Nigeria is finally making her mark in the committee of geotechnics-inclined nations. I was priviledged to attend a workshop for the NGA (A member of the NSE, Nigerian Society of Engineers), and was impressed to see the international ISSMGE (International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering) board members at the workshop, infact they gave lectures on varying innovations and advancements in geotechnics that really wowed me…infact i was greatly enriched and grounded in my chosen field of career and study.Also delivering lectures was my very own Prof. S. Ola from Fed. Uni. of Tech., Akure and Dr. Jimoh from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin not to leave out the Vice-president (Africa) and Chairman of the NGA Prof. (Engr.) Samuel U. Ejezie.
The current ISSMGE president is J.L. Briaud from TExas A&M University who stunned me with his research work in the determination of the soil characteristics needed for pavement design. he developed a machine that could actually read off soil parameters to be used for design….
I was also reunited with my career mentors, Engr. Posi Fatokun who also got an appreciation award from the Kazakhstan delegate at the workshop ( a ma we o oga!) and Engr. Daniel from Trevi Foundations.
The delegates from FUTA include; Prof. S. Ola, Engr. (Mrs) Oluyemi-Ayibiowu, Fadugba Olaolu and my humble self.
I believe Nigeria has begun to take her place in the geotechnical front…would join her to get there.
You could visit the following sites to catch up with the train…
www.issmge.org
casehistories.geoengineering.org
mygeoworld.com
And not to forget the international conference holding in Paris next year
issmge2013.org
See you there…