DFI President Gianfranco Di Cicco presented three President’s Awards at a luncheon during the DFI 48th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations in Seattle on November 2.
Established in 2016, the DFI President’s Awards are given at the discretion of the DFI president to recognize the outstanding contributions and service of DFI members who advance the work of DFI. This year’s awards were presented to:
Meeok Kim, Ph.D., P.E., Thornton Tomasetti, was recognized for her leadership as co-chair of the Structural Slurry Wall and Seepage Control Committee and for her exceptional leadership as chair of DFI’s 2023 S3: Slopes, Support and Stabilization conference, which broke records with the highest attendance of that event. Kim is also a supporter of DFI’s Women in Deep Foundations Committee and an active member of the Anchored Earth Retention, Codes and Standards, and Tunneling and Underground committees as well as a volunteer on the new Initiatives Guidance Task Force.
Massimo Mucci, Keller Group, was recognized for his encouragement and initiative to start the DFI Project Information Management Systems Committee, now Information Management Systems Committee and serving as its first chair. His leadership in this important aspect of digitalization of data and use of data management, analytics, business intelligence and geospatial tools in deep foundation projects helped DFI be a leader in this relatively new and effective way to manage successful projects. Mucci also delivered the keynote lecture on the topic at the DFI/EFFC International Conference on Deep Foundations and Ground Improvement in Rome in 2018.
Helen Robinson, P.E., PMP, BC.GE, GEI Consultants, received the award because of her service to DFI as secretary of the DFI Educational Trust Board, first chair of the DFI Women in Deep Foundations Committee and current lead on the telethon to support the Paul DeBruyn Fund for student participation at DFI events. Robinson is simultaneously co-chairing the DFI/ADSC Micropile Committee and serves on the IFCEE 2024 organizing committee. She has contributed time and expertise as lead investigator for several DFI Committee Project Fund projects and, in the past, served as the editor of DFI’s Deep Foundations magazine.