Geo-Engineering Education Conferences: a historical perspective

Iacint Manoliu
Professor Emeritus at the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, Romania,
Honorary President of the Romanian Society for Geotechnics and Foundations

1. Introduction
Let start the presentation with a confession. Until last June the decision concerning the attendance of
this conference was not yet taken, for a number of good reasons. The impetus came during the 25th
European Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference in Sibiu, when Prof. Roger Frank, our President,
conveyed a message received from Waldemar Hachich:
"You will certainly meet Iacint Manoliu in Sibiu. Tell him that I look forward to greeting him in Belo
Horizonte, next October".
As organizer in Romania of the first two international conferences in geo-engineering education, the
author had, indeed, a strong moral obligation to come to this conference, as he did in 2012 in Galway.
The decision to attend the Belo Horizonte conference was greeted by Waldemar with the following
words: "I have no words to express my enthusiasm for being able to try to reciprocate the wonderful
hospitality you granted us with in Romania. In addition to that, everybody recognizes that you have
always been the vital force behind most TC 306 (or its predecessors) initiatives, so it would be sad not
to have you at SFGE 2016". A couple of weeks later, Waldemar wrote me: "I wonder whether you could
prepare a brief historical presentation about our committee(named TC 306 nowadays) conferences,
considering that you have been personally responsible for the organization of two of them".
The author’s answer was positive, and here he is fulfilling the task assumed.

2. Few pages from the history of Romanian geotechnics

Before proceeding to the historical presentation of the previous conferences, it is necessary to explain
how came that Romania hosted the first two conferences.
Romania is the 7th largest country in the European Union and the 2nd largest in Central-Eastern
Europe. A communist regime was installed after the 2nd world war. The life was miserable in all aspects,
but I will give here only two examples, related to geotechnical engineering.

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In the higher education law promulgated in 1979 was stated that during the academic year members of
academic staff are forbidden to go abroad for research/teaching missions. The most zealous interpreters
of the law, high ranking officials of the Ministry of Education, whose permission was mandatory for
any international activity, considered that even attending a 2-3 days Seminar or Conference meant a
research mission. The consequence of such absurd interpretation? The author was denied the permission
to attend as panelist the Danube-European Conferences on Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering which took place in the close proximity of my country, in Varna (1980) and Kishinev
(1983) because the conferences were scheduled around the 20th of September, few days after the
beginning of the academic year.

Another example.
In 1973 Romania was admitted in the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering, and thus Romanian geotechnical engineers could join the international community. In
1980 the dictator Ceausescu decided that the foreign debts of the country should be liquidated. One of
the results of this decision was that foreign currency, strictly controlled by the state, were no longer
available for paying fees, for purchasing books, for subscribing to journals a.s.o. So, starting 1980 the
Romanian Council for Geotechnics could not pay the fee to ISSMFE. In April 1986, Prof. Bengt Broms,
the newly elected President of ISSMFE, came to Bucharest, trying to understand the cause of the arears.
The crucial discussion on the matter took place in the Fiat car of late Professor Emil Botea (1911-1990),
President of the Romanian Council for Geotechnics. Why in the car? Because it was a place in which
professor Botea was sure there are no recording devices planted by the mighty "Securitate".

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 Prof. Emil BOTEA (1911-1990)

To begin, we explained to professor Broms that the fee could not be paid because the government cut
the funds needed for that matter. Prof. Broms came with a solution: "I will ask the Swedish
Geotechnical Society to pay your fee and certainly they will accept".
Our reply was prompt: "We cannot accept. Suspicion could arise: what is hidden behind such an offer,
what services would be rendered". Then, Prof. Broms made a second proposal: "You will be expelled
from the ISSMFE, but the next day you should found a new society and apply for membership. We will
accept the new born society, waiving the arears of the old society". Our response was also negative.
"The new born society will be also not able to pay the fee, be it even one dollar, because the money will
not be given by the government". Very disappointed, Prof. Broms understood that the situation of
Romanians was, indeed, hopeless. Next year, at the ISSMFE Council which took place in the eve of the
European Conference in Dublin, the Romanian Council was expelled from ISSMFE. That was a very
sad news for prof. Botea, for myself and for all geotechnical engineers of the country.
Fortunately, two years later, as a result of a bloody revolution, the communist regime collapsed. Prof.
Botea called me and told that we should act urgently to restore the link with the International Society.
The author’s proposal was: “Let’s adopt the solution No. 2 of Bengt Broms. In fact, the Council with
debts to ISSMFE disappeared, like other institutions of the former regime. Let's found a new Society
and apply immediately for membership to ISSMFE”.
Geotechnical engineers from various parts of the country came to Bucharest and on 12th January 1990
the Romanian Society for Geotechnics and Foundations, in short Romanian Geotechnical Society, was
founded. We immediately wrote to prof. Morgenstern, President, and prof. Smoltczyk, Vice-President
for Europe of ISSMFE, announcing them the foundation of the new Society and applying for
membership. The positive decision was taken at the ISSMFE Council meeting held in June 1991 in
Florence.
Returning, under new circumstances, in the International Society, we felt obliged to do our best to
support the Society and the field best fitted to receive our contribution proved to be the geotechnical
engineering education field. As known, the Romanian Geotechnical Society organized the first two
international conferences on education in geo-engineering sciences, in 2000 and 2008.The steps leading
to the two events will be described in what follows.

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3. How the European projects paved the way to the 2000 Conference
The author had the great chance to be elected in January 1990 as Vice-Rector for international affairs of
the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest. In this capacity he was eager to recover the
ground lost after 45 years behind the Iron Curtain and to build and develop international cooperation
after the collapse in December 1989 of the totalitarian regime, seizing all opportunities. One such
opportunity, undoubtedly the most promising one, seemed to be the TEMPUS programme of the
European Union. TEMPUS is an acronym from Trans-European Mobility Programme for University
Studies. It was adopted by the Council of the European Union on 7 May 1990.The programme was
designed as a response to the needs of higher education and training in Central and Eastern Europe,
identified as one of the priorities areas for cooperation between the Union and the countries concerned.
The main features of the TEMPUS programme are the Joint European Projects (JEP). There are two
kinds of JEP: Structural JEP, devoted to the restructuring of the higher education institutions in
Central/Eastern Europe and Mobility JEP intended primarily for promoting student mobility. In order to
be valid, an application for a Joint European Project required a minimum of three partners, from which
a university from the eligible country (in Central/Eastern Europe) and two institutions, from which at
least one university, from two different countries belonging to the EU.
TEMPUS started in 1990 with Poland, Czecho-Slovakia and Hungary as eligible countries. Romania
became eligible in March 1991. On 8th March 1991 the author attended, together with the
representatives of all Romanian universities, a meeting in which an official from Brussels presented the
TEMPUS and distributed a guide in which was written that the deadline for the application for projects
to start in the academic year 1991-1992 was 15 March. The author protested loudly: how could be
possibly prepared an application in just one week?! The bureaucrat from Brussels apologized and
announced that, exceptionally, for Romania and Bulgaria the deadline is 15 April. Four more weeks!
The author decided to build a project entitled "Advanced Geomechanics and Geotechnology related to
Civil, Environmental and Earthquake Engineering". A frantic search for the minimum two EU partners
started. At that time e-mail was not yet available and the fastest way to communicate in writing was
through so-called "telex". The author wrote to tens of professors to whom he was not personally
acquainted, but simply taking their addresses from the latest ISSMFE list of members. A first
favourable answer came from the Universität Gesamthochschule Essen. But one more was needed. Just
a few days from the deadline a message signed by Prof. Michele Jamiolkowski, from the Politecnico di
Torino, arrived. Prof. Jamiolkowski stated that he is willing to cooperate, but being very busy cannot do
the paperwork. The author replied him immediately: "Don't worry, professor. As Coordinator, I will do
the paperwork in Bucharest. However, we need to have Politecnico di Torino not only as partner but
also as Contractor." Prof. Jamiolkowski kindly agreed and, thus, in the very last minute possible we
were able to send by registered mail the application. Five months later, by mid-September 1991, the
good news that the project was accepted came from Brussels.
The main objective of the project was the alignment of the geotechnical engineering education in
Romania to the European standards. To accomplish it, the following major outputs were sought for the
project:
- review, development and restructuring of curricula for the training at undergraduate and postgraduate
level in the field of Geotechnical engineering;
- promotion and enhancement of the contacts between Romanian university teachers and staff members
of the educational institutions and professional organisations in EU member states;
- enhancement of the knowledge level of Romanian teachers through further training abroad in EU
countries;

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- improved professional contacts at student level through stages in universities and laboratories of EU
member-states;
- installation at the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest of a modern soil mechanics
laboratory as well as of computer hardware and software for test monitoring, data acquisition and
geoinformatics.
Besides the two partners previously mentioned, from Torino and Essen, in the second year of the
project, 1992-1993, six more partners from EU joined the project, namely: Ecole Nationale des Ponts et
Chaussées Paris, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - INSA Lyon, City University London,
Technische Universität Berlin and University of Ghent. From the eligible country, besides the Technical
University of Civil Engineering, three Bucharest - based institutes were partners: Building Research
Institute - INCERC, Research Institute for Environmental Protection and Design Institute for Land
Reclamation.
The total grant from which benefited the project for its 3 years duration (1 September 1991 - 31 August
1994) raised to 509,034 ECU divided between the "Organisational Grant" (281,423 ECU) and the
"Mobility Grant" (227,611 ECU). Most of the "Organisational Grant" (196,480 ECU) went to the
purchase of equipment (including books, periodicals, software) the rest being used to cover costs for
staff, short missions to coordinate and monitor the project and overheads. From the "Mobility Grant"
123,310 ECU were allocated for student mobility and 106,301 ECU for staff mobility.
Having in view the accomplishment of the goals set up for the project, the TEMPUS Office in
Brussels approved a 2-year extension under the form of a Joint European Network (JEN), between 1
January 1995 and 31 December 1996, for disseminating the results of the JEP. In this way, the
cooperation under the auspices of this first project took place over a period of 5 years.
A significant contribution to the success of the project brought the short, intensive courses, of 3 - 4 days
duration (seminars) given by teams representing one or several EU partner institutions.
The seminars will be presented in chronological order, specifying the name of the lecturers, their EU
institution affiliation and the main topics which have been covered.
 March 1992: Ch. Heckötter, L. Massmeier (Universität Gesamthochschule Essen)
Topics: Ground and ground water investigation; Development of subway construction in Germany;
Development of microtunnelling in Germany; Soil improvement methods: dynamic consolidation,
vibroflotation, jet grouting, accelerating consolidation; Case studies.
 September 1992: M. Jamiolkowski, R. Lancellotta, V. Ghionna, D. Lo Presti, M. Manassero
(Politecnico di Torino)
Topics: Laboratory determination of deformability characteristics of soils; Laboratory determination
of shear strength of soils; Interpretation of penetrometer and pressuremeter tests; Consolidation
theories.
 March 1993: J. Atkinson, M. Coop (City University)
Topics: The concept of critical state in Soil Mechanics - theory and practice.
 March and May 1993: S. Savidis, Ch. Vrettos (Technische Universität Berlin)
Topics: Introduction in Soil Dynamics; Behaviour of soils under dynamic loadings; Wave
propagation in soils; Recent advances in dynamic geotechnical testing; Soil-structure dynamic and
seismic interaction; Seismic response of earth dams; Dynamic behaviour of pile groups.

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 May 1993: R. Frank, P. Unterreiner (Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées), G. Pilot, M.
Bustamante (Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées), R. Kastner (Institut National des Sciences
Appliquées - INSA Lyon)
Topics: Stability of earthworks; Construction, design, in situ measurements of sheet pile walls and
diaphragm walls; Soil nailing; Shallow foundation analysis, soil-structure interaction; Bearing
capacity of piles based on pressuremeter and penetrometer tests; Construction techniques,
pathology, auscultation and repair of deep foundations; Design of deep foundations; Soil
improvement methods.
 September 1993: R. Lancellotta, V. Ghionna, D. Lo Presti, M. Manassero, L. Pasqualini (Politecnico
di Torino), W. Van Impe (Ghent University)
Topics: Shallow foundations; Earthpressure and earth-retaining structures; Bearing capacity of
single pile; Pile group; Reliability analysis; Dynamic soil improvement; Soil amplification;
Landfills.
 March 1994: S. Savidis, Ch. Vrettos (Technische Universität Berlin)
Topics: Liquefaction of soils; Settlements due to repeated loading; Vibrations due to blast loading, to
traffic and construction; Dynamics of earth retaining structures.
 March 1994: R. N. Taylor, S. E. Stallebrass (City University)
Topics: Critical state soil mechanics and centrifuge modelling; Centrifuge modelling principles,
techniques and applications; Critical state soil mechanics and numerical modelling; Constitutive
models; Finite element analysis of geotechnical structures.
 May 1994: P. Delage, Y. Cui (Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées), Ph. Mestat, P. Humbert
(Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées), I. Alimi (INSA Lyon)
Topics: Soil suction; Hydric transfers in unsaturated soils; Contamined soils; Methods of
depollution; The computer code for finite elements CESAR-LCPC; Contribution of the FEM to the
Geotechnical Projects.
The time allocated to each lecture varied between 2 and 4 hrs, including the discussions. Lectures have
been presented in English or in French with no translation. In most cases, lectures notes have been
provided. The target public was made of postgraduate students, members of the academic staff,
engineers from design and research institutes, from construction companies etc.
As one can see, the lectures covered a wide range of topics, allowing the attendants to update their
knowledge and to become acquainted with most recent developments in geotechnical engineering in EU
countries. Through the coordination of the programme, the overlapping of the themes of various
seminars was avoided, but even in the few cases when redundancy was present, it proved to be
beneficial, allowing the exposure to different approaches of different schools.

A TEMPUS JEP for the mobility of students

(TEMPUS M.JEP 9486)
The experience gained during the first JEP was essential for the preparation of a new TEMPUS project
called CESNET (Civil Engineering Schools Network), devoted to the mobility of students. The number
of partners increased significantly. From Romania, besides TUCEB the network included the three other
major technical universities from Iaşi, Timişoara and Cluj-Napoca. Five from the EU partners in the
previous project were also present in the new enterprise: Politecnico di Torino, Ecole Nationale des

6
Ponts et Chaussées Paris, Technical University Berlin, City University London and Laboratoire Central
des Ponts et Chaussées Paris.
They were joined by new partners: Universidad Politecnica Madrid, Instituto Superior Tecnico Lisbon,
National Technical University Athens, ISMES Bergamo, CEDEX Madrid, LNEC Lisbon.
The main objective of the CESNET project was to create a network of civil engineering schools and
laboratories aimed at developing student mobility with mutual recognition of study periods. At the same
time, the project was meant to promote and enhance the contacts and cooperation between Romanian
university teachers and their colleagues from seven leading European civil engineering schools and with
the staff of four outstanding research centres.
A number of short intensive courses to be offered by EU partners were also included in the activity
plan. One has to bear in mind, however, that CESNET addressed to the whole spectrum of civil
engineering education and not only to the geotechnical engineering as was the case with the TEMPUS
JEP 2776. As a result, the intensive courses covered a wide range of topics for various areas of civil
engineering: structural engineering, earthquake engineering, hydraulic engineering, transportation
works-roads, railways, bridges, environmental engineering. In the area of geotechnical engineering,
three such intensive courses took place:
 May 1997: G. Barla (Politecnico di Torino), R. Frank (Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées
Paris), L. Delattre (Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées Paris), G. Bouckovalas (National
Technical University Athens), I. Alimi (INSA Lyon).
Topics: Tunnelling near the ground surface; Continuous and discontinuous modelling for solution of
rock engineering problems; Design of shallow and deep foundations; Retaining structures; Seismic
risk and response assessment; Review and evaluation of methods to predict soil effects; Water
movement in non-saturated soils.
 December 1997: S. Savidis (Technische Universität Berlin), G. Bouckovalas (National Technical
University Athens), P. Seco e Pinto (LNEC Lisbon), D. Lo Presti (Politecnico di Torino).
Topics: Analytical methods for wave propagation; Three - dimensional dynamic soil – structure
interaction by numerical methods; Empirical and analytical methods for the prediction of site
effects; Evaluation of site and Topography effects during Aigin - 1995 - earthquake; Dynamic
analysis of embankments dams; Liquefaction assessment of the new Tugus bridge; Dynamic soil
characterisation by in-situ tests.
 May 1998: R. Frank (Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées Paris), C. Santos Pereira (Instituto
Superior Tecnico Lisbon), B. Simpson (City University), W. Sadgorski (Technische Universität
Berlin), S. Aversa (Politecnico di Torino).
Topics: EUROCODE 7 Part 1: Geotechnical Design - General rules.

4. The time had come for a firs international conference on geotechnical engineering education
and training
At the First International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering which took place
in Cambridge, Massachussets, in 1936, great attention was paid to problems of education. Karl
Terzaghi, Arthur Casagranden and other founding fathers of the modern soil mechanics expressed their
thoughts on geotechnical engineering education. For some reasons, when the international conferences
resumed in 1948, after the war, the pattern was not followed. Only in January 1994, at the XIIIth
ISSMFE Conference held in New Delhi, a workshop on education, at which the author contributed, was
included in the programme. The example was followed at the XIth European Conference held in 1995 in

7
Copenhagen, then at the XIVth ISSMFE Conference held in 1997 in Hamburg and at the XIIth European
Conference held in 1999 in Amsterdam (where the workshop on education was initiated and organized
by the author). Many reports and papers of outstanding quality were presented at these Workshops.
However, issues of education and training in geotechnical engineering are too complex and too
numerous to be covered in 1.5-2 hours allotted usually to the workshops at international conferences.
Time had come for a full international conference devoted to such issues. The rich experience gained
during the involvement in the TEMPUS projects and the determination to support the ISSMFE were
strong reasons for the author, as President of the Romanian Geotechnical Society, to ask In 1999 to the
Technical Committee 31 on education in geotechnical engineering of ISSMFE, lead by Prof. Jean-Pierre
Magnan from France, to endorse the organization in June 2000 of the first international conference on
education and training in geotechnical engineering. The offer was accepted without hesitation.

5. Main features of the 2000 Conference in Sinaia

The Conference took place on 12-14 June 2000 in the beautiful mountain resort of Sinaia. It was
attended by 135 teachers and professionals from 37 countries and 6 continents.
The following invited papers are included in the proceedings of the Conference published by
Balkema/Rotterdam/Brookfeld:
 H.Brandl Civil and geotechnical engineering in society-Ethical aspects and future prospects
 F.B.J. Barends The impact of knowledge management and ICT
 S. Prakash Teaching geotechnical engineering 1950-2000 and beyond
 F.P. Seco e Pinto Education in earthquake geotechnical engineering. Practice and needs
 S. Sharma Developing computer based instruction for geotechnical education
 I.Manoliu Trends in engineering education worldwide and their relevance for geotechnical
engineering education

Prof. John Burland was invited to present a lecture, which he kindly accepted. There was no paper, just
slides distributed to the participants.

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The volume includes also national reports on geotechnical engineering education in 19 countries:
Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Japan,
Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Vietnam.
Other 58 papers were distributed in 5 sections of the conference:
- Place, role and content of geotechnical engineering in civil, environmental and earthquake engineering
curricula, at undergraduate and post-graduate level
- Teaching, learning and assessment in geotechnical engineering education
- The use of information and communication technology-ICT in geotechnical engineering education
- Case studies in geotechnical engineering education
- History, lifelong learning and international cooperation in geotechnical engineering education.

6. A new actor operating in 2007: The Federation of International Geo-Engineering Societies

During his mandate as President of ISSMGE, between 2001 and 2005, Prof. William Van Impe initiated
the foundation of a Federation of International Geo-Engineering Sciences(FIGS), grouping the three
"sister societies": the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering-ISSMGE,
the International Association for Engineering Geology and Environment-IAEG and the International
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Society for Rock Mechanics-ISRM. Following the favourable votes expressed in September 2006 by
the Council of IAEG, in November 2006 by the Council of ISRM and in October 2007 by the Council
of ISSMGE, a cooperation agreement was concluded between the three "sister societies", leading to the
foundation of FIGS. However, even before this event, the Presidents of the three societies decided in
2005 to create "Joint Technical Committees" - JTCs in areas of overlapping interest between Members.
7 such JTCs were created, one of them being JTC 3 on Education and Training, put under the
responsibility of IAEG and having Prof. Luis Gonzales de Vallejo from Spain as chairman. The author
was appointed by the ISSMGE President, Prof. Seco e Pinto, as representative of ISSMGE in JTC 3.

7. A new Conference in Romania, this time on Education and Training in Geo-Engineering

Sciences-Soil Mechanics, Geotechnical Engineering, Engineering Geology and Rock Mechanics
The starting point was a meeting with Prof. Van Impe, former ISSMGE President, at the Danube-
European Conference in Ljubljana, in June 2006. He asked the author angrily: "What happens with JTC
3? I did not hear of any activity. Something should be done!". I explained to Prof. Van Impe that I
accepted, indeed, the invitation of Prof. Seco e Pinto to represent ISSMGE in JTC 3, but the chairman
of JTC 3 is Prof. Vallejo who did not act so far. Prof. Van Impe concluded: "At least you should do
something!"
Prof. Van Impe left Ljubljana that evening, but next day I met the ISSMGE President, Prof. Seco e
Pinto, informing him about the discussion with Van Impe and telling that the Romanian Society is ready
to repeat the experience from 2000, but covering this time all geo-engineering sciences. I proposed
also to change the place of the Conference: instead the Carpathians mountains the Black Sea coast.
"Excellent idea, said Seco e Pinto. I will contact immediately Niek Rangers and ask him to organize a
meeting of JTC 3 in Nottingham, where you could present your proposal."
Niek Rengers, from Netherland, was the acting President of IAEG, and Nottingham was the venue in
September 2006 of the IAEG Conference.
The first meeting of JTC 3 took place on 6th September 2006 in Nottingham, chaired by Prof. Vallejo,
with the participation of several other IAEG representatives and the author, but with no delegate from
ISRM. The meeting was also attended by Van Impe, Seco e Pinto and Niek Rengers. The proposal to
have a first Conference on Education and Training in Geo-Engineering Sciences to be organized by the
Romanian Geotechnical Society in Constantza, on 2-4 June 2008, was approved. This was the
beginning of a long and complicated process. In the following months, trying to establish contacts with
representatives of the "sister societies", the author realized that, while both IAEG and ISRM kept their
own education committees, to act as partners for JTC 3,the ISSMGE Board dismantled in October 2005
the Technical Committee 31,leaving the Organizing Committee of the Constantza Conference without a
reliable partner. The solution came at the beginning of 2007 from Prof. Roger Frank, then Vice-
President for Europe of ISSMGE, who decided to found an European Technical Committee for
geotechnical engineering education and invited the author to chair it, invitation accepted with pleasure.
The members of this Committee became members of the International Advisory Board of the
Constantza Conference.

8. After TEMPUS, the SOCRATES-Erasmus programme of the European Union. The EUCEET
projects
The Erasmus chapter on higher education of the SOCRATES programme, launched by the European
Commission in 1995 included a new action: Thematic Network Projects (or "university co-operation
projects on subjects of common interest").

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Thematic Network Projects were aimed to the creation of forums to analyze and study the status of
development in the different fields of education in Europe, with the objective of promoting the
European dimension and of improving the quality.
27 first-generation Networks, approved in September 1996, started to function in 1996/97. Seven
second-generation Networks were approved in 1997 and 9 in 1998, among which the Thematic Network
Project EUCEET (European Civil Engineering Education and Training).
The project EUCEET was initiated by the author as a follow-up of the TEMPUS projects involving
Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest and EU partners.
There were three EUCEET projects, getting grants from the European Commission.
The EUCEET I Project started on 1st October 1998, the EUCEET III Project ended on 31st March
2010.

The following table presents the evolution of the number of partners in the EUCEET projects:

Number of partners

EUCEET
SOCRATES EUCEET I EUCEET II
III
Code
1998/ 1999/ 2000/ 2002/ 2003/ 2006/
2005
1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2009

EDU.4 43 50 59 97 100 101 75

ASS.1 7 8 13 14 14 14 20

ASS.2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2

ASS.3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

RES 5 5 5 6 6 6 4

SER 7 9 9 4

Total 58 66 80 126 131 132 106

(20) (24) (25) (29) (29) (29) (29)

The main outcomes of the EUCEET Projects are 9 volumes having the author as editor.

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The reason to speak here about EUCEET Project is the following one: in the programme of the
Constantza Conference was included a Workshop put under auspices of EUCEET. The theme of the
Workshop was: The Bologna process and the geo-engineering education.

9. In brief about ICETGES Constantza

In first place, the programme. Its strongest point was, undoubtedly, the 13 invited papers. It's worth to
remind here the complete list (in the alphabetical order of the authors).

J. Atkinson What should geotechnical engineers to do and how should they acquire
these skills

F.B. J. Barends New generation geo-engineering

G. Barla Teaching rock mechanics in the classroom and on the UNI-Nettuno

Network

J.B. Burland Personal reflections on the teaching of soil mechanics

M. Devriendt Geotechnical engineering collaboration between clients, consultants,

contractors and universities. A European perspective

L.I. Gonzalez de Vallejo & Engineering geology at University Complutense of Madrid: 30 years of
M. Ferrer postgraduate courses

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M.B. Jaksa A multi-faceted approach to geotechnical engineering education

I.M. May Let's get together

R. Oliveira Geo-engineering education and training. The past and the future

T.L.L. Orr Geotechnical education and Eurocode 7

N. Rengers & H. Bock Competency-oriented curricula development in geo-engineering with

particular reference to engineering geology

A.K. Turner Education and professional recognition of engineering geologists and

geological engineers in Canada and the Unites States

J.L. van Rooy Training engineering geologists in developing countries: South African
perspectives

The proceedings of the Conference comprise 26 reports on education in geo-engineering sciences in 22

countries: Albania, Australia, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong
Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa,
Switzerland, Thailand, U.S.A.

The other chapters of the volume are:

 Curricular matters in geo-engineering education (16 papers)
 Teaching, learning and assessment in geo-engineering education (12 papers)
 Challenges to geotechnical engineering education (6 papers)
 Issues in education and training in Engineering Geology (4 papers)
 The link university professional world in geo-engineering (5 papers)
ICETGES numbered 121 participants from 23 countries.

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How were represented the three "sister societies"?
ISSMGE was represented by the President, Prof. Pedro Seco e Pinto and by two Vice-Presidents, Prof.
Roger Frank (Europe) and Waldemar Hachich (South America).
From IAEG were present three former Presidents: Dr. Niek Rengers (Netherland), Prof. Ricardo
Oliveira (Portugal) and Prof. Paul Marinos (Greece).
From ISRM attended a former Vice-President, Prof. Giovanni Barla (Italy).

10. The 2012 Galway Conference: Shaking the Foundations of Geo-engineering Education
National University of Ireland, Galway, hosted between 4th and 6th July 2012, in its new
Engineering Building, a very successful conference with the very inspired title: "Shaking the
Foundations of Geo-engineering Education"
The Conference was chaired by Dr. Bryan McCabe. Over 100 delegates attended the event, coming
from 19 countries: Ireland, UK, France, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Romania,
Greece, USA, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan.
The SFGE 2012 Special Invited Lecture was given by Prof. Johnn Burland, Imperial College, London,
UK, entitled: "Keep it engaging, keep it simple, keep it rigurous".
There were 5 Keynote Lectures:

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 Prof. John Atkinson, Coffey Geotechnics, UK: What should geotechnical professionals be able to do
 Prof. Paul Mayne, Georgia Tech, USA: Quandry in geomaterial characterization: new versus the old
 Dr. Brian Simpson, Arup Geotechnics, UK: Equilibrium, strength, strain, dilation and superposition
 Prof. Stephen Ressler, US Military Academy at Westpoint, USA: Using Questioning to enhance
student engagement
 Prof. Richard Felder, North Carolina State University, USA: A tale of two paradigms

The 32 papers presented at the Conference were grouped in 6 Lecture Sessions:

Lecture Session 1: What should we teach?
Lecture Session 2: The use of case histories in geo-engineering education
Lecture Session 3: Laboratory work and fieldwork in geo-engineering
Lecture Session 4: Computing and technology in geo-engineering
Lecture Session 5: Research and teaching experiences in engineering education
Lecture Session 6: Student-centred learning in geo-engineering
The Lecture Sessions 1, 3, 4 and 6 were followed by Facilitated Discussions.

References

 Manoliu, I. "A Survey on Geotechnical Engineering Education in Europe" in F.B.J. Barends,

J.Lindenbergm H.J.Luger, L.de Quelerij & A.Verruijt (eds) Geotechnical Engineering for
Transportation Infrastructure. Proc. 12th Eur. Conf. SMGE, Amsterdam, 7-10 June 1999: 2185-
2194, Rotterdam: Balkema

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 Manoliu, I., Radulescu, N. "International Cooperation in Geotechnical Engineering Education"-
Case Study involving Romanian and EU universities", in I. Manoliu, I. Antonescu & N. Radulescu
(eds) Proc. 1st International Conference on Geotechnical Education Training, Sinaia, 12-14 June
2000, Rotterdam: Balkema
 Manoliu, I. "O mica istorie a unei mari conferinte (First International Conference on Education and
Training in Geo-engineering Sciences: Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Engineering
Geology, Rock Mechanics, pe scurt ICETGES, Constanta, 2-4 iunie 2008)" in "Revista Romana de
Geotehnica si Fundatii" nr.2/2008
 Manoliu, I., “File din istoria Societăţii Române de Geotehnică şi Fundaţii”, in N. M. Ilieş (eds)
Lucrările celei de a XIII-a Conferinţă Naţională de Geotehnică şi Fundaţii, Cluj-Napoca, 7-10
Septembrie 2016, Mediamira, Cluj-Napoca

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