Successful 2014 International No-Dig Conference Held in Madrid
At the opening ceremony, IbSTT president Angel Ortega and ISTT chairman Derek Choi welcomed 325 delegates from 29 countries. A short address was also made by Jens Hoelterhoff, Chairman of the German Society for Trenchless Technology (GSTT), whose Society supported the exhibition with a pavilion of German companies.
Following this, delegates heard from Liana Ardiles, Director General of the Ministry of Water Agriculture, Food and Environment. In her address, Ardiles recognized the Iberian region’s 20-year history of using trenchless technology and stressed the importance of utilizing the technology to reduce traffic disruption, particularly in cities. The opening ceremony was concluded with the cutting of a ribbon at the entrance of the exhibition.
In addition to the delegates, more than 1,000 visitors from 32 countries attended the three-day exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition were impressed with range of products on display from more than 80 companies showcasing products and services from around the world. In addition to the National Pavilions presented by Spain and Germany, exhibitors came from the United Kingdom, United States, Russia, Australia, China, Italy and Denmark.
Headlining the event sponsorship was Catalana de Perforacion, a leading trenchless technology contractor based in Barcelona. Gold sponsorship was supported by Insituform and Vermeer. Other sponsors included Aqualogy (Silver), Hobas (Bronze), and Grupo AAB (Bronze).
The conference program featured 70 peer-reviewed papers, presented by international experts from 20 countries on topics of trenchless research, techniques and case studies on both rehabilitation and new installation. The first two days featured papers presented in English, while the third day was dedicated to papers delivered in Spanish.
The main social function was the Gala Dinner, which took place at the Circulo de Bellas Artes – a magnificent, emblematic building located in central Madrid. The evening is always a popular event for networking with colleagues and friends from around the world and this year’s event was a sellout. Following the dinner, Choi thanked the sponsors of the event, as well as sponsors of the Gala Dinner, JBP Composites, whose managing director, Borje Persson made a short welcome speech.
The presentation of the ISTT annual awards followed, with the first being a Lifetime Service Award presented to Taigo Matsui in recognition of his service in the advancement of trenchless technology in Japan and nearby regions of the world, and for his leadership as a part of the Japan Society for Trenchless Technology (JSTT) and ISTT management teams in the early 2000s
The ISTT Annual Awards were presented to:
- Dr. Fuming Wang – The 2014 Academic Research Award
- CatSurveys – The 2014 Product for its Mobile Ground Penetrating Radar
- Visser & Smit Hanab – The New installation Project Award for its project Pre-Bent Drilling: A New Application of HDD
- UKDN Waterflow – The Rehabilitation Project Award for its project The Protective Structural Lining of Ham Sewer
The IbSTT also made awards to four members in categories to recognize their contribution to the industry in the Iberian market.
Yasin Torun, Chairman of the Turkish Society for Infrastructure and Trenchless Technologies, was joined by Fatma Kayhan, Commercial Counsellor of the Turkish Embassy, to invite delegates to attend next year’s ISTT International No-Dig to be held in Istanbul, Sept. 28-30.
The evening was concluded with a flamenco show accompanied by Spanish guitarists.
The International No-Dig Conference and Exhibition was organized on behalf of ISTT by U.K.-based Westrade Group Ltd.
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