Dr. Phung Duc Long, VSSMGE
A national geotechnical conference, which was called “Vietnamese Geotechnical Day”, was held on 18th June 2010 in Hanoi to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of VSSMGE and the 15th Anniversary of Vietnamese Geotechnical Institute (VGI). The event was attended by more than 250 participants including delegations from Sweden, Canada, USA, Cuba, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.
The conference started with opening address by Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Kiem on “50 years of Geotechnical Engineering in Vietnam” followed by congratulatory message to VSSMGE and VGI by Prof. Delwyn G. Fredlund (Canada). A letter of congratulation to the conference from Prof. Sven Hansbo (Sweden) was also read out by Dr. Phung Duc Long. A comprehensive review on “30 years of Co-operation between Vietnam and Sweden and other countries in Geotechnical Engineering, Geo-engineering and Construction Technology” was presented by Dr. Bo Berggren (Sweden) and Prof. Nguyen Truong Tien.
The technical program for the day consisted of 5 keynote lectures and 16 lectures given by local and foreign speakers. The keynote lectures are: Keynote lecture 1 by Prof. Akira Asaoka (Japan) – “All Soils, All States, All Round Geo-analysis Integration”; Keynote lecture 2 by Prof. Delwyn Fredlund (Canada) – “Assessment of Moisture Flux Boundary Conditions for Near-ground Surface Geotechnical Engineering Problems”. Keynote lecture 3 by Datuk Hong Lee Pee (Malaysia) – “Pile Talk”. Keynote lecture 4 by Ir. Kenny Yee and Dr. Ooi Teik Aun (Malaysia) – “Ground Improvement: Innovation and Sustainability”. And Keynote lecture 5 by Dr. Nat Fox (USA) – “Lime-soil Stabilization for Road Construction in Mekong Delta River”.
After the technical sessions VSSMGE held their internal congress meeting, which was attended by more than 100 members, represented for geotechnicians in the country. At the meeting, Prof. Nguyen Truong Tien was re-elected as the President of VSSMGE. Prof. Le Duc Thang and Dr. Phung Duc Long were elected as the Vice-Presidents of VSSMGE. The Secretary-General is Dr. Nguyen Cong Giang. The Vietnamese Geotechnical Club (VGB) was also inaugurated this day and the president of the club is Prof. Le Duc Thang. With a new young executive board of 24 members, VSSMGE are ready for new activities and challanging tasks in geotechnical field in Vietnam.
The event was closed with a cultural show and dinner in the evening ended at 9.45 pm. The theme for the evening was “To know and understand the Sounds and Souls of our Mother Land”. The Vietnamese Geotechnical Day was considered by all participants as one of the most successful geotechnical events ever in Vietnam.