CONFERENCES: CPTT 2009 was held in China
— Dec 01, 2009
From
Oct. 19-21, the first International Conference of Pipeline and Trenchless
Technology (ICPTT) was held at the Regal International East Asia Hotel in
Shanghai, China, which was cosponsored by China-U.S. Joint Center for Trenchless
Research & Development (CTRD), ASCE Pipeline Division, China Society
for Trenchless Technology, and the Center for Underground Infrastructure
Research & Education (CUIRE) and provided a world forum for 80 oral
presentations and poster discussions of 227 papers published in the ICPTT
Proceedings. The conference theme was “Advances and Experiences with Pipelines
and Trenchless Technology for Water, Sewer, Gas, and Oil Applications.” This
conference was a resounding success with more than 350 participants from around
the work, including the United States, Canada, Germany, Korea, India, Iran and
China.
The collaboration between ASCE and conference organizers began
approximately three years ago when Dr. Baosong Ma, Professor at the China
University of Geosciences – Wuhan and Vice Director of China-U.S. Joint Center
for Trenchless Research & Development (CTRD), presented a proposal to the
Pipeline Division for Division’s sponsorship of this conference. This effort was
a result of Chinese participation in past annual Pipeline Division conference
technical programs with their supporting educational and social activities. The
Chinese delegation felt this was a good model to emulate for ICPTT and wanted to
collaborate with the ASCE Pipeline Division to create a pipeline and trenchless
technology conference in China.
Dr. Tom Iseley, P.E., M. ASCE of
IUPUI-Purdue School of Engineering & Technology, and Michael Stift, P.E., M.
ASCE and Director of Engineering at the San Diego County Water Authority, both
former Pipeline Division chairs, and the Pipeline Division’s current past chair,
Dr. Mohammed Najafi, P.E., M. ASCE of the University of Texas at Arlington and
Director of CUIRE, volunteered efforts to support this event with their Chinese
counterpart, Dr. Ma. Dr. Ray Sterling, Professor emeritus at Louisiana Tech
University, ISTT past chairman and former Director of TTC, and Dr. Samuel
Ariaratnam, Professor at Arizona State University and Vice Chairman of ISTT,
also attended the unique event.
Ma was especially pleased that the
conference social program, Shanghai Nights, was a success. The daily focus was
on the technical programs and business, so the early evening cruise on the
Captain’s Ferry along the Pujiang River featuring Chinese folk music, set to the
brilliantly lighted Shanghai skyline, was just an awe inspiring break. “The
ICPTT allowed the pipeline and trenchless industries see how forward thinking
and the rate of growth that China is experiencing as we move forward to a better
quality of life,” said Ma.
With the success of this first ICPTT, planning
has already begun for a second conference to be held in two years in either
Beijing or Shanghai. Ma said, “A proposal to collaborate on a 2011 conference in
China with the Pipeline Division is in the works due to the highly successful
2009 ICPTT. All our projections were exceeded and we can only thank the ASCE
Pipeline Division for their help and participation. Now we will grow the ICPTT
from this first conference and look forward to future ventures together with our
friends in the ASCE Pipeline Division.”
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