions on the application of in-situ testing in major engineering projects, such as cross-sea bridges, dams, and offshore wind farms, as well as its importance in the low-carbon development of geotechnical engineering.
In the closing ceremony, Professor Liu Songyu, the Chair of the Organizing Committee, presided over the event. He expressed his satisfaction with the successful outcome of the forum, which brought together renowned experts in the field of in-situ testing from both domestic and international backgrounds. The insightful presentations provided a direction for the future digitalization and intelligentization of in-situ testing in geotechnical engineering. He hoped that the experts would continue their efforts in advancing the theory and technology of in-situ testing in geotechnical engineering and looked forward to their participation in the next forum.